WedgeView Country House & Spa, Stellenbosch

For our last two nights in South Africa we took a thirty minutes taxi to Stellenbosch and arrived at the gorgeous hotel Wedgeview Country House and Spa. We were welcomed with a glass of wine and filled in a couple of forms outside in the sunshine before being shown to our room. After a quick change it was time for lunch and to relax by the pool.

The pool is large and refreshing with plenty of well spaced out sun loungers and lots of towels. There is a toilet by the pool although you are never too far from your room. The backdrop of vineyards is stunning and the area is incredibly peaceful.

The poolside menu consisted of build your own sandwiches, salads, wraps and platters. Everything was delicious and reasonably priced.

The rooms all have external entrances and the higher floors have sweeping views of the countryside. We took room thirteen, which was the most basic room. There was an English plug adaptor and English channels on the TV along with wifi throughout the resort. The room had a double bed with plenty of storage too. Our bathroom had a separate bath and shower as well as fluffy gowns and slippers.

The hotel offers dinners on certain nights of the week and for the non meal days there is a full bar along with cheese and meat platters.

Breakfast is a little treat. There are meats, cheeses, pastries, breads, yoghurts, cereals and juices available buffet style. Tea and coffee is included and then for a very small charge speciality coffees can be ordered. Finally there is a hot a la carte menu with a Full English breakfast, omelettes, French Toast and other delicious options. Breakfast can be enjoyed in the sunshine on the terrace.

The hotel is around a thirty minutes drive from the airport and our taxi cost 250 ZAR. It's around a fifteen minutes drive into the centre of Stellenbosch and has plenty of parking on site if you did want to explore the area in your own vehicle.

The spa facilities here are lovely. They offer a wide variety of treatments at incredible prices compared with London. I had a gorgeous sixty minute hot stone massage. There are changing rooms with rainforest showers, which we used after check out and before our flight home. There is a also a steam room and sauna available to use.

Wedgeview is a gorgeous property set in the heart of wine country. It's not a large hotel so you will definitely feel as though the service is personal and boutique in style. The size does limit facilities such as dining options but we did not find this an issue at all. The grounds are beautiful and spotless and the staff cannot do enough to help you and ensure your visit is as comfortable as possible. I would definitely recommend Wedgeview as an option when staying in Stellenbosch.

One & Only, Cape Town - Review

The next stop on our trip was two nights at the wonderful hotel One & Only, Cape Town. The hotel is a few minutes walk to the V&A waterfront, which is ideal for evening entertainment. The check in was quick and smooth and soon we were entering our stunning bedroom with a view of table mountain from a vast balcony.

The bathroom was huge with a large soaking tub, double sinks and giant rainforest shower. We had bathrobes, slippers and an abundance of fluffy towels. Every product you could imagine was available. There was loads of wardrobe and drawer space too. The bedroom had a sofa, a desk area and a huge super king and super comfy bed! The room was spotless, silent at night and incredibly luxurious.

The mini bar had everything you could wish for at the most reasonable prices I have ever seen for a hotel! The room service menu included burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads etc etc. The laundry also was not too expensive. Complementary water was available in the room, there was an English plug socket and wifi is free throughout the hotel. There were also plenty of English TV channels and movies.

Breakfast is amazing! There is a buffet with sparkling wine and several different juices including mango! A section with every pastry you can imagine and different breads. Fruit, yoghurt, cereal, ham, cheeses and fish were on offer too. The hot buffet included baked beans, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, hash browns, scrambled egg, tomatoes and more. Then there was an a la carte breakfast menu! This included waffles, pancakes, omelettes, a Full English breakfast, eggs and French toast. It was difficult to know where to begin!!! There is both indoor and outdoor dining available at breakfast.

The swimming pool is beautiful. There is an abundance of loungers, towels and umbrellas and loads of staff on hand if you need anything. All drinks come with ice buckets too! The poolside menu isn't too expensive with standard options such as salads and sandwiches. If you want a good lunch I would suggest walking down to the waterfront but if a poolside salad is all you need then you will be satisfied by the menu available.

Finally the grounds of the hotel are stunning. The hotel overlooks Table Mountain, which is just incredible to wake up to each morning. Everything is immaculate and you feel like you are in a separate paradise worlds away from a large city.

Words cannot describe how fabulous The One and Only is, you must stay here to experience it! Ensure you book a Table Mountain view room, it is well worth the upgraded price.

Robben Island & Table Mountain

Another incredible day trip the hubby and I planned in Cape Town incorporated Robben Island and Table Mountain. After a relaxing breakfast at 52 De Wet we took a taxi to the V&A in time to board the 11am ferry to Robben Island. I would thoroughly recommend pre booking your tickets at Robben Island Museum Tour as the tour was fully booked when we arrived. It also saves the hassle of queuing as you can book and print tickets online in advance.

There is a small museum, toilets, a café and gift shop to keep you entertained whilst you wait for the ferry. The ferry takes about half an hour and to be honest is really what it says on the tin, nothing glamorous or exciting! On arrival you are split into coaches and taken on a guided drive around the island. It's a great way to see more of the island than you would have a chance to on foot. There is a break midway to see the penguins and incredible views back towards Cape Town as well as grab a drink, snack or use the toilets.

The next part of the tour is a guided walk around the maximum security prison conducted by an ex political prisoner. This part of the tour was really interesting and brought the entire place to life. We learnt about the different menus for the different prisoners and saw how they lived and worked. There is also a chance to see Nelson Mandela's cell (pictured below) and ask questions about prison life.

Post the tour it is a short walk back to the harbour where again there are toilets, a gift shop and snacks on sale before returning to the mainland via ferry. The entire tour takes around 3.5 hours and costs 300 ZAR per person. Ours took slightly longer than planned as the ferry was late. This is such an interesting trip and one I would recommend everyone to take whilst in Cape Town. 

On our return to the V&A we decided to take a little lunch break! After a wander around the V&A we decided on Harbour House, which is a gorgeous seafood restaurant right on the waters edge with a large terrace to dine outdoors. I had a huge and incredible sushi platter for 195 ZAR and the hubby chose marinated tiger prawns with French fries for 205 ZAR. We also had a couple of glasses of white wine. The food was delicious, the setting was gorgeous and the price was amazing for what we had! This was a perfect lunchtime spot.

After lunch we took a taxi from the waterfront to Table Mountain. Again pre book your tickets at Table Mountain Cableway for 350 ZAR per person to avoid queuing on arrival. The cable car takes a few short minutes and rotates so everybody can get a great view. At the top there is a café and toilets as well as a gift shop. However, the most important part is the guided walkway with the incredible views:

You can hike up and down table mountain, take helicopter rides and even abseil! Ensure you go to Table Mountain on your first clear day in Cape Town. Tickets purchased online are valid for one week from your chosen date and are refundable. In bad weather the cable car will close and on a foggy day you just will not be able to appreciate the views. However, you must make this a priority for your visit, the scenery will take your breath away, pictures cannot do it justice.

There were plenty of taxis available to take us back to our hotel for a quick swim, shower and sun downer!

Test Kitchen, Cape Town

For our first night in Cape Town our wonderful hotel 52 De Wet organised us dinner at the incredible Test Kitchen. The restaurant has won countless awards and tables are booked up to six months in advance so if you want to go be organised and make a reservation. The restaurant is the creation of Luke Dale-Roberts who can often be found working in the kitchen and even came to our table to ensure everything was to our liking!

We took a taxi to Test Kitchen and were greeted by friendly staff who could not do enough to help us throughout our evening. Lunch and dinner is served Tuesday - Saturday and is a tasting menu. The staff will ask if you have any allergies or dislikes but we went for everything on offer. The food can be paired with wine or tea tastings or you are free to order from the extensive wine list. As we had an early start I chose a very large glass of Chenin Blanc, however, the hubby chose the more expensive wine pairing option.

The Dinner Gourmand menu begins with Test Kitchen Appetizers, these were really interesting and quite challenging on the taste buds! Definitely worth a try! The menu is then documented on the website but it includes trout ceviche, foie gras, langoustine, kingklip (this was by far the most amazing dish), duck and dessert.

Every dish is remarkably presented and absolutely delicious in taste. For a £5 supplement they were also offering a Ribeye course, which we both opted for and were thoroughly impressed with. The photos below are in the order the dishes were presented to us. As you can see we had twelve different dishes to try in total. We were also offered complementary champagne to begin with and a box of chocolates wishing us a happy first wedding anniversary from the team to take home and devour later.

The Kingklip was definitely my favourite dish and one I had never tried before. The flavours and textures were incredible. The dish was presented in a clay pot and allowed to steam at the table providing us with mouth watering smells. It was then taken away to be dished up and was well worth the tempting wait!

Test Kitchen is a culinary experience like no other. The food is amazing, the menu enables you to try a large variety of dishes, some of which I had never heard of before this experience. Everything is clever and inventive too, which ensures you are entertained throughout the meal. You will leave feeling incredibly satisfied and very full as whilst this is a tasting menu each portion is still generous. The quality of ingredients is superb and the price is expensive for South Africa but very reasonable if you compare this experience to a celebrity chef in London.

The restaurant is dark and romantic and ideal for a special occasion. The kitchen is open so you can watch the chefs work their magic. It's not huge hence the long waiting list but tables are very well spaced out and feel pretty private. I would urge anybody going to Cape Town to book this experience. I could not have thought of a better way to spend our first night in the city!