South Africa - Grand Dèdale Country House, my insights!

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South Africa - Grand Dèdale Country House, my insights for you!

Grand Dédale Country House, Wellington. 

Hey guys,

today I write about our stay at the wonderful Grand Dèdale Country House in Wellington.

Nestled at the end of a tranquil valley below the historic Bainskloof Pass, Grand Dédale is set within an award winning Wine Estate, offering sweeping views of the valley as well as the Groenberg, Limietberge and Hawekwa mountains. The picturesque town of Wellington is a short drive away, Cape Town can be reached within 50 minutes.

The exclusive and elegantly restored Cape Dutch Manor House, formerly the private residence of the owners of Doolhof Wine Estate, comprises six luxurious and bespoke rooms and suites. A separate thatched cottage is enjoyed by honeymooners or guests seeking additional privacy.

We stayed at the romantic cottage, which I can only recommend to you to do. You have an own cottage for yourself, as you can see in the picture it is nicely decorated and is offering all the luxury you can wish for. It has two levels and an own terrace, which makes it really private and really romantic. A must for honeymooners.  

The exclusive rooms (six) are in the main house, the rooms are all different but all elegant and great styled. Every room has a own story, so it just makes you to wish for come back again soon. We stayed one night at the room "Hawequa", which is right underneath the roof top, an amazing loft room experience. 

The Country House has amazing interior. I just fall in love with it. It combines old and modern in a really inspiring way. For me it was one of the most beautiful decorated country houses I saw during my visit.

They also offer a pool and a nice relaxing outdoor terrace, where you can sip your wine and read a book. After sightseeing and exploring it is nice to come down and relax in this wonderful hideaway for some days.

Dinner and breakfast is taking place at the amazing terrace facing the beautiful nature, vineyard and the romantic cottage. For sunset they prepare a great sun-downer pre-dinner drink on the terrace, followed by an amazing candle light dinner 4-course menu. As they only offer 6 rooms and one cottage it is really a familiar and private atmosphere, which we enjoyed really much. Also light lunch and snacks are served throwout the day.

If your into hiking and enjoying the mountains, they also help you out with a great picnic basket for your adventure. The link is as always included in the headline, if you click on it you will be forwarded to the hotel page.

For more insights about my trip to South Africa, please check below: 
Wine tour insights: http://www.melaines-insights.com/2017/03/south-africa-wine-tour-my-insights.html
Safari insights:

http://www.melaines-insights.com/2017/02/singita-luxury-safari-my-insights-for.html
Cape Town insights:
http://www.melaines-insights.com/2017/02/capetown-one-of-my-favorite-towns.html

Cheers,

Melaines-Insights

www.melaines-insights.com

Cape Town - one of my favorite towns worldwide, my insights for you!

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Cape Town - what to do and what to see, my insights! 

“Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores.” 

– Former President Nelson Mandela, during his inauguration speech on May 9, 1994.

Hey guys,

today I will write about Cape Town, one of my favorite towns worldwide. It is just an unbelievable beautiful, amazing and inspiring place to spend your vacation, lifetime or just some years of living. Cape Town is a coastal city located in South Africa.

Where to stay?

One & Only Cape Town

This hotel is located just one minute walk from the world famous Alfred & Victoria Waterfront, where many restaurants, shops and bars are waiting to be explored. 

We stayed at the Tafelberg Suite and had every day a wonderful breakfast on our own balcony facing the amazing Tafelberg.

They have great amenities, after a long day sightseeing in Cape Town it was the best to spend some time relaxing on the pool or at the private island spa. The pool has also a great own restaurant with many fresh seafood, wood-fired pizzas and mediterranean snacks available, it is called "Isola".Don't forget to bring the sun blocker, otherwise you get sun burned really quick with the African sun.

Where to eat?

NOBU

One & Only Cape town offers you a world famous restaurant called "NOBU", it is the first NOBU in Africa. It serves Japanese-Peruvian cuisine. As I love Japan and Im a huge fan of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of course I tried it out and it was fantastic. The style is really modern and minimalistic and for all who know me well, I JUST LOVE those places. Make sure you place a reservation, as this restaurant is really popular.

The Bungalow 

It is getting you bungalicious. This restaurant is located at Clifton Beach and it is really located on the beach, which means theres nothing between you and the Atlantic Ocean. The best place to have a sun downer and afterwards a great dinner. Really romantic and is just an insane setting. Please also make sure you place a reservation, as this is also a place to be in Cape Town. 

It has also open for lunch, I just loved the quote on their website: "here barefoot is the new Louboutin as the sun drowns itself in a pink puddle most nights. And yes we just got soppy about the sunset - no need be a bitch about it".

TEST Kitchen 

I may start with a quote from Alex Perry, Time Magazine: 

“The day Woodstock officially became Cape Town’s hottest district can be dated to Nov. 24, 2010 – when Luke Dale-Roberts opened The Test Kitchen there.”

Some might call it "foodporn", they call it a 21-courses menue. It is extraordinary without being over priced and snobby. We had a table directly by the open kitchen, which I loved because I just love cooking and to see how this team is working together was an incredible experience for me. They have an outstanding service, which explains you every detail of your menue. We ordered the menue with wine, which I can recommend you to do. And don't make the same mistake as we and eat breakfast before or have lunch with more then a salad. Fullstop. Nothing more to add, well one more it has open from tuesday - saturday and make sure you place a reservation 6 month before you go there. No joking, it is South Africans Nr. 1 ! restaurant for a reason. 

What to do?

V&A Waterfront

The V&A Waterfront is always worth a visit, you can go shopping there or have a little snack while walking along the beach or the harbor. 

Rent a Cobra
We rented a Cobra and made a half day tour. We drove the famous chapmans peak drive and all the coast side down to the national park ending point was the cape of good hope. You should calculate around a half day for this trip and for security reasons I would highly recommend you to plan your trip beforehand and during day time as the Cobra has no navigation system inside. 

Also we made some stops along the way, one of my favorite spot was to see my penguins friends at Boulders Beach (close to Simons Town). They are so cute!

Kirstenbosch

Kirstenbosch botanic garden is acclaimed as one of the great botanic garden in the world. We spend a day there, as it is so nice to explore this park. You can visit during summer time great concerts, make sure you reserve the tickets beforehand. A must is to have a picnic (wherever you want in the garden!), you can order it directly in the kirstenbosch tea room. You definitely need to check out the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway (130 meter, 12 meter above the ground), it is a curved steel and timber bridge with awesome viewer points facing cape town and the highlights from the garden.  

I integrated the links this time in the words in my posting, if you click on them you will be forwarded to the pages.

Cheers,

Melaines-Insights

www.melaines-insights.com