Giant leaps have been made in South Africa’s self-catering accommodation over the past couple of years.
Gone are the days when self-catering meant a rudimentary chalet with dormitory-style bunk beds. Today South Africa offers the widest range of exciting self-atering options with all the comforts and facilities required for guests to cater forthemselves in style.
A wide varietySelf-catering accommodation countrywide includes anything from a house to a chalet, bungalow, flat, studio, apartment, self-catering resort, villa or houseboat, with prices ranges from budget to luxury, from a few hundredrand per person per night to several thousand rand for a luxury villa.
The recreational facilities vary enormously when it comes to self-catering: some simply offer the accommodation with a fully equipped kitchen in a town, garden or bush setting. Others (generally the larger ‘self-catering resorts’) offer extensive recreational facilities like swimming pools, tennis, squash,boating and horse riding. Some also have caravan and/or camping sites attached.
Vanessa Sand, publisher of the AA Travel Guide and convener of the AA TravelGuide Accommodation Awards says: ‘Throughout the country, all along the seaboard and inland, South Africa offers local and international visitors the widest choice of superlative self-catering facilities. ‘Self-catering today appeals to families who like to do their own thing and are looking for a more affordable accommodation option. It also appeals to individuals who prefer the privacy and independence of catering for themselves and to businessmen who favour the ‘home-from-home’ freedom of self-catering facilities offered by hotel chains like the Don and The Courtyard’.
South Africa also offers well-run self-catering resorts – such as the Forever Resorts (from Warmbaths to Keurboomstrand to Badplaas) with plenty of facilitiesfor the whole family.
Another excellent source of self-catering options are South Africa’s National Parks – there are a large number of parks to choose from including the famous Kruger NationalPark, the Addo Elephant National Park, the Mountain Zebra Park and many others.
Make the connection with Ezemvelo KwaZulu Natal Wildlife – with its wide range of beautiful parks and self-catering accommodation in KwaZulu Natal. Quality Standards Establishments featuring the AA Travel Guides quality-assured grading logo, together with South Africa’s voluntary star-grading system – the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) – aregenerally recommended.
The TGCSA awards one to five stars, according to the quality, cleanliness, furnishing, comfort and servicing of the establishment. At the same time many places that aren’t graded offer wonderful accommodation – they simply haven’tgone the grading route as they feel their accommodation speaks for itself.
Ultimate Luxury ‘South Africa offers the greatest variety of self-catering options,’ says Liz Westby-Nunn, South African hospitality doyenne. ‘Some are incredibly luxurious – such as a villa in Camps Bay, Cape Town, or a penthouse in Bantry Bay, Cape Town - where a party of visitors hire out this self-catering option for couple of thousand rand per day in high season. It’s most worth the price if a group or family is hiring, and often works out at about R900 per person per day for magnificent accommodation, unbeatable anywhere in the world. The same accommodation is available during the low season wintermonths (May to September/October) at half the price.’
Affordability is King
At the other end of the price spectrum, you can also secure some wonderful self-catering accommodation across the country for under R200 per person per night. Sutherland – the star place in the Karoo Highlands – is a case in point. With stargazing very much in vogue, Sutherland offers a range of self-cateringoptions.
A few notables: Below is a list of some of the top self-catering options from around the country, as listed in the AA Travel Guide’s accommodation awards for 2004/5: Self-catering cottages/chalets i.e. self-contained, free-standing cottage(s) or chalet(s) with kitchen(s) in a garden or bush setting. Generallysmall with limited leisure facilities:
- South Coast Cottages, Munster
- Baywatch Villa, Paternoster
- Amohela ho Spitskop Country Retreat, Clocolan
- Margate Villa del Sol, Margate
- Ramsgate Villa del Peche, Ramsgate
- Villa Moria, Dullstroom
Self-catering resorts i.e. self-catering accommodation consisting of chalets, cottages or apartments. Extensive recreational facilities such as swimming, tennis, squash, boating, horse-riding etc. and generally quite large. May have caravan and/or camping sites:
- Houtkapperspoort, Cape Town
- Crystal Springs Mountain Lodge, Pilgrim’s Rest
- Kruger Park Lodge, Hazyview
- Magaliespark Country Club, Hartbeespoort Dam/Madibeng
- Merry Pebbles Resort, Sabie
Self-catering suites/apartments i.e. self-contained units including a fully-equipped kitchen. Includes hotel apartments and holiday flats. They generally do not have a restaurant or many recreational facilities:
- The Cycad Lodge and Chalets, Nelspruit
- Castleton, Pletternberg Bay, Garden Route
- Santana Holiday Flats, Margate
- Sentinel Executive Apartment Hotel, Pretoria/Tshwane
- Pearly Shells Holiday Apartments, Scottburgh
- Premiere Classe Suite Hotel, Johannesburg North
- St Marcus, Port Elizabeth.
There are many excellent self catering options all across South Africa, we suggest you do a personal search to find a place that matches your individual needs.
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