La Cotte Farm, Franschhoek
Luxury
₤ 81 (Pps)
Luxury
₤ 81 (Pps)
La Cotte Farm is uniquely situated a stone’s throw from the charming village of Franschhoek. It offers close proximity to the fun and bustle of the main street with all the quiet, privacy and rural charm of a working wine farm.
Surrounded by lush vineyards, glorious mountains and unsurpassed views in all directions, the farm offers a range of accommodation options. There won’t be any arguments about who should get the room with the view at La Cotte House. Wherever you choose to lay your suitcase, you’ll enjoy its 360-degree views of Franschhoek’s vineyard-studded valley and mountains.
In a prime position, deceptively far from distractions, on one of the oldest Huguenot estates in Franschhoek, (granted in 1694) is La Cotte Hotel. The Manor House has been converted into a hotel with a choice of Mountain facing rooms, Pool-facing rooms or a two-bedroom Pool Suite. Ithis house was built for ultimate privacy. Surrounded by indigenous gardens and natural beauty as far as the eye can see, you’re actually only a short walk from the town hidden away below.
There's a beautiful restaurant (serving breakfast only at this stage), bar, library and breakfast conservatory. You can also enjoy breakfast on the terrace overlooking the vineyards.
It’s not until you’re relaxing al fresco on the terrace of your cottage, gazing out over your very own lakeside version of one of Monet’s famous ‘Water Lilies’ paintings, that you’ll fully appreciate the true magic of this unique setting.
These lavishly simple cottages offer incredible views of the forest, vineyards and valleys. The row of deceptively rustic, terraced cottages is made up of five mezzanine cottages, two more spacious two-bedroom cottages and an intimate ‘Sunset’ cottage with its own plunge pool. All cottages have sun-drenched patios, open-plan living, dining and kitchen areas, that overlook an immense swimming pool with a vine-covered, pool-side pavilion. Beautifully decorated with a collection of watercolours, oil paintings, colourful Indian textiles and antique linen cushions, each cottage has its own unique sense of life, adventure and tranquillity.
I loved La Cotte. It offers a great mix of traditional Cape Dutch architecture with some seriously nice hotel rooms. Or the option of stylish self-catered cottages if you prefer that.
The well-appointed rooms are all the same size but with a small premium for the ones facing the pool, which I found somewhat curious. ie the mountain facing suites are less expensive. There's also a two-bedroom pool suite which is two en suite bedrooms separated by a sitting room. This would be a great option for families with older kids or two couples travelling together.
Their original cottage accommodation is still a great option for some who like the option of self-catering - with a choice of one and two bedroom cottages. These are a little further away and so it would be approx 5-10mins walk to the hotel if people wanted to have breakfast there. But they also provide breakfast baskets to the cottages. Given the number of restaurants in Franschhoek, this could be the perfect option for families wanted a more relaxed stay.
They have a beautiful restaurant area, conservatory breakfast room, terrace for dining and bar. But for now, they have decided not to offer dinners, given the number of restaurants nearby. La Cotte is just a little too far out of town to easily walk to restaurants. It's only a 10+ mins walk downhill but that means that it's uphill on return. But to be honest, that's about the only real downside of La Cotte.