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Babylonstoren

Babylonstoren, Stellenbosch
Fodor's Hotel Awards 2011 New & Noteworthy  |  Winning Attributes

At a Glance

    Pros

  • option to harvest your own organic produce and enlist the help of a chef to prepare
  • five additional rooms in the 17th-century manor house
  • eight acres of organic landscaped gardens to wander

    Cons

  • restaurant typically serves lunch only
  • in-cottage book selection dominated by Afrikaans titles
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Babylonstoren Review

Set on a 500-acre working farm that is one of the Cape's oldest, Babylonstoren is a bucolic vision in white. Flanking an oak and pepper-tree lined lane, a dozen lovingly renovated laborer's cottages retain their thatch roofs and whitewashed purity outside. Inside, a farmhouse-chic style is created by mixing sleek modern furniture with farm antiques, and framed botanical illustrations. Cottages look out over eight-acres of lush fruit and vegetable gardens (containing over 300 edible species), set against the dramatic Drakenstein mountains. Guests are welcome to harvest and prepare their own meals (six cottages boast state-of-the-art kitchens), or sit back and enjoy the brilliant and inventive meals at Babel Restaurant. With a fabulous location between the legendary wine estates of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, a full spa, and a dam with canoes for guest use, this gorgeous oasis of organic calm will both delight and restore.

2011 Fodor's 100 Hotel Award Winner

Garden of Eden
When urbanites wax romantic about getting back to the land, Babylonstoren is what they probably have in mind. Farmhouse antiques comingle with sleek modern furniture in light-filled, restored laborers' cottages. The setting, on a 500-acre working farm—surrounded by the dramatic Cape winelands—features views of purple-hued peaks and gardens bursting with an aromatic and exotic bounty. Taking the farm-to-table concept to the height of designer chic, Babylonstoren guests can harvest their own feast, or relax in the spa while the excellent restaurant does the work for them.

    Hotel Details

  • 17 rooms.
  • Rate includes breakfast.
  • Credit cards accepted.
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