Country Routes: Take me home

Some people enjoy staying in hotel chains, finding in them a reassuring security as they gad about the fleshpots of the world. Me, I hate it regardless whether it’s a Holiday Inn or a Hilton.

There’s a similarity between them whether you’re in Berlin or Wuhu (Hilton), London or Tblisi (Holiday Inn) that completely ignores the spirit and context of the city in they are located… with the exception of the hotel in China which featured spicy fried bullfrog on the buffet.

Give me a hotel or a guesthouse with an identity; it doesn’t have to boast 97 channels on a giant flat screen TV in the room or even a Nespresso machine, just give me some quirky individuality.

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Discovering Cape Country Routes

It’s one of the reasons I’ve become enchanted with the properties and activities falling under the umbrella of Cape Country Routes in my travels throughout the Western and Eastern Cape over the past five years.

The love affair began, appropriately, at the Montagu Country Hotel before moving on to the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale. Subsequently I’ve visited game reserves (Samara, Rogge Cloof, Sibuya and Wildehondekloof in Graaff-Reinet, Sutherland, Kenton-on-Sea and Oudtshoorn respectively); beachfront hotels and guesthouses in Arniston, Agulhas, Knysna, Hermanus and Jeffreys Bay (during which I met my lovely lady Rose-Mariè).

I’ve had dinner with owners at Eendracht Hotel and Apartments in Stellenbosch, Val du Charron wine estate in Wellington and the De Hoop Collection in the nature reserve of the same name outside Bredasdorp. I’ve even been to sea with Cape Country Routes-aligned operators in Knysna and Gansbaai.

It was with the latter, Marine Dynamics, that I began a recent roadtrip with Haval’s behemoth new H7 SUV (sports utility vehicle) to cover some old ground and visit a new CCR property in Hermanus.

Wilfred Chivell and Marine Dynamics are synonymous with marine conservation and eco-tourism in the Overberg and beyond for the past 25 years, during which the company has conducted boat-based whale watching and shark-diving tours.

The Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT), founded by Chivell two decades ago, has been at the forefront of African penguin conservation but has also undertaken dedicated studies on Great White sharks to track their movements and understand population dynamics. The trust has also been deeply involved in marine pollution mitigation.

From Gansbaai it was a short trip back to the newest addition to the CCR stable, the four-star graded Hermanus Boutique Guest House, situated across the road from Fick’s tidal pool.

Cape Country Routes is an association of independent owner-operated and managed accommodation and activity establishments – more than 20 hotels, lodges and guest houses – located on the scenic and historic route in the Western and Eastern Cape. All are carefully selected for their character, charm and romance.

A home away from home

This individuality is what draws to the group; not only are they all different, they offer accommodation and activities to suit all tastes and budgets.

“Our owners are Willem and Estie Steyn from Johannesburg,” recounts Hermanus Boutique Guest House general manager Mariane Maree, adding that they purchased the property about 20 years ago.

“They closed the place in 2015, and renovated it from floor to ceiling, opening it up to natural light and brightening the interior. At the same time, they doubled the number of rooms by building another eight around the swimming pool behind the main building.

“Three years later, we shut up shop again to build a sea-facing penthouse and honeymoon suite as an annex,” The total number of rooms currently is 19.

“Our aim here is to be a home away from home. Guest house is an awkward word because some people think it means you’re staying in their home.

However, once you become a hotel, you start attracting a different type of clientele. Even though we have 19 rooms, we still strive for that personal touch.”

That personal touch, says William Stephens, owner of The De Hoop Collection and a past chairman of CCR, is what membership is all about.

“When a prospective member approaches us, we ensure their specific offering – whether it is a property or an activity – is not duplicated within that area.

“The intention is to have a linear route structure for travellers.”

Cape Country Routes, he says, was the brainchild of Gert Lubbe, owner of the art-deco Montagu Country Hotel till his death in 2020. The torch was carried forward by his partner at the hotel, P-J Basson.

Lubbe also conceptualised the “Route 62” tourism initiative that followed the R62 from Ashton, through Montagu to Barrydale, Ladismith, Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn. This is one of the most attractive and interesting roadtrip routes in the Western Cape.

“Once you had an accommodation property in a town, there was a requirement that you help create or support ancillary tourist activities – again, not in competition with one another, and also on the basis of being owner-run,” says Stephens.

“Why am I a member?” he asks. “One of the most important is that, individually, the costs of marketing and participating in trade shows such as Indaba are prohibitively expensive.

“If I had to do an international roadshow on my own, I probably wouldn’t get much change out of R300 000.

“Those costs are now shared… as is the time we are required to be away from our businesses.

“Because we are not competing with one another, there’s a lot of cross-referencing of products. It’s an extremely positive dynamic.”

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