I’m a traveller and these last two years have been particularly hard on my soul.
In recent months however, I’ve found solace in doing more luxury local adventures to help me feel like I’m actually “travelling”. I don’t know why I’d never done this before. I always tend to look for cheapie getaways when I’m planning travel close to home, but I’ll certainly continue my new-found travel trick of being bougee in my city. There’s just something about having a luxury experience – even if it’s 14km from your house – that can make you feel like you’ve left your daily life behind and gone on holiday.
Steenberg Hotel and Spa offered me exactly that… Two entire days of “luxury vacay” vibes.
A stunning, lavish, 5-star hotel, on a historic wine farm, with a championship golf course, sublime restaurants and stylish spa all set in the most spectacular grounds offering vistas over the vineyards, mountains and golf course.
“Escape from the hustle and bustle of an urban lifestyle to the tranquility of the Constantia winelands – just a short drive from the city.” – Steenberg Farm
As soon as you enter the big gates of the Steenberg Farm you feel like you’ve left the city. That’s exactly what I wanted when I chose this as the location for celebrating a special someone’s birthday. Of course, every detail was already planned out by me, but the wonderful humans who work at Steenberg Vineyards all went the extra mile for us and made it extra-extra special.
Our itinerary started off with check-in at the hotel. Driving up to the hotel, we were welcomed by 3 smiling, dressed-up members of the hotel team. The attentive valet approached my car door, letting me know that he’d go park my vehicle and bring my bags to the room. Next was the manager who warmly welcomed us by name. I had forgotten my mask and she quickly ran off to their day spa right across from the hotel entrance to get me one before leading us to the check-in desk and telling us more about the lovely amenities they have. Once check-in was complete, off we went with another smiling team-member to show us our room.
Because it was a special occasion – they surprised us and upgraded our Superior Room booking to the Premier Room. Whaaaaat? I was beyond impressed by this thoughtful gesture!
After having a moment to absorb the beautiful room with private terrace and garden – we were called to meet a chauffeur in the lobby who would take us for a Classic wine tasting at Steenberg Tasting Room.
I’ve been to this tasting room before and really love the architecture and surrounds, so of course many pictures were taken. Evidence can be found on my IG.
Our server was knowledgable and down-to-earth, which resulted in a stunning and very memorable afternoon.
My birthday boy was getting hungry though, so like the stars we are, our chauffeur fetched us and we headed back to the hotel to change for dinner which was initially booked at Bistro Sixteen82, but when we learnt they only serve Tapas, we changed our plan and booked a table at Tryn Restaurant.
Tryn is on a level of its own! I will definitely be writing more about the actual restaurant in a separate post. On this special evening we enjoyed a delectable 3-course dinner and already got very excited to return to the contemporary, fine-dining establishment the next day for a Birthday Lunch date.
We returned to our room, which the staff had beautifully set-up for the evening while we went away for dinner.
When booking a stay at the hotel it comes with Breakfast at one of the two restaurants on site, or in the comfort of your room – we opted for the latter. And since it was the morning of my handsome lover’s birthday we opted to pop the bottle of MCC we got on arrival in our room and turn our orange juice into mimosas. Breakfast was incredible! We still feel like they should box up that granola and sell it – I could literally eat it everyday (not just when I’m feeling like a rich bish).
Once we had enjoyed our breakfast, we got ready for the day. We grabbed 2 mountain bikes at the hotel entrance – this is one of the ways guests can explore the grounds. Let me tell you, touring the 300-hectare farm by bike is not easy – but it’s worth it. Jay & I even got a bit lost, but had massive fun.
After working up a sweat and watching golfers half-way, we continued on back to the hotel’s complimentary relaxation area. This space has a pool, loungers and pool-side refreshment area. Sometimes they even open the pool up for non-resident guests at a small fee of R500. Learn more about that here.
Later we had a spectacular lunch, again at Tryn. And we could’ve remained on the farm for many more hours if we didn’t already have other plans. Things we didn’t get around to include: golfing, having a picnic in the garden, spa treatments, or the Tapas we skipped at Bistro Sixteen82.
Overall, I’d say this sort of experience is going to become a regular thing for me. How do you feel about treating yourself to extra luxurious things as a form of escapism?
P. S. I sure hope you check-in at The Steenberg Wine Farm sometime and indulge yourself in a luxury life…
Colourful Kisses
Sherri
