Babylonstoren

Had such an amazing time we had to extend our stay by an extra night! Loads of immersive activities included for hotel guests eg cellar tour inc wine tasting, an essential oil tour incl a brief workshop, olive oil production tour & tasting. We stayed in a garden cottage which was super cute and very comfortable indeed with all needs catered for including a fantastic breakfast in Babel restaurant. All food served in the restaurants and onsite shops is produced from and on the farm with fresh produce picked daily. I have never had such a relaxing break and felt totally zen throughout our stay. Special mention to Gavin who made sure we had everything we needed and was incredibly helpful.

It is very unfortunate that there are very bad road works to and from Babylonstoren, queuing for long periods of time. It is obviously very frustrating for them too. The gardens, farm shop, ice cream shop, orchards, parking areas are all very well tended and the gardens, especially are stunning. I visited the garden restaurant for lunch, which has quite a limited menu and ordered a beef burger with home made potato chips. It looked really good when it arrived but the burger was inedible, chewy, could not cut it, did not have a good taste at all. To be honest, I had more tasty burgers at McDonald's. The vegan mayonnaise is also not a great addition. I felt very let down. Most of the staff were lovely, professional and friendly.

What an amazing afternoon. We joined the oil tasting and learnt so much about olive oils and we even blended our own to take away! The grounds are beautiful and the food in the outside restaurant was delicious. We were blessed with a glorious sunny day too!

must try Fantastic place, a lot activities, very professional staff, always ready to help.Tasty food at Babylon, but menu to small. We stayed 5 days and getting lunch and dinner on 4 different courses is not OK. Farm houses are build for a warm summer season. First house we stayed was just to cold. next day we moved to another house, which was much better. It was our third time, bit longer this time We enjoyed every day.

Babylonstoren is a beautiful estate that has a lot going for it for a day visit, however as a hotel it is shockingly bad for guests staying there. The room rates here are amongst the highest in South Africa - we paid a little over USD 1,000 per night for our stay for an entry level room. With this price level in South Africa you would expect top tier 5 star hotel amenities and service - the reality is anything but. The main issues are as follows: 1. Outside Guests: The "hotel" receives an incredibly large number of outside guests who come for the day to walk around the gardens/have lunch/do wine tastings/spa treatments etc. These outside guests pay an entry fee of about USD 7-8 and get access to effectively all the same facilities and services as those paying the inflated room rate. Those visiting for the day are in no way at fault, but it feels as if management are just trying to maximise footfall in the property as opposed to run a luxury hotel. All the toilets/signs etc are what you would expect at a nice garden centre, not a luxury hotel charging in excess of $1000 a night. The whole property feels very much geared towards maximising the experience for outside guests with little thought given to those staying there. 2. Limited Hotel Facilities: The facilities for hotel guests are very limited, there a a few small pools of which the one at the spa is open to outside guests. There are not many places to go and relax aside from your room (If you leave your room between 10am and 5pm expect to jostle for space on the footpaths). The hotel is lacking a lobby type lounge area for hotel guests as when it rains (more on that below) there is really nowhere to go and the place turns into a zoo as everyone scrambles for the limited indoor areas. It's quite telling that the reception area for those coming for day trips is more impressive and larger than the small cottage reception for hotel guests paying 125 times as much. 3. Dining Options: There are 2 restaurants, one a more formal restaurant (Babel) which can be booked in advance, the other a more casual one (Greenhouse), both with indoor and outdoor seating. When it rains both restaurants loose about 50% of their seating, and carnage ensues. We showed up at lunchtime on a rainy day and both restaurants were "full" and we were told that there was a waitlist with no priority given to those staying in the hotel. We explained that as guests of the hotel we needed somewhere to eat and asked where this was possible, "you can order room service" we were told. Eating a sandwich sitting on your bed being the only available lunch option is not acceptable for a 5 star hotel. We had to leave the hotel to get lunch elsewhere. It's easy to see why this place has become so popular as the estate itself is stunning. However it has very much become over commercialised and now feels like a "luxury farm-day experience" as opposed to a 5 star hotel. Don't waste your money staying here, find a hotel nearby and v

R150 entrance fee I’m so outraged to be asked to pay a ‘voluntary’ membership, of R150, but if you choose not to, it’s a R150 entrance fee. If all the wine farms and estates started charging, we would soon find a complete desertion of local supporters and a total reliant on the seasonal tourists. Very short sighted. I wanted to go to the farm shop and buy some provisions, but I’m certainly not paying for the ‘privilege’. This is pure greed.