Step inside Le Colonial, a Moroccan souk styled villa at La Clé des Montagnes in Franschhoek… Rich reds, sunburst yellows and burnt oranges fill the room like the mounds of spices in the markets of North Africa. Bright patterned fabrics and mats, Moroccan tiles and African art demand your attention so that you’re lost for a few moments in a sort of heady tailspin with too much to look at.
Like at a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Except that here you get to touch the objets d’art.
Our villa was called Le Colonial, but the French Huguenots probably would have had a good time here too, spending their refuge frolicking around the pool with pink horse hair tails in their pith helmets.
Le Colonial’s cinematic counterpart would be The Fall, a film based on the screenplay of the Bulgarian film, Yo Ho Ho. Don’t worry… no one else has seen it either, but it’s worth finding. IMDB gave it 7.9. So…
Cape Town based interior decorating team Sarah Ord Interiors is responsible for La Clé des Montagnes’ interior design and it really is what, for me, makes this property so different from others in Franschhoek. It even has me bringing up obscure film references.
Table For Six
Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands is close enough to the city for us Capetonians to escape to for the weekend. It’s also very good at removing the sleep from your eyes. You just start to see more clearly.
And so we arrive on this sunny weekend in November, are slipped flutes of chilled champagne by General Manager Peggy Klement, and explore the grounds. You have all the privacy you could wish for here, with shrubbery surrounding the large plot, so that only the Simonsberg Mountains, and occasionally Frank our butler, can see what you get up to.
We accompany a couple of handsome G&Ts to the pool… they needed escorts, and we breast-stroke the day away. Not that kind of breast-stroke. Although, like I said, you could get up to anything here.
Being the South Africans that we are, we opt against dining out in Franschhoek (although the restaurants in town are amazing). We braai. Because once you get here, to La Clé des Montagnes (I just love saying the name over and over…), you don’t want to leave. And you don’t need to. Except to purchase braai ingredients.
Frank, with a smile as enthusiastic as Carlton from the Fresh Prince, organises just about everything for us, except the braaing – because you don’t take tongs and braai sauce away from a South African man when there’s rugby on in the background.
The lavish wooden dining table on the broad veranda outside is the perfect place to dine with friends, with VH1 playing background tunes on the flatscreen TV inside and the night’s stars winking over us.
At our party of six, not counting the wooden animal heads, everyone talks over each other, people laugh, some cry, arms stretch across each other to grab bread here and kebabs there, wine streams out of bottles, red, white, and pink. It’s not that different to a Moroccan souk after all.
It’s one of those nights when you don’t notice the time passing, don’t know what time you go to bed and don’t care if you do either. (Although the beds are seductive in themselves… and the claw-foot bath tubs too.) Such is life at La Clé des Montagnes…
La Clé des Montagnes
Situated on a working plum and wine farm, La Clé des Montagnes forms part of the Inspirational Places portfolio. It offers a luxurious compromise between the freedom and privacy of self-catering while still having all the amenities of a boutique hotel. It has four very spacious villas: includes:
- La Colonial (4 bedrooms); La Grange (3 bedrooms) is sophisticated Victorian farmhouse with plush extras such as deep-buttoned, rollback beds. Le Manoir (2) is infused with a traditional French feel with French linens, toiles and patterned stripes and beautiful antiques. La Galerie (2) is more avant-garde and minimalistic with bold interiors and contemporary art from Swedish artist, Bengt Karl Erik Lindström.
The villas each have a large communal living area, fully-equipped kitchen, sitting area, veranda and swimming pool. They feature mod-cons such as cappuccino machines, open wood fireplaces, safes, mini bars with a selection of drinks, direct dial telephones, air-conditioning, DSTV, surround sound systems with CD player, wifi, iPod docking station, DVD players, safe parking and 24 hour security. All rooms have an en-suite bath and shower. The villas are child-friendly and self-catering. Included is a continental breakfast, a personal butler, hotel concierge and hospitality services.
For more information or to book a stay at La Clé des Montagnes, contact one of our travel consultants. Find out about more things to do while staying in the winelands in our blog.