If ever there was a steadfast summer oasis and winter sanctum to nestle into in the Cape, offering up a year-long lap of luxury and discretion, it’s definitely the award-winning Majeka House.
The design-forward boutique hotel with warm hospitality at its centre, may call a quiet corner of Stellenbosch home, but it’s brimming with life and colour. It’s bringing travellers from the Winelands and worldwide into bespoke spaces they can momentarily call their own.
Conveniently, here is also a unique stop-in which has seen those booked for a spa day, a meeting, or even just a meal or drink, eventually languishing about in a setting suited to all kinds of needs.
It’s chic. It’s welcoming. And it’s one of this decade’s most coveted stays for a reason.
Welcome to Majeka House.
Arriving back here proves no less decadent than my first foray into this hotel’s leafy grounds.
It is a feast of greenery and vivid colour from the minute you exit the outer bounds of Cape Town proper, and enter the land of globally renowned wines and exciting eateries.
The drive to Majeka introduces travellers to the everyday lives of locals – my Uber meandering between panoramic vistas, Cape Dutch homesteads, and folks running and running errands.
You can tell the exact moment when city life gives way to the tranquillity of suburbia as the turn into Majeka House doesn’t have much bustle – canopied with tall, green trees and sedate homes behind secure gates.
It makes you question whether everything about the hotel will also be muted like the street.
Majeka House is, however, one of the most visibly vibrant moorings you can ever find – and it’s by design!
Architecture & Design
Originally a whitewashed farmhouse in a quiet suburb, the private owners – Lloyd and the French-born Karine – decided to strategically buy up the neighbouring properties as they became available over the years. It was smart thinking as the 21-roomed boutique hotel now has ample space for its guests, while still lending an air of intimacy once protected behind the gates and shrubbery.
The hotel has four (4) types of room lodgings which are each individually decorated:
- Premier Collection
- Garden Alternative
- Mountain View Selection
- Poolside Choice
Privacy is prioritised here, along with peace and pleasure.
Majeka House‘s white façade dazzles even once the sun has set, while the emerald green awnings play their part in sheltering and shading guests and their privacy. Every room and suite has either a private terrace or balcony, respectively.
Consistent materials, colourways, design choices, and textures, which make their way across rooms and suites courtesy of the refurbishment by Cape Town designer Etienne Hanekom, include earth tones, wood and stone, the presence of walk-in showers, leather seating, laptop-sized safes, secreted-away fridges, and comfortable large beds.
By design, the Premier Collection rooms have unique ceiling wallpaper (exotic flora and fauna-themed paper which could pass for art in and of itself) framed above the bed, and it enhances the spectacle of the suite that’s flush with crisp white Chrysalis 300-thread-count linen, polished leather seating, plump pillows, and beautifully elegant woodwork along the walls, side tables, floors, and right into the bathroom.
While Malee Body bathroom amenities remain similar and comfy towels are plenty throughout the hotel (and Air conditioning works very well), the Garden Alternative rooms, contrastly, come with more room space than Premier, and the double shower makes for spacious cleaning time.
The Mountain View Selection levels up with the likes of a uniquely selected honesty bar, a Victoria & Alfred bath for the bubble bath revellers like myself, and herb garden views as well as proximity to a koi-pond – a siren call to anyone wanting to get closer and closer to nature!
Good design is once again reaffirmed at Majeka House with hand-crafted furniture and delicate but functional sliding screens in some rooms, creating stunning and atmospheric segmentation between living areas and deep bath zones.
Traveller conveniences are also taken up a notch with the likes of a flat-screen TV in each room – that can be watched from the bath in the Premier and Poolside suites too, for example.
Luxury also makes its way through Majeka’s decor and design, with stunning earthtoned tiling, heated shower rails, generously poured shower products in convenient and chic containers, and a decent coffee pod coffee machine to civilize your morning with a hot cup first thing!
There is mindful construction here too. Redesigned with style, elegance, and accessibility considered, all of Majeka House’s areas as well as two Premier rooms are disabled-friendly. In addition, aside from the Garden View suites, the hotels’ rooms all come with interconnecting rooms perfect for family or group trips – or even pairs who simply don’t wish to crash together!
And the other specifics?
Let’s just say you have to see it to believe the sheer colour variations, class, and excellent quality & taste of quirky decor – blending pops of traditional French and English country elegance with mattified contemporary interior decor picks.
The high-spec finishes like the restaurant lighting are some of my favourites ever in a hotel and light the way while also setting the precedent for the restaurant’s polished but accessible airs too.
Somehow this place makes the likes of a grand piano and a large model of an 18th-century French ship work in one hotel. Wild!
Sleep, Play, or Self-Care?
Plush beds and fluffy pillows make for pleasant sleep in the veritable clouds, that’s for sure!
It gets tempting to spend the day rolling around in bed rather than follow an itinerary.
If you want to stay connected, free and fast Wi-Fi is available to all hotel guests by the way – with guests having their own room-specific logins and range around the property. You can have a lazy lie-in scrolling on your phone, or head outside for some sun and self-care.
The garden setting sets a most tempting scene: Bubbly petrol-blue sun loungers & furnishings, greenery, and blue waters in the exclusive-use plunge pool.
It’s the perfect place to forgo conversation for connection with nature…to enjoy snacks, cool off, and laze about with no plans for the rest of the day.
And if you want for people, the hotel’s fashionable MLounge is a perfect place to enjoy a book among others or start a pleasant conversation while the fireplace crackles on chilly days.
Even fully booked, from hotel to lounge or spa, you’ll find that you don’t ever feel crowded here.
The spa is popular for a reason too, so self-care there would be a hit! In addition to much-needed hydrotherapy facilities weary travellers can unwind in, like the Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, the Spa treatment menu is plentiful. From the comfort of one of the two single therapy rooms or the room for couples’ treatments, enjoy a range of holistic facial and body treatments.
I am so tempted by the Pick a Mix Package offering up a choice of 3 out of 7 treatments, and for a steal!
By the way: Spa visitors are also granted access to the indoor heated pool on the property, for 2 hours following their spa treatment, while the hotel guests have carte blanche to float about all day.
That little piece of heaven wets many an appetite into coming to the Majeka House Spa for solo, partner, bachelorette, and even business spa treats.
Dining Selection
More than anything, wine is a pivotal part of the Majeka House experience.
Decorating the archway of the hotel restaurant are stores of wine featuring some of the rarest as well as the most delicious and decadent wines you can find. Helmed by a wine steward well-versed in local and international vino varietals, choose from a veritable smörgåsbord of wine options on the menu. It’s true to the spirit of South African wines and the people who have made them popular day in and day out!
Dinner at the in-house restaurant may veer on the side of hearty and familiar to local palates, but the breakfast and lunch offerings more than prove the kitchen has some unexpected delights to dig into (I definitely recommend the Poke Bowl!).
Breakfast may be served on the garden terrace, but guests have full permission to dine in their rooms, lounge about the lush gardens, or sit elsewhere for their meal.
I definitely took to jumping from lounger to table, tree-hugging to poolside sipping, and it was wonderful!
If you really are tempted to get a little taste of the great beyond, head to the experiential NOCTURNE, a mixology Bar, for a sip of something sinful (and probably garnished generously with dry ice and something herbaceous and ethically sourced).
Word on the gastronomy street is also that the next best thing to book a table for before even more feverish trend-following hoards descend from foodie corners of the world, is DUSK.
It is an award-winning restaurant big on the popular philosophy which many renowned local chefs believe in of sustainability, seasonality, and ethical ingredient sourcing.
For any who favour the theatre of fine dining a la The Final Table, then definitely get the Majeka House Concierge to book you a table during your stay!
VERDICT?
For locals and globetrotters based abroad, this hotel is definitely the value-for-money find you rave about.
It’s a petrol-blue furniture-dotted gem getting stronger in offerings, courteous and predictive service, and peace.
Family-friendly; with good accessibility considerations in rooms and common spaces, stunning surrounds, and one of the most diligent hospitality teams (from front-of-house to groundskeepers), Majeka House doesn’t skimp on quality.
By My Recommendation: MAJEKA HOUSE
26 Houtkapper St, Paradyskloof, Stellenbosch, 7600
Tel: 021 880 1549
