We spent 2 blissful nights at Kurland on our recent trip through the Garden Route. The hotel is just beautiful - huge scenic grounds, gorgeous main house and incredible rooms. We had the best rooms in the place and I could not fault them. They were spacious, tastefully decorated, tranquil with a huge terrace and private pool looking over to the mountains. We have 2 small girls who were thrilled with their own "loft" room above ours that was huge and with its own full bathroom. The service was faultless - we were promptly greeted by name as we stepped out of our car, whenever we returned to the property they offered us tea or coffee in our room, there was someone to start our fireplace for us, there were toys and colouring books left in the childrens' loft and the kids were taken on a complimentary pony ride. We were there in the "off" season but thoroughly enjoyed the clean crisp air, blazing fireplaces and peace and quiet. We would be thrilled to be able to return again one day.

We've just returned from a three week trip to South Africa that included a two night stay at the Kurland. The other reviews are right - this place really is fantastic! Relaxing, superb service, excellent food (although we chose to eat out on the terrace rather than in the formal dining room) and lovely rooms. It was the highlight of our trip, and for us had that something extra that put it above the Tsala Treetops/Gorah Elephant camp (where we also stayed).

OK, we have travelled all over the world but we keep going back to Kurland because it is jsut the most relaxing, beautiful hotel in the world with outstanding service. It is also very close to Plett and other gorgeous spots on the Garden Route. It's great for romantic couples, and equally great for families. It's realtively small and intamate, but there is so much to do there you could stay for weeks, and some people do!

I have to say that this hotel is best one where I have ever stayed! The service is absolutely fantastic and rooms are soooo beautiful and of course the whole area (700 hectares) is worth of visit. I can recommend this place for everybody!

After travelling around the Cape with 3 children and the weather turning for the worse, we thought we found heaven when we arrived at Kurland, situated near Plettenbert Bay on the Garden Route. This place was suggested to us by 'Southern Destination' who said that this hotel was part of the Relais and Chateaux group (at the time I had no idea who they were) well it certainly lived up to it's name. If your horse enthusiast this hotel is set on an estate surrounded by horses and rolling green hills hence my children couldn't have been more happier. What we loved about Kurland was that they really looked after the children. The estate has a rustic english country charm with hints of the Dutch architecture, with very well appointed rooms. We had a Rose Garden Luxury suite - which was situated between the rose garden and horse paddock. The suite itself had a loft so we were down stairs in a king sized bed, oversized chairs, roaring fire and heated ensuite floor and the children were up stairs with their four posted beds, the books, the toys and their own bath. I must say that the stairs are quite steep and the children must take care. There was no oversized TV (one small TV tucked away) in the room but there was a small libarary of books - approx 200 books for you to chose a novel from. Oh I should probably add that they use bore water, so try not to wash your hair to offen as by the end of your time there your hair does start to feel like cardboard! The girls (aged 6 and 9) went riding every morning which was inclusive of the rate and in the afternoon if they wished they could have polo lessons (we didn't explore this). Other facitlities that we didn't explore was the professional tennis, swimming lesons, pilates, yoga, and adult ballet tuition. However there was a Kids Club with an attached tennis court, swimming pool (not heated), and playground. They would go on walks around the estate, buscuit decorating (they were only allowed to keep 2 and the others were given away to the staff which I felt was a good idea, no over dosing on sugar!), colouring in, tennis etc, it was all organised but was flexible to suit the ages within the group. We were there at the end of the polo season so we were able to see a number of polo matches one from our room...our 2yr old loved it... especially waking up to the horses neighing in the front paddock. If you love horses you will love the stables as they are full of beautiful horses varying from Shetland ponies, to world class polo horses with Argentinain polo riders to be found near by!. We had breakfast and Supper as part of our package and they were provided in a lovely dining room heated by an open fire...children can dine with you in the relaxed though more formal surrounds of the dining room or at the 'chefs table' in the kitchen...a great idea that provided something a little more 'child centric' this was really well recieved by the kids as they were part of the kitchen action - I must admit Greg, the english chef, just said 'what is your favourite dish' to the children and he made it. All the children loved it in the kitchen, the atmostphere was great and for me a great opportunity to meet some of the other parents. Greg was rather personable and made your general chit chat important. Actually the weather while we were there was not the best but certainly during the summer months if you wanted to have supper in another part of the estate they would be happy to accommodate....under the big old tree near the pool or like us in the private library! Also within estate we explored the grounds on quad bike, they supplied bikes if you wanted to go cycling around the estate, we walked up to the stables then onto the pavilion, jog along the jogging track (not that we did this) or go paddling on the lagoon (gave this a miss as it was cold). We mostly hung around the estate as the children didn't want to leave. However we were able to convince them to go down to the beach (10 mins away) and the chef packed a very healthy picnic lunch and gave us towels and umbrella's. We also went to see and walk with the elephants which was also 10mins away but in the other direction. There is only 12 suites so it had a very calm private atmostphere were you got to know most of the staff. I have only two criticism about the place the Manager, though very approachable and chatty I felt he chould have got to know our names as we were there for 4days, it would have given us that personal touch not just another tourist. The next criticism wasn't really an issue for me but for those who want a quick shop fix the general location of the estate is a bit out of the way. They did supply us with a list of things to do and listed them from the time aspect - 10mins away to 3hours away...Knsyna the closest (quaint) town which was 45mins away. So to end this review we totally and throroughly enjoyed this 5 star hotel and if you have children and you want to get away to a relaxed environment this is the place...our children certainly loved it!