Winter warmth
Slowly but surely, winter is approaching, and when it’s chilly like this , we can’t think of a better way to beat the winter blues than to spend a night or two at our farm hotel. Our cottages are the perfect place to sit and relax next to a cosy fireplace, with a book from the handpicked library we provide in each room.
Tempted? Well, come and experience it for yourself! Find out more about our accommodation options on our website, or call reservations at 27 (0) 21 863 3852.
What’s a tussie-mussie?
If you found a tussie-mussie, would you know what to do with it? Well, our hotel guests all find a tussie-mussie in their bathroom, with a note suggesting that they put this fragrant posy into their bath water, where the natural oils will be released, creating a fresh and fragrant bathing experience.
Tussie-mussies were a popular accessory in the sixteenth century, when they were known as nosegays. People in those times would carry a tussie-mussie in order to disguise unpleasant street smells, and it was also said to provide protection from airborne disease. Apart from their fragrant nature, tussie-mussies also embodied hidden messages based on the symbolic meaning bestowed on each plant in the posy. Sage, for example, stood for‘domestic virtue’, while rosemary symbolised ‘remembrance’. Thus each bouquet could act as a charming personalised gift.
The Babylonstoren tussie-mussie, showed off here by Wendoline, one of our gardeners, consists of herbs from our fragrant indigenous garden as well as herbs from the tea garden, and includes cuttings from the peppermint pelargonium, wild dagga flowers, buchu leaves, sage flowers and yarrow flowers, amongst others.
A Hedonist’s Guide
The writers at UK publication A Hedonist’s Guide are generally a city-loving bunch, but even they can’t resist the countrified sophistication of Babylonstoren, as this review on their blog attests.
Read the full review here.
Details
At Babylonstoren, we tend to think big, and part of this is paying attention to the smallest of details.
We are on the It List!
Make yourself at home
Babylonstoren Greetings!
We welcomed and charmed our first exclusive booking for a group of friends celebrating a 60th Birthday in October. Our ‘doors’ officially opened on the 1st December 2010 and since then we have hosted guests from all over the world – India, USA, UK, Spain, Sweden to mention a few and we are very excited about the great support from locals. This weekend we are welcoming back a family from Johannesburg for the third time and their favourite wine, Vrede & Lust Jess will be chilled and ready in their cottage.
There is so much to share but where does one start? Maybe I will share a few guests’ comments with you and let that do the talking….
“I did not feel like a visitor, I felt like I belong!”
Inspired by the design, harmony, calm balance and the garden, a guest said, ”Babylonstoren makes me want to be a better person.”
It was such a compliment when a family stayed and wrote in their guest book “It did not feel like visiting a hotel – much rather visiting friends on a beautiful South A
frican farm”
A well-known architect walked into a guest cottage and said “This is not cool, it is FROZEN! It is as private and self-contained as a small house. Can I buy one?”
To crown the first five months of operations, we all came together last week to celebrate Babylonstoren being listed on the Conde Naste HOTLIST 2011 of new hotels in the world that you have to visit. So get packing and come and visit!
Going into our first winter, we also expect to be quieter but I just know that the Babylonstoren Winter experience is going to be very romantic and special in its own way. Picture this – fires and red wine, sheltering against the rain under one umbrella, gum boots and being closer to each other because of the colder weather.
We will be looking forward to sharing this special place with you too.
Warm hospitality greetings
Elmine
