Where It All Began

A world-class boutique hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa.

Named simply after the street in which it is to be found, Akademie Street has such an unassuming exterior that you’d probably walk right past it on a walk through Franschhoek (filled as it is with pretty Victorian settler cottages almost everywhere you go).

However, this would be an oversight: it’s again and again been listed as one of the Top 25 Boutique Hotels in the world and is showered with praise by TripAdvisor winning Traveller’s Choice Awards every year since the awards started.

There are so many reasons why Akademie Street deserves its standing – the public spaces of the interior manage to retain the country cottage atmosphere the house originally had but now made more lavish with a massive collection of artworks, sculptures, paintings and installed items like stained glass and brass light fittings.  Simply to enter the lounge and hall is a treat.

The rooms don’t disappoint: at this standard, one does not simply expect space and features but also sophistication and refinement.  Each of the ten rooms manages to be grand but also intimate and unlike most hotel rooms which seem intent on depersonalising, these welcome you in and feel as if they’ve been decorated by an old friend.

The rooms are located in 4 separate buildings, each of which has two suites.  There are also three completely detached cottages. Most of the rooms have either a private pool or a pool shared with the adjoining suite in that building or if not, they have hot tubs. There is also a larger main pool that all guests can use.

The breakfast menu (and setting) is one of the best in South Africa and we really encourage you to allocate at least one morning just to breakfast and the enjoyment thereof.

Prices start at ZAR8 000 per room per night for the smallest room ($590 / £460 / €530) and go up to ZAR12 000 for the detached cottages (($888 / £670 / €800).  Akademie Street is roughly an hour away from Cape Town International Airport by car.