Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quaint
Family
Languages Spoken
Afrikaans
Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Internet
Pool
Free breakfast
Airport transportation
Non-smoking hotel
Laundry service
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Room features
Air conditioning
Flatscreen TV
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Location
62 Silverboomkloofroad Spanish Farm, Somerset West 7130 South Africa
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De Molen Guest House is renowned for its friendly staff and exceptional service, despite a few hiccups. The hotel's immaculate cleanliness and tranquil atmosphere are frequently praised, offering guests a serene retreat. While the spacious rooms with beautiful views are a hit, some guests have mentioned noise concerns and a need for decor updates.
The hotel's amenities are generally well-received, though issues with accessibility and heating have been noted. Opinions on value for money at De Molen Guest House are mixed among travelers.
Atmosphere
Tranquil
Rooms
Spacious
Value
Inconsistent
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Friendly
Amenities
Satisfactory
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Joris, Christie and all their staff made me feel most welcome and at home during my ten day stay. The room had an excellent view and was kept spotlessly tidy and clean every day. The Full English Breakfast was of high quality every morning, albeit the portion size was far too much for me to eat, it was definitely value for money. The tranquil location of the guest house allowed me to relax every day after a long day of work. Many thanks for your wonderful hospitality. Regards Andrew
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Learnt from friends about Guest House De Molen and made from The Netherlands a booking for the whole family from 16-24 July. Upon confirmation of 2 rooms and a cottage immediately got assistance from Joris with the rental of 2 cars while he also gave a full page with tips for trips in the Somerset West area (including nice restaurants). This assisted us in the planning of our trip. Upon arrival got a friendly reception by Christie who runs with her husband the guest house. Several rooms have a fantastic view over the area. Guest house also has a small pool in a beautiful garden. The guest house is well situated. Only 30 minutes’ drive from Capetown/Waterfront while Stellenbosch is about 15 minutes away. Joris also recommended a good company for whale watching in Hermanus which can also easily be done as a day trip. Guest house is an old Spanish farm with a lot of atmosphere. Joris and Christie remodelled it completely. This resulted amongst others in having breakfast next to a fire place! Bear in mind mornings can be cold in July as it is Winter. Breakfast gives sufficient choice and friendly staff is well trained. Breakfast is also every day served on different plates with different cutlery and colour servettes illustrating the eye for detail Christie has! Guest house also has one day laundry service which we used to our satisfaction. Also used a few times an Uber taxi from/to the guest house which was not a problem at all. Somerset West also has 2 shopping malls (big one and a smaller one) with several grocery stores and restaurants. Both malls at about 10 minutes’ drive from the guesthouse.
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Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
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Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A lot to digest? Read an AI-generated summary of recent traveller reviews.
The place is at an obscure area, far from the centre. Our room (room 6) was accessible via 2 flights of stairs, one a crackling wooden flight, which we had to climb with luggage. I realized when we visited our friends' rooms (they convinced us to book there after they had done so) that theirs, on the first floor, were a lot better. At breakfast, I asked for a cappuccino instead of coffee both mornings, and got a tiny cup of it. At check-out, I was asked to pay R 50 for it, when no one had mentioned that there was an extra charge for it. My husband does not eat pork, so all he had was eggs for the his breakfast, because there was nothing else. We were so cold the first night, and asked for an extra blanket the following night - there are only throws, so we got yet another one. Cape Town was cold and wet. The aircon helped a lot when we were not sleeping.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We did not realise, from their website, that there were so many stairs and seriously steep slopes at this venue. I went there with a partly disabled person and she really struggled. When we asked (as we arrived) to be refunded and get help in relocating to a more accessible place the staff were willing but the owner not so much. So we stayed and struggled: we had no access to the pool or areas with great mountain views because of the slopes and stairs. Be warned - a "garden" room does not mean you will get a good view of the garden. Spacious room, great staff, but a difficult stay
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: February 2024
Value
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Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from christy christiaans, General Manager at De Molen Guest House
Responded 27 Feb 2024
De Molen Guest House is located on the slopes of the Helderberg. This gives us such beautiful views and we like to show this on our website. There are stairs to the terraces and the garden, but all public areas are also accessible by ramps; especially built for our less mobile guests. Before you booked, you asked me by email for 'the room with the least number of stairs' (NB: you didn’t ask for ‘no stairs’). I replied that we only had 2 rooms available, and one room has 2 flights of stairs and the other has 1 flight of stairs. You choose to book the room that requires 1 flight of stairs for access. My email stated very clearly that on your dates you had a choice of 2 options: the room with 1 staircase access or the room with 2 staircase access. I recommend that you specify explicitly on future bookings that you want a ground floor room that is accessible without any steps at all. Your room, advertised as a ‘Family Loft Room with Mountain View’, had 2 balconies: both balconies overlook the garden and one of the balconies also offers fantastic, uninterrupted views of the Helderberg. We also have rooms with beautiful sea and bay views, but they were all fully booked. All our rooms also have a view of the 1.5 hectares garden. Because the garden surrounds the main house, not every room obviously has a view of the same part of the garden. I am sorry that your room didn't offer a view on that section of the garden that you liked most. It's a shame it had to turn out this way. We do offer a room type that would have been better for you, but I could never mention that type to you because it was fully booked from the start. Finally, I wonder why you booked a room with stairs, because I told you so clearly and explicitly in advance.
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We had to ask them to share the loadshedding schedule since we wanted to make food but couldn’t. When you leave your home to go on holiday- you expect something better than home- you expect to feel spoiled. I did not feel that way. We were looking forward to this experience because of the website photos (which is NOT AT ALL the reality). I felt embarrased towards my husband who wanted to book at a hotel for us in Cape town and I convinced him to book at De Molen Guesthouse because of their website photos. The place was dirty and old and cold! No extra blankets. One single bed blanket for 2 singlebeds and thin throws for the other 2 beds. Beds were not made properly and it had We paid for 5nights upfront and couldn’t back out (I read another review of people who left and didn’t get their money back. The shower drainage didn’t work and flooded the whole bathroom and down the corridor. Next night as well and then they blamed it me not knowing how to close a shower door!. As guesthouse owners, surely they should do pre inspection of the place to make sure it is clean and in working order before letting guests getting upset? A bathroom is a basic! Beds should be in tip top condition! Their matresses are is desperate need of replacement as it is worn through. Kitchen was dirty and everything in it (toaster, kettle etc is dirty). Television didn’t have have working channels until I complained. Also the parking which is a problem.. If I park , the other guests complained they can’t get out. Bedside lamps’ cord was broken. Chair in the room was broken and the chairs in the tv room was disgustingly dirty and looked like oil stains. NEVER AGAIN.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Don’t stay at unit 15!!!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from christy christiaans, General Manager at De Molen Guest House
Responded 15 Jul 2022
I am very sorry to read about your experience. It is our aim to surpass the expectations of all our guests and I do apologise that we didn’t even come close to your expectations apparently. Please let me come back on your comments below. Please note that the guests who stayed in the apartment directly before you as well as the guests who came after you, are returning guests that are all raving about the beautiful place. I do take your feedback very seriously and make the necessary improvements if needed. We did share the loadschedule with you and we explained which apps to use to stay informed. I am sorry if we didn’t inform you at any time, but after the ‘regular’ loadshedding interval ended, we got also surprised by the municipal electrical fault which followed and took several hours to be fixed. The loadshedding is very frustrating for everyone and even for us as local experts it is sometimes a challenge to stay updated with the continuous schedule changes. Your apartment is provided with a lithium back-up battery and in inverter. During your stay country-wide loadshedding level 6 was active (up to 11.5 hours without electricity per day). This is a major inconvenience for all of us, but at least the lights in the apartment and the WiFi network didn’t go off for a single minute (not during loadshedding, nor during the municipal fault); thanks to the backup battery. It makes me wonder why you mention that you couldn’t make food during loadshedding? The apartment has a 4-burner GAS stove, not an electrical stove. The apartment was built in 2013 which I think is relatively new. I did inspect the apartment before your arrival and on top of my daily inspections, I did additional inspections during your stay. It’s a pity that you didn’t specify any shortcomings in our cleaning during your stay, so I could have solved any of your worries. Unfortunately, there was a cold front passing during your stay, so the weather was rather cold and rainy. There should have been no reason for you to be cold because there is 2x 10,000 BTU air-conditioning units in the apartment that are more than enough for the apartment size. On top of that the apartment has a romantic fireplace that I put in for the cosy atmosphere in winter. This fireplace on its own can heat the entire apartment. There is just no reason to be cold in there whatsoever. And if you would have requested extra blankets, staff would not have hesitated to bring them. I am so sorry that you weren’t happy with the bedding. The bedding is such an important part of your stay. We only use the highest quality mattresses. Cloud 9 extra length. Matrasses and bedding are clean to the highest professional hospitality standards. Once again, it is such a pity that you didn’t communicate your complaints while you were here, because we would have made your beds exactly to your own personal preference. The plumber that came out on Sunday noted that the drain in the shower wasn’t blocked and that it was working well. I am truly sorry if we made you feel blamed, but we just wanted to emphasize the importance of closing the shower doors while having a shower. I apologise for my other guests complaining about your parking. This is a 1.5-hectare property with 30 parking bays. Considering the number of cars present at that time there should have been ample parking space for everybody. All photos on the website are real and taken on this property. I usually get the feedback that our pictures aren't fully reflecting the true beauty of this stunning place.
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We were delighted with our stay here. Great views from the side of the mountain where it is located and a quiet area mean a peaceful place to relax from the sightseeing and trips you will probably take during the day. It is within easy reach of many shops and restaurants and about an hour from Cape Town city centre. Other places like Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are also within an hour's drive. The closes beach is about 15 minutes as well. We preferred this location from a family point of view but obviously, if you are more interested in vibrant nightlife then this might be a bit too quiet. We had a couple of (minor) issues when we arrived but these were sorted ASAP and beyond that there was nothing to complain about. I would highly recommend this location for anyone looking for a nice base to explore the Western Cape but might not want to stay in the busier parts of Cape Town itself. You will not regret booking here.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: January 2025
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It was divine coincidence that made room for my stay. A prospect from Cameron did not show up. After due consultation, the room was allocated to me. That is business flexibility and pro actives. The facility located at tophill was alluring because it provided for helicopter view of the city. The facility needs expansion to allow for those visitors that don't need more than one room if that will not affect business value and proposition.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
De Molen Guest house is in a perfect location for both discovering the wine region around Stellenbosch and visiting downtown Capetown. Both destinations are less than 30 minutes drive away from the guest house. The guest house offers a breathtaking view, quietness, excellent service, swimming pool and tastfully furnished rooms in a nice old building. The hospitality of the owners was outstanding. You probably won't find such a good accomodation for this price neither in Capetown nor in Stellenbosch.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: March 2022
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My family and I attended a wedding in Stellenbosch in December this year. Picking De Molen Guest House as our place to stay turned out to be the perfect choice. Located at the foot of the Helderberg mountain the house offers a stunning view of the Hottentots-Holland mountain range and Gordons`s Bay. The rooms are spacious and tastefully decorated,there's a beautiful garden with a nice swimming pool, the staff very friendly and always helpful. Special thanks to landlady Christy who would join us at breakfast on the terrace for small talk and supply us with valuable recommendations as which sites to visit, where to dine or shop and so on. She was also very helpful organising transport / taxi on various occasions thus making our stay completely stress-free! All in all we had a wonderful, relaxed time at De Molen Guest House and look forward to coming back anytime!
Erik, Vienna, Austria
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: December 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beautiful surroundings, the pictures shown on this site must be outdated as our room was lovely unlike the bathroom shown on site. If you staying longer than a night I would ask for a room upstairs, incase you have a noisy stayer above you. Very comfortable bed. Recommend having the breakfast, very well priced. All the staff are friendly and pleasant.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:There is safe parking on site.
Honesty bar.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Angela
Thank you for your lovely review! It is wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the accommodation, views & food. We strive to give our guest the best.
We will be looking forward to your next visit.
Regards
De Molen Guesthouse
There are more places to choose from in the Somerset West area.
PRICE RANGE
R 1,071 - R 2,069 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
South AfricaWestern CapeCape TownSomerset West
NUMBER OF ROOMS
14
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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