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4.0
#1 of 1 hotels in Kleinmond
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DISCOVER THE ART OF NATURE AND PURE LUXURY IN HERMANUS Located in the heart of the Kogelberg Biosphere, Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa, affords the unique opportunity to experience a perfect blend of luxury and rare natural beauty. Inspired by the distinctive fynbos exclusive to this area, every moment at the hotel is a pleasure to the senses.Indulge in an array of dining options, relax at our luxurious spa, lounge beside sparkling swimming pools, and listen to the soothing hum of our honeybees. Our privileged location in the Kogelberg Biosphere allows for convenient access to world-famous whale watching destinations and exhilarating outdoor activities – all just a 90-minute drive from Cape Town. Host inspiring business meetings and unforgettable weddings in generously appointed venues featuring the latest technology, impeccable service and catering expertise. Then tee off at our signature golf course ranked in the top 10 in South Africa.Experience pure luxury and natural beauty in full bloom at our hotel.
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
Great View
Languages Spoken
English, Afrikaans
Location
Arabella Country Estate, R44, Kleinmond, Overstrand 7195 South Africa
Arabella has a great golf course and as far as courses close to Cape Town it’s probably the best, or top 3 anyway. The course is the hotels biggest asset. The hotel is a great structure and was originally well laid out and built with a nice pool. The rooms are all very similar so it may not be worth paying for a lagoon view depending on how important that is to you. The bathroom amenities are a big let down and not commensurate with the rates and establishment. The sliding shower rose seemed a bit cheap when viewed in context of the broader facilities. The spraying nozzles on the taps are absolutely infuriating with very little water being dispensed making shaving and brushing your teeth a frustrating process. I know a lot of hotels try this to save water but a sensor system makes far more sense. The linen is ok and I did request feather pillows and is highly Recommended ended as the alternates are well worn and hard. One small bottle of water on the room seemed a bit small minded if you consider the very least you should be able to do is have a glass of water , water to wash your mouth after brushing your teeth and perhaps make a cup of coffee in the morning. The water supplied is reverse osmosis prepared water (ie.not spring) and offered in a recyclable bottle so not a big expense to provide larger quantities.
My personal biggest disappointment and something worth bearing in mind is that I ended up paying over 15% higher rate because I booked using the BONVOY app as opposed to using Booking.com. Now assuming booking.com takes 15% commission this means that the rate was effectively 30% higher. One of our rooms was booked a day later and we were charged another 30% more and it was explained that this had something to do with the algorithm of the booking system (very poor explanation). However I was able to find a rate of 30% less on booking.com at the front desk so clearly the algorithm only applies to the BONVOY site. As a hotel owner myself I am familiar with how agencies like Booking.com operate and always felt it would be better to support the establishment directly. I suppose this is not the case with Arabella and worth remembering when making your booking as you may get a lower rate via an OTA.
If you can put some of my frustrations aside the golf course is worth playing and spending a night or two to make the whole experience better then the hotel suits!
I would like to compliment the chef and his team. The overberg lamb stew and chicken curry was amazing.
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Date of stay: January 2020
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 took advantage of going "off season" and enjoyed every minute of our break. We stayed in 2 deluxe premium interleading rooms lagoon facing.
The modern rooms were spacious and comfortable. Loved the views of the golf course, birds, gardens and lagoon from the balconies ... and the bathtub. The welcome fruit plate was a nice touch.Kudos for the outstanding breakfast buffet which included a huge halaal selection. The "family platter" buffet dinner was 5 star indeed.
The putt putt in the picturesque gardens was a treat. Of course, the waterfall pool and the heated pool were a highlight too.
The hotel interiors are indeed a sight to behold. Considering we stayed during lockdown and had to wear masks and social distance, this never detracted from the enjoyment or quality of our experience.
A big thank you to the person who cleaned our room : I had lost a gold earring and the next morning, the cleaner had found it and left it aside for me.
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Date of stay: October 2020Trip 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.
After an 11 day safari and tour of Southern Africa we stayed at Arabella for some r&r before heading back to the states. The value was amazing. A comparable resort in the US would not be in my budget. This was a luxury stay for a great price.
All of the staff were so lovely- front desk clerks, bar tenders, pool staff, the spa receptionist, the estheticians, the wait staff at the breakfast buffet. Very friendly and conversational and willing to help.
We got a standard room. It was massive with a huge bathtub, a separate shower stall and toilet/bidet stall. There was even a heater underneath the sinks. Our room was on the ground level and opened up to a well maintained lawn and had a few of the ocean. A great spot to indulge in some room service!
My only qualm is that the pool chair cushions got taken up well before the pool closed. The pool closing so early was unusual to me as well.
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Date of stay: December 2019
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Cleanliness
Service
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.
Seeing that travel is now open for tourism we booked into the Arrabella for the weekend. The hotel really is impressive but the service and room facilities are quite appalling.
Firstly, it seemed liked the normal room rate was being charged, yet not all facilities are available. Room service being one of them. I ordered coffee and cake from the lounge via room service, nothing arrived, and about 45 minutes later I was phoned and told that there is no room service! Why not tell me when I ordered, or did the staff not know there was no room service when I ordered? Surely the food could be left outside for door? The shower in our room had a broken shower head, so water all over the place. There were no towels in the locker room at the spa! All quite thoughtless. There was no documentation or magazine in the hotel room! Maybe a precaution for infection, which I understand, but when paying over R2000 per night one would expect some reading material in the room. We were told the indoor jacuzzi was 32 degrees warm, yet I doubt it was more than 22 degrees. So we did not stay for long.
We all understand that COVID had a terrible effect on tourism, but when you charge the normal room rate and provide half the luxuries, one would expect that the room is flawless and the facilities that are still available are equally flawless. Sadly not the case.
Our visit was neither flawless nor memorable and we felt cheated. Our stay was not worth full price and if this is how the Arrabella opens their tourism season you have a long way to go!
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
Failed to inform us their spa was not open upon booking at the Arabella Golf Estate & SPA. Blows my mind you come for a spa experience but they are only open on weekends but we were meant to be there for a 4 day week visit. So what should we do for 4 days? We arrived 2 hours prior to check in and were told we could go to the cafe for a drink which we were happy to do. There was not one waiter to attend to us nor did anything even appear to be open. We walked around the kitchen and could literally have helped ourselves at their service bar as no one was present. A little bit later we saw the staff eating cake and drinking coffee but still did not look like there was anyone to attend to guests. The hotel looked empty yet even 20 min before check in at 2pm our room was still not ready. It was now 2:05pm and still no room after arriving at 12pm. You would think they would make a bit of an effort when you booked the most expensive room in the hotel to have it ready a few minutes early considering we happily waited for 2 hours. The cherry on the top was that their water was also switched off due to burst pipes. Just what you want to hear for your special tone away. We then demanded to cancel our presidential suit which we booked more than a month in advance. They were happy to do. Didn’t even seemed concerned that we were ready to leave on the spot and asked if they could call another hotel for us. I have never in my life experienced such disinterested treatment from staff and is by far the poorest among our travels. I’m sure Sol would be turning in his grave if he saw how his empire has been brought to the ground by incompetent people. Disgusting experience and does not warrant 5 stars. Needless to say we were welcomed at The Marine Hotel and can now start enjoying the birthday weekend and spa treatments.
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Date of stay: November 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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 warm welcome received when checking in by Pinky. The staff ,attention to detail and cleaning services is certainly top notch. This hotel has certainly understood what customer service is all about. Everything works and nothing is too much trouble. The room is cleaned so well every day and all the required toiletries are replaced daily. This not not a normal phenomenon. I will certainly be back here and my this a regular holiday destination
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Date of stay: December 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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 Hannes Human, Other at Arabella Hotel Golf & Spa
Responded 07 Jan 2023
Dear fwfbiz, Thank you for the time you took to share with us your experience of the Arabella Hotel, Golf and Spa. We really appreciate your very positive feedback. I will most certainly share the feedback with Pinky and the team. Kind regards Hannes
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Something is very wrong at the restaurant. The cork flew off when the awkward waiter opened the bottle of Cap Classique, with contents and bottle flying all over the place. My husband opened the replacement bottle - the wine was room temperature, wirh the waiter offering to put ice in the Cap Classique! She got the rest of the wine order wrong - and the white wine was at room temperature in sweltering February heat. I went to speak to the floor manager who promised me all would be good for the rest of the evening. The food arrived cold, with fat congealing in the dish. No spoons to dish up food onto plates, we used our forks. No waiter to top up wine. No cloth supplied to dry bottle taken out of ice bucket. The food was terrible. The desert took so long, we forgot about it and asked for the bill. More waiting. The deserts then arrived, it was awful. The manager was nowhere to be seen. These are just some of the things that went wrong. We were six happy friends together, and the experience could not spoil our fun, but we won't go again.
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Travelled with friends
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 Hannes Human, Other at Arabella Hotel Golf & Spa
Responded 17 Feb 2023
Dear Cruiser31253237108, Thank you for your recent visit to the Arabella Hotel, Golf and Spa. We appreciate your valuable feedback about your experience at our restaurant. I can most certainly understand by your feedback that the night was not what you expected and that there were a comedy of errors. I would like to apologise for the subsequent frustrations and inconvenience caused during your time in the restaurant. I have followed up with the restaurant team and we have unpacked the concerns raised and have done the necessary training with the team. We will continue to focus on the concerns raised and ensure that they are not repeated. Again, I would like to apologise for the poor experience on the night and thank you for your valuable feedback. Please know that you are always welcome at the Arabella Hotel Golf and Spa. Yours sincerely Hannes
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If you coming for golf this place is great as the golf course is super , people connected with the golf are efficient and friendly. We had Andre for coaching lessons and he was excellent. The hotel becomes secondary if you are out on the golf course and enjoying all the outdoors activity the region has to offer. The only issue is the food is so bad at the hotel you need to go out for dinner.
If you are not coming for golf and only for the hotel , it’s very average. Facilities are good and room is comfortable but it’s a very large hotel and I would hate to be around when it’s full.
It lacks warmth or something is missing. Service is ok but people lack passion you feel they are smiling and friendly because they have to . Here again lacking something .
The food besides breakfast, is terrible. We had one meal on the first night and then decided to go out the next 4 nights. Lovely restaurants and wine tasting in the area around Hermanus.
I did not see any concierge service for recommendation for restaurants or walks etc.
We enjoyed our stay thanks to the golf and the area with comfortable accommodation! Marriott has work to do on getting-some character to this place. It has potential
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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 wife, 10 year old daughter and I went back to this idyllic hotel for the first time in a long long while, as the last time we were there, it was owned by the Sheraton group!
It is now a Tsogo Sun Hotel and they have kept the luxurious lustre and absolute gobsmacking splendour of the place exactly as we remember it. The difference being furthermore that this visit was our first hotel stay since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, in all its various levels.
We were pleasantly surprised to find everything well organised and set out to deal with social distancing, compulsory mask wearing and Charlotte Rhys sanitiser(still >70% alcohol, but infused with a wonderful earthy bushy smell we couldn’t quite place) at the ready.
Breakfast was still sumptuous as it always was, but you are served at the counter instead of serving yourself at a buffet. Upon checking in one is asked to select a time for breakfast seating, as a specific hour is then allocated to you to allow for proper distancing at the breakfast venue.
All of this made very little difference in our overall enjoyment of the hotel. We never felt “locked down” or restricted in any way. This was the ideal breakaway in this time of being oppressed by something uncontrollable, bigger than oneself like the pandemic.
We shall be back, very soon!
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Date of stay: March 2021Trip 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.
Response from Michael Phillipson, General Manager at Arabella Hotel Golf & Spa
Responded 10 Apr 2021
Dear potvolsomer Thank you so much for your recent stay at Arabella Hotel Golf & Spa and thank you for your comments regarding your experience with us. We are delighted that you and your family enjoyed your stay with us and please visit us again in the near future. Kind regards, Michael Phillipson
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The profesional service and attention to detail is immediately felt upon arrival. Given the Covid pandemic, the management and staff have gone out of their way to endure the safety and also enjoyment that each guest experiences (this is by far no easy task, but they have certainly provided top quality service regardless).
The room was very comfortable and spacious and the facilities perfect and very well kept.
Breakfast was fantastic even though it had to be done slightly differently given Covid.. But well done to all the staff in managing such a complex task.
Booked a massage at the spa and this was definitely one of the best massages I have ever had. The therapist, Felicia, was so professional and knew exactly what my body needed without me having to say much. She definitely understands the body and this wasn't just a usual massage, it was top quality! So if you can, ask for Felicia.
Overall, fantastic weekend away that even felt like an international holiday.
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Date of stay: December 2020Trip 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.
Hilton, United Kingdom19 contributions14 helpful votes
I honestly don't know I'm afraid, we hired a car which we picked up from Cape Town airport. If you're considering staying at Arabella, it's probably a good idea to think about car hire yourselves.
Arabella is pretty isolated and if you're thinking about looking around, you'll need transport. (I would recommend a visit to Hermanus for example). The staff at arabella are very obliging though, so it's definitely worth asking!
Hope this helps. If I can help further, feel free to message again.
There are more places to choose from in the Kleinmond area.
PRICE RANGE
R 2,336 - R 3,284 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
arabella hotel hermanus, arabella western cape hotel, arabella western cape hermanus, western cape spa
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Arabella Hotel & Spa
LOCATION
South AfricaWestern CapeOverberg DistrictOverstrandKleinmond
NUMBER OF ROOMS
145
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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