The Retreat at Groenfontein

The Retreat is a Victorian farmhouse set in 560ha of the beautiful Groenfontein Valley Conservancy, bordering on the 129 000ha Swartberg Nature Reserve. The house, filled with yellow-wood and mellow Oregon pine, has a lounge and dining room – each with its own ceramic fireplace to keep them cosy on chilly winter evenings – leading onto a wide verandah, overlooking the sweeping gardens and majestic Swartberg mountains.

Your Hosts, Grant and Marie, enjoy treating guests to true Klein Karoo hospitality. The smell of fresh coffee welcomes you back from a morning walk, to a hearty breakfast on the terrace, where dinner – cooked with Marie’s continental flair – is also served when the weather is warm. The meals at Groenfontein have a health emphasis, vegetarians are welcome and we cater for problem diets. Our Guests can enjoy Karoo lamb dishes and local Cape specialties. Meals are served under the stars on the veranda in the summer or in the beautiful dining room, with a crackling fire, during the cold winter evenings.
The Retreat has a full liquor licence and carries a selection of fine wines of the region.

This lovely home has 2 garden family suites in the old milking-shed and 2 garden rooms in the converted weaving-shed, all with spectacular views of the mountains, king-size beds which can be made up as twins, sitting-areas by a fireplace, 3 with Victorian bath and shower, the smaller with only shower, the 2 suites have an extra room with 2 single beds. We have 1 cosy standard room in a converted buttery/creamery, with king-size bed, fireplace and shower and 3 comfortable standard en-suite bedrooms in the main Victorian house with French doors leading onto a patio. The guest-lounge and dining-room in the house, each with a fireplace, lead onto the verandah overlooking the sweeping gardens and majestic Swartberg.