Le Quartier Francais

Ideally located in the centre of Franschhoek we found the hotel to be a perfect place to stay and explore this lovely town. On arrival we were greeted by Michaela and Morne who along with the other staff made our stay a delight! The hotel is immaculately maintained and manages to be quirky and stylish at the same time. We were very unfortunate that Epice, our favourite restaurant ever, was closed for renovation (it reopened the day we left) but Protege made up for this by providing a superb experience, the Yellowfin Tuna being my highlight. The hotel has two absolutely outstanding restaurants in the same building, only separated by a corridor ! Our room was bright and spacious with a lovely mountain view. We booked a spa treatment which took place at Leeu Estate, the hotel’s sister property. The spa itself was being renovated and the treatments were given in a cottage on the estate. Excellent treatments in a truly spectacular setting , about a 5 minute drive from Le Quartier Francais in their shuttle bus. Our stay was at the end of July and the weather was beautiful ( although this is not usually the case at this time). The town was very quiet, compared to the summertime and restaurants were easily booked. We had a very early departure and the hotel provided tasty breakfast boxes for our journey to the airport. We were delighted with our stay at LQF and would happily return!

Lovely residence hotel tucked off the main road in town felt like returning home in the evening with the carefully curated grounds and setting. Well appointed room with wood burning fireplace was perfect for an after dinner retreat on a cool evening.

This was one of four hotels we stayed in during a holiday in South Africa and Zambia. Unfortunately it was the worst of the four by quite a big margin. On the positive side the hotel is located right in the centre of Franschhoek so it provides a good base to explore the town. We would also recommend Protégé restaurant where we had breakfast and also a very good quality dinner. The service there was always excellent. Our room, was also comfortable, clean and well equipped albeit we had persistent problems with the light switches which work strangely and have instruction stickers on them which is unusual but necessary as they don’t appear to work intuitively. The main problems are that, first and foremost, we found the service in the hotel lacked the warmth and consistency you get in other quality hotels in South Africa. Management are not very visible despite the fact this is a small property which presents plenty of opportunity for staff to get to know their guests if they wished to. Our arrival created an awful first impression. First of all you arrive to the rear of the property. We had to search for a doorman to help with our bags. We were then taken to a “holding lounge” opposite reception where we waited quite a while despite the hotel seeming to be quite quiet. The lady who checked us in wasn’t welcoming at all and, as she walked us to our room, she did nothing but list the rules of the property and point out other rooms which would have apparently been nicer than ours! By the time we reached our room we wanted to leave and asked to speak to a manager. The two people who came to see us assured us the service would improve however, honestly, we should have left and stayed somewhere else as the first impressions of the service proved to be accurate. We would also say that the design of this property doesn’t make it a pleasant place to stay. The rear entrance and lack of any common lobby area make it feel very impersonal and more like staying in a rental property. It also lacks a gym or fitness centre necessitating a trip to a sister hotel to use such facilities which isn’t ideal.

What a gem! Small, relaxed but elegant. Franschhoek is a nice smaller alternative to Stellenbosch and this is definitely the place to stay. Impeccable, friendly staff. A must stay!

We have just spent 8 nights here. This is a fab hotel- small, peaceful, very comfortable and with excellent staff. Dumi the assistant manager is outstanding and nothing is too much trouble for her. The hotel is in the centre of the village where there are lovely shops, cafes, restaurants etc. A perfect combination. Highly recommended a private pool suite.