Boschendal Farm Luxury Accommodation

Boschendal is a beautiful estate in a fantastic location, and the grounds are undoubtedly the highlight of the experience. The scenery, accommodation and overall setting are excellent and account for most of the score. Unfortunately, the guest experience was let down by a number of service and communication issues. * We had an early checkout and had been assured on several occasions that a breakfast box would be arranged. It never arrived, and reception appeared to have no knowledge of the arrangement. * Only one coffee was included at breakfast, with additional coffees charged separately. * There seems to be very little communication between reception and the various facilities on the estate. Wine tasting, bike hire, picnics, restaurants and other activities all appear to operate independently. * Reception suggested buying a steak from the farm shop and cooking it at our accommodation because it was described as self-catering. However, apart from a microwave, there were no cooking facilities available. * Our included wine tasting and cellar tour were never mentioned at check-in. We only received them because we checked our itinerary and asked. * We handed over our wine tasting voucher on arrival, yet were still presented with a bill afterwards, requiring additional time to resolve. * No explanation was given on arrival regarding the activities available on the estate, shuttle services, dining options, tours or facilities. The estate itself is stunning and well worth seeing, but the overall experience felt surprisingly disjointed and poorly coordinated. For a property of this standard, we expected much better communication and attention to detail. Overall: 4/10. Without the beautiful grounds and location, the score would have been significantly lower.

We sores to see the gardens and do wine tasting. Gardens and grounds are lovely surrounded by mountains. Sustainable land management is commendable. Unfortunately the experience was spoiled by the by the terrible service at the cellar door wine tasting. We went to the cellar door beautiful outdoor area and asked at the bar area to do a tasting. Told to sit anywhere, we sat down just before midday. We were then ignored for 30 minutes. No menu, no offer fo service. It wasn’t busy. We left hungry and frustrated went elsewhere.

My family and I spent the day at Boschendal wine estate in Franschoek. 100/10 experience! 🌷 Boschendal is filled with magic and beauty. We did a wine tasting there and had so much fun! 🤩 our server was well informed and had such a fun energy about him that added to our great experience 🥰 We enjoyed our time there, walking around the estate and browsing through the little shops in the estate. I would recommend bringing comfortable walking shoes as you walk around a lot as there is plenty to see and do there.

Checked in to the Retreat cottages-TV was not working. A satellite dish is used. They fiddled with the TV on and off for almost 2 hours from 8pm until almost 10pm. Was told they would take a look next morning and it would be sorted while we were at breakfast. Returned from breakfast and nothing was sorted. We also heard our neighbours clearly through the door which made for a noisy and restless evening. Long story short, TV was not sorted at all and our entire first night and second day was wasted- we were only moved to another unit at 2pm. They offered a token of apology, but what left a poor taste was the haggling by the Guest relations manager on Day 2, in relation to something offered by the first manager on Day 1. If you cannot provide something as basic as a functional TV during rainy days, and frustratingly leave your guests in limbo for a night and half a day, ruining their time, you should be doing everything you can to compensate for it. When it rains, the Treehouse is great for the children, and my kids loved the lady who looked after them. However, there is absolutely nothing for adults to do when it rains. No spa. No fitness centre. Was so bored on the second day that I booked a spa day at Sante retreat, which was absolutely the highlight of an otherwise boring and frustrating stay at Boschendal. On the second evening, the power kept being cut in our unit and we were woken up at 2am and throughout the night by power rebooting. Spoke to the guest relations manager who promised us feedback by today but who has now ghosted us. Boschendal been on my bucket list for some time; it is highly overrated and nothing justifies the fee charged. So many better options in the Western Cape.

We stayed at Boschendal on our garden route trip. Such nice staff but it really is a big commercial enterprise. Everything is money money money. You cannot set up a room tab so have to pay each time. Having just come from a 5 star hotel this felt 3 star. Disappointed.