Babylonstoren — Attraction in Drakenstein Local Municipality

Almost reluctant to write a review as I don’t want people to discover this place because it’s such an fantastic concept in a stunning location with wonderful staff. We arrived early and were welcomed and given access to a guest lounge which was like a library in a country estate, complete with complementary bar. ||Once available we were taken to our room in the xxxxx. The room was just stunning, with enormous bed and wood burning stove (not needed but would be lovely on a cold rainy day). There were wellington boots for guest in case the weather was bad but we were blessed with glorious sunshine. The bathroom was equally enormous with walk in shower and double sinks. The bath had a posy of herbs and flowers from the garden which you could drop in your bath if you wished to give an aromatic aroma to the bath water (which was slightly brown in colour so might have benefited from that). ||Outside the room was a courtyard containing a pool and loungers. There was also a spa plunge pool, salt room, sauna and steam room. I was up particularly early whilst there and enjoyed sitting in the spa listening to the morning chorus and the odd cockerel crowing. Very relaxing. ||Breakfast was something else with the most incredible buffet of fruits, breads and cheeses. The hot breakfast option was equally good with excellent poached eggs (the sign of a great hotel). ||There is an extreme of themed locations like this from authentic through to ‘Disney’ - and I like Disney - but this was very authentic. The staff really did love working there and made a point of sharing snippets that made your stay all the more enjoyable (such as how the food is harvested and what part of the garden it’s from). ||The one thing that was slightly at odds with the whole experience was the Carnivore Night. This was a concept introduced by the owners to have an authentic South African brai and indulge in barbecued beef from the farm. Lovely idea but this went a little too far down the ‘Disney’ end of the spectrum and involved some staff ‘acting’ and a local (not-so-great) band of musicians. Our table of fellow guest found the experience some-what awkward and not really in-keeping with the rest of the Babylonstoren concept. I can see this being a great addition to a family group or team-building night, but putting a bunch of strangers together and calling out people to sing happy birthday to them was a bit cringey. ||We took advantage of the olive oil tasting, wine tasting and garden tours, all available to desks and all highly recommended. There are mountain drives, water buffalo visits, bread-making and bird-watching experiences available to guests. If only we’d the time and big enough wallet to enjoy them we would. ||||Babylonstoren Greenhouse restaurant ||We arrived at Babylonstoren early and had lunch here whilst waiting for our room to be ready. We ordered two garden salads but there was a mix up and we had one salad and the mixed grains salad. The mix up was in our favour and we shared them between us. Both portions were enormous and full of the freshest salad ingredients you could imagine. The grains had cold cooked heritage carrots that were sweet and tasty. The whole thing including drinks was less that GBP20 and set us up for the wine tasting that was to follow. ||||Babylonstoren wine tasting||This is included as an experience for guests at Babylonstoren at no additional cost (I didn’t know this and paid for them after our booking but the guest services team spotted this and refunded me). The whole thing takes nearly two hours and we started with a tour of the cellar and explanation on the winemaking process as well as some history on the venue. The last hour was the wine-tasting. The wine tasting was well planned with semi-circle of wines in front of you of wines starting with sparkling, whites, rose and then reds. Each one had an accompanying food of fruit, cheese or chocolate. Each complemented the wines perfectly and made the whole experience that much more interesting. ||||Babel restaurant ||Both my wife and I agree that this dinner was the highlight of our trip to South Africa, let alone Babylonstoren. The menu was full of seasonal products and we both chose the fillet steak and we were recommended the roast new potatoes and an avocado salad (which at first sounded a bit odd, but the combination was perfect). ||The steak was cooked beautifully, medium rare but warm in the middle. The potatoes wonderfully cooked and seasoned and the salad complemented it all beautifully. The Chef de Jardine (I think that was what she called herself) came over and explained what the ingredients were and why they were included in the salad. She brought us some small samples of vegetables from the garden including cherries (she admitted we’re not from the garden) that we enjoyed with the steak (who would have thought?). ||The staff were very attentive and demonstrated genuine passion in the jobs and their care of the food they served, which made it taste all the much nicer! A must experience for any guest at Babylonstoren. ||||Babylonstoren olive oil tasting||We were greeted for our olive oil tasting by Roscoe who also gave the most excellent wine tasting experience. A gentleman like most of the staff are very passionate about what they do in the most genuine way. ||We started with tasting of the Babylonstoren balsamic vinegar which was most delicious (apparently amazing on ice cream which I wish I had tried but we ran out of time during our visit). We then went to the olive oil making part of the farm and we learned about the whole process which was fascinating. ||We were then invited to try the different oils produced at the estate which I never knew could be so varied. ||Finally (and this is the genius bit) you could blend your own olive oil based on the ones you like best. The 100ml can is complimentary as part of the tour and is a unique momentous to take home. ||Note that you should keep this in your hand luggage and show it to security on departure at the airport to avoid any disappointment of it being confiscated in your hold luggage. Airport security don’t like small metal square objects in baggage. |||*||Babylonstoren garden tour||We did this on the last day of a two night stay in Babylonstoren but I don’t think it matters if you do it at the beginning, middle or end of your stay. The hour and a half tour takes you down the less travelled parts of the garden and lets you see the some of the unique national plant collections as well as the heritage of some of the plants there including a fig tree from Shakespeare’s garden and an apple tree from Isaac...

Fantastic place, a world on its own with different experiences. Only one rotten apple in your whole team to ruin the experience of many guests as I am reading through your negative reviews and which I can confirm with my own experience.

Day 1 was great: enthusiastic wine tasting tour with the tasting of 10 different wines with accompanied food pairings on a unique location. After this went for lunch at Babel: equally epic setting, great service and food. One minor remark: explicitly asked twice for the fish of the day with 'salmon' as answer and got a white fish instead. No issue for me, as it tasted great too. Bought some wines to close off a wonderful day.

Day 2 was a disaster experience when coming back to buy some more bread and pastry as breakfast. Especially knowing this property is ranked this high worldwide. I am talking about one of my rudest encounters in 500+ 4/5 star properties so far. Its clear about the disputable entrance fee charged. But that wasn't the issue to me. She asked the standard question whether or not I have a membership to which i replied i don't know, and told her I was here yesterday explaining my day 1. Immediately this would imply a 100 rand entrance fee. Instead she should and could have checked my reservations of the previous day in their system and offer my the membership, even apologizing that they did not explain the membership idea on day 1 properly. She chose to act rude, superior, policy etc instead of simply friendly and customer centric. It's not about the 100 rand (I spent 10k rand the day before), it's all about customer interaction and experience. On top of that she was talking trash about me being 'difficult' to her colleague in the local South African language. This is completely out of control, for any occasion (and this was just a basic one). Little did she realize I fully understand the language as I speak Dutch (!). In short: your welcoming desk is your first touch point with new or returning customers. I see that the negative comments are only about the entrance fee and one person from the welcoming reception desk. And nothing has been done about this sadly. I was even doubting to simply not enter the property anymore. Luckily her colleague was able to confirm my presence as I checked in with him on day 1. The process is not even clear for the frontline people themselves upon how to check whether or not you have a membership (i will spare this whole convo)

As a marketeer, my advise would be to even keep the entrance fee but allow your guests to get their fee back once they have spent a certain amount of money or when they booked certain experiences implying a certain spending. And more importantly to change the one frontline lady as it will quickly result in a serious downgrade of your overall international ranking. It's not the first or second negative review of her.

PS: you'll not find this name into your system as I'm active in the world of food, drinks, and hotels. Nonetheless, important to share this so that it gets picked up to grow from '90%' to '95%' on the scale of customer experience.

On an end note: day 1 remains memorable as well as the property itself. Everything is so well thought through on many levels - I can see the why behind the recognition.

EDIT: got a phone call from the HR director following up on the issue. Highly appreciated and...

Babylonstoren is a beautiful estate that has a lot going for it for a day visit, however as a hotel it is shockingly bad for guests staying there. The room rates here are amongst the highest in South Africa - we paid a little over USD 1,000 per night for our stay for an entry level room. With this price level in South Africa you would expect top tier 5 star hotel amenities and service - the reality is anything but.||The main issues are as follows:||1. Outside Guests: The "hotel" receives an incredibly large number of outside guests who come for the day to walk around the gardens/have lunch/do wine tastings/spa treatments etc. These outside guests pay an entry fee of about USD 7-8 and get access to effectively all the same facilities and services as those paying the inflated room rate. Those visiting for the day are in no way at fault, but it feels as if management are just trying to maximise footfall in the property as opposed to run a luxury hotel. All the toilets/signs etc are what you would expect at a nice garden centre, not a luxury hotel charging in excess of $1000 a night. The whole property feels very much geared towards maximising the experience for outside guests with little thought given to those staying there. ||2. Limited Hotel Facilities: The facilities for hotel guests are very limited, there a a few small pools of which the one at the spa is open to outside guests. There are not many places to go and relax aside from your room (If you leave your room between 10am and 5pm expect to jostle for space on the footpaths). The hotel is lacking a lobby type lounge area for hotel guests as when it rains (more on that below) there is really nowhere to go and the place turns into a zoo as everyone scrambles for the limited indoor areas. It's quite telling that the reception area for those coming for day trips is more impressive and larger than the small cottage reception for hotel guests paying 125 times as much. ||3. Dining Options: There are 2 restaurants, one a more formal restaurant (Babel) which can be booked in advance, the other a more casual one (Greenhouse), both with indoor and outdoor seating. When it rains both restaurants loose about 50% of their seating, and carnage ensues. We showed up at lunchtime on a rainy day and both restaurants were "full" and we were told that there was a waitlist with no priority given to those staying in the hotel. We explained that as guests of the hotel we needed somewhere to eat and asked where this was possible, "you can order room service" we were told. Eating a sandwich sitting on your bed being the only available lunch option is not acceptable for a 5 star hotel. We had to leave the hotel to get lunch elsewhere. ||It's easy to see why this place has become so popular as the estate itself is stunning. However it has very much become over commercialised and now feels like a "luxury farm-day experience" as opposed to a 5 star hotel. ||Don't waste your money staying here, find a hotel nearby and visit for the day if...