Kezlyn Farm Cottages — Hotel in Okhahlamba Local Municipality

If you want to relive the days of apartheid this is the place to be. Upon our arrival one of the staff came to greet us and we socialized as we always do. The minute the owner came to bring the braai basket we ordered, the staff worker was send away abruptly, even though we explicitly expressed we didn't mind. We were asked not to interact with the staff (who live also on the farm) during their off time hours. I explained that for me if people are truly free, they can choose how they fill in their off time or who they talk to. After all we didn't mind the hospitality. This was received by a my place/my rules policy. As a person of principles who believes in equality regardless of race, religion, identity or any other discriminator I clearly presented my opinion that this is not how you deal with people. There should be no place for second hand citizens, especially in a country with the history of South-Africa. After my outburst (the owner was clearly concerned about bad publicity) she called one of the staff to inform them they could not come over which was misunderstood. As a result all the workers and staff joined us in the evening where we shared a braai and celebrated around a camp fire having a beautiful moment. We thought what a nice gesture of the owner to make them feel accepted. After we sent a picture of all of us sitting around a camp fire, we received a response that we "placed her staff in a compromised position as well as her self, her business and the staff which was held accountable to a code of conduct". It is the strangest experience we had during our entire trip in South-Africa. Up until today I don't understand why we couldn't share this moment given the mutual consent between all parties involved. I don't know any country that I visited where the entire life of a worker is being determined by an employer. It is something you read about in history books but never believe it is still actual today. Inspite enjoying a pieceful evening we received a very negative and derogatory reply from the owner saying how disrespectful we were ignoring their wishes and those of the staff not to interact with them. After that, everyone went home by 8 but still in the morning the owner drove to our cottage trying to find out who invited whom, as if someone should stand trial for breaking bread and sharing a completely innocent moment. It hurts to see how people are being treated with no future, no respect and little humanity. The fact that she said we would also not speak to staff in European countries just shows how otherworldly certain people are. Instead of embracing them given the past, the first nations are still treated unfairly. People should have free will and equal rights anno 2023. If you want to take racial tension away, one of the first steps is to make people feel equal as a human being. Given the staff treatment, the lack of respect both to us as clients as to the coworkers I would advise to spend your money elsewhere. We can only hope that no staff worker got fired because of a social momentum....

The panoramic views of the berg from the cottage are amazing. I was lucky enough to see snow at the mountain peaks at early mornings during my stay. Rooms are well designed and clean. The cottage includes an effective gas heater and a gas stove which is helpful during load shedding. There is a braai stand with coal available on the patio and a large fire pit and wood available at the perimeter of the cottage yard overlooking the farm fields with outdoor benches available around the pit. The owner was very accommodating with my requests and provided assistance with directions via whatsapp. There is a dirt road roughly 4kms to get to the cottages. When using a gps app make sure to use Waze and not Google Maps as the latter will take you to the incorrect location. Will...

Everything! The stay in our cottage exceeded pur expectations by far! The rooms look exactly like illustrated, while the setting is even more stunning and hard to capture with a camera. It is truly a stunning hideaway and we wished we could have stayed longer than three nights. The cottage, the surrounding and above all the lovely hosts made this the highlight of our trip in South Africa. I have bookmarked this spot and will for SURE be back! Make sure to book the baskets and/or pies. The food is curated with a lot of thought and super yummy. The location is great to explore the larger Drakensberg area, although you will find it hard to leave the...