La Fontaine Guest House — Hotel in Overstrand Local Municipality

It’s a shame I have to rate this otherwise top notch stay with 2 stars. Excellent stay, location, interiors and an absolute stunner. Just like most of the generous and lovely reviews and personal anecdotes about the owner Natasha. Read on to know why I still rated this only 2.

Devon (Manager) checked us in with a smile and welcomed us well. We learnt a bit about the lovely family that owns the place too.

We then enquired about the whale watching trips and requested him to help us with a booking. Meanwhile, I found something on my own and booked it because we only had half a day in Hermanus to do the whale watching trip before continuing our journey to Cape Town. It was almost 6 pm so I was in a rush to get my whale tour booked. Hence, we informed Devon we have done our own whale trip booking and he left the property for the night. My apologies if that caused him any inconvenience.

When we met him for breakfast in the morning, he was a totally different person to us. It was very evident. We didn’t care much because we were anyway checking out in an hour.

After breakfast, I went for a shower and found there was no water in our room on 1st floor, right before checkout. I asked my wife to check with Devon and he said he doesn’t know why and said there’s no problem with water supply on the ground floor. Didn’t bother or even try to check/ fix the issue. I had no choice but to check out and leave without a shower since we had the whale tour pick up scheduled.

During checkout, Devon changed his story and mentioned municipal office has disconnected water supply. Meanwhile, I could see house helps doing dishes and saw running water in ground floor kitchen area. Come on, man.

There’s no way I could verify but if he really shut off the water supply 15 mnts before check out, he is not fit for any hospitality business. The owners should investigate this in my opinion.

He was probably annoyed that we didn’t book the whale tour through him. He was very welcoming initially but his demeanor completely changed once we decided to book the whale tour on our own.

I loved everything else about this property. Would have highly recommended this to anyone only if Devon didn’t try to pull this fast on me. It left a bitter taste and spoilt my day- that too 15 mnts...

I planned a road trip around the overberg region and it started in Hermanus ( I am from California) . I looked at all the many options available and settled on La Fontaine based on the location and the photos of the property. I arrived early on check in day , but was met by very kind and friendly Natasha who sat down with me and took time to get to know me and find out about my visit. That made a very good first impression to me. I loved the older , traditional interior of the established beach house look. My room was huge with lots of space ( I think I booked the honeymoon suite) as it tool up nearly the entire front of the house. Having stayed in many many hotels and guest houses around the world ; some being extremely high end, there is definitely a sense that the guest house is due for a refit when it comes to the rooms. The bathroom particularly looks outdated , although I will state categorically that despite being old, it is very clean and well maintained. I loved the honesty bar in the room, and the tea kettle and coffee machine for those cups of tea during the day ( and the milk in the fridge is a nice touch too for ones tea). The pools both looked very inviting , but it was a bit too cold on the day to swim. Loved that the guest house has off street secure parking. The grounds are well tended to and looks fantastic . It's close to town to walk to the restaurants and shops and across the road is the cliff side walking path. The staff were all friendly and helpful and the breakfast offerings were great with a nice selection to suit everyones palate . If I come back to Hermanus , I would definitely...

We stayed for just two nights of our 12 night trip to South Africa. Our main purpose was to, hopefully, catch sight of the whales, including a whale watching trip. In fact, Hermanus has quite a lot to offer in of itself.|Our room was extremely opulent (heated loo seat, who knew?) Honesty bar, some very pleasant small touches such as help yourself fruit and cookies. There was a furnished private terrace plus chairs/sun beds around the pool. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to fully relax due to the proximity of building works. Clearly, nothing to do with the guest house but a little disappointing. |Natasha was helpful in arranging a taxi as soon as we arrived to take us to the harbour early the following morning. Additionally, we were also served breakfast earlier than normal as we had an early start. We also appreciated the restaurant recommendations. Thank you.||Hermanus was busy at the time so would recommend eating early during the high season. There is a lovely atmosphere in the town and some delightful walking. Quite unexpected.||As another reviewer has pointed out the reception/check in closed at 6 pm. We were at the mercy of an internal flight and then rush hour traffic. Natasha texted to point out the closure time and to be honest I was already searching for alternative accommodation. In the event we arrived just after 6 but it was a close call and a bit stressful as we were tired from travelling. Something to definitely...