Perhaps it is the faux Tudor architectural style which creates an aura of elegance and graciousness. But it is more than that. Being out in the country with the verdant hillocks to the north, the setting is exquisite. The immaculate gardens with its huge trees complement the decorous setting.

Having stayed there for the past nine weeks, I am still enamoured and am not ready to swop for a bland B&B.

On the way back to Joburg on the N3, one passes through the sleepy hollow that is Pietermaritzburg. One then has to climb on the N3 North up through the unending pass until the Hilton turnoff arrives at the top of the escarpment.

Being the new South Africa, it sometimes reflects the ambiguities and nuances of a bifurcated society. An Umkhonto we Sizwe reunion at this outpost of Colonial splendour was incongruous. Seated amongst the well-heeled moneywise were the disparate but generally unkempt and overwhelmed retired members of MK. Before I was told who these guests were, I would have surmised that it was a meeting of local Chapter of the Gardeners Union.

Not that I despised their presence but the incongruity was striking.

Snuggle into the old world charm and unhurried atmosphere of a gem of a hotel. With its sumptuous meals old world style, it provides a vista to an earlier gracious age.

Photos from my personal iPhone4