With its pretty Victorian façade surrounded by lawns and rose gardens, Schoone Oordt Country House is a luxury boutique hotel in the idyllic Western Cape. Swellendam marks the halfway point between Cape Town and the Garden, making it the ideal stopover - however with a vast number of activities and sites to see, nevermind the sheer beauty of this property, a stay here always seems too short!
Location
Schoone Oordt Country House is in Swellendam, just two hours from both Cape Town and the Garden Route, making for a perfect midway stop. The third oldest town in South Africa, Swellendam sits between the Langberg Mountains and the Breede River offering plenty of opportunities for hiking and biking, as well as wine tours and museums.
Rooms
The ten spacious bedrooms at Schoone Oordt Country House are set within the pretty gardens with modern interiors that uphold touches of their Victorian past. Soft, pale colours complement the dark wooden antique furniture, and en-suites offer deep bathtubs and showers. Standard Rooms have balconies overlooking the courtyard and garden, and ground floor Deluxe rooms have private patios leading into the rose garden. For families travelling together, the family cottage is a restored coach house with a kitchenette, upstairs loft, bedroom and extra single beds for children.
Communal Areas
The double-storey Victorian building has two verandas at the front from which to enjoy the garden views. Inside the manor house, there’s a lounge with sofas and an open fireplace, antique furniture, original wooden floors and beamed ceilings. The plant-filled conservatory restaurant overlooks the garden where breakfast and afternoon tea is served and guests can stroll down to the Breede River from the salt-water swimming pool.
Activities
The area of Swellendam offers many activities including plenty of hiking and biking trails, horse-riding trails, and watersports. Take a day trip to De Hoop Nature Reserve for whale watching or journey into Robertson Wine Valley for a day of wine tasting. The town of Swellendam itself is full of coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and the renowned Drostdy Museum.
Bed & Breakfast
When to go
Find out when is best to visit
- Excellent
- Good
- Poor
SUMMER
A good time to visit with average midday temperatures of 30°C/86°F, occasionally temperatures can, however, spike to 40°C/104°F and over. Morning are a much more pleasant 10°C/50°F.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SUMMER
A good time to visit with average midday temperatures of 30°C/86°F, occasionally temperatures can, however, spike to 40°C/104°F and over. Morning are a much more pleasant 10°C/50°F.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SUMMER
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 26°C/79°F, 11°C/52°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
AUTUMN
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 24°C/75°F, 9°C/48°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
AUTUMN
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 20°C/68°F, mornings average a rather chilly 6°C/48°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
WINTER
Given the regions semi-arid climate, days are generally dry, bright and sunny. Temperatures, on the other hand, are somewhat on the cool side, with average midday highs of 17°C/63°F, mornings average a rather cold 3°C/37°F at night - make sure to pack extra layers!
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
WINTER
Given the regions semi-arid climate, days are generally dry, bright and sunny. Temperatures, on the other hand, are somewhat on the cool side, with average midday highs of 16°C/61°F, mornings average a rather cold 2°C/36°F at night - make sure to pack extra layers!
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
WINTER
Given the regions semi-arid climate, days are generally dry, bright and sunny. Temperatures are beginning to warm up, with average a pleasant midday high of 19°C/66°F, mornings remain rather cold 4°C/39°F at night - make sure to pack extra layers!
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SPRING
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 22°C/72°F, mornings average a rather chilly 6°C/48°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SPRING
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 25°C/81°F, mornings average a rather cool 11°C/52°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SPRING
A beautiful time to visit with average midday temperatures of 27°C/77°F, mornings average a rather chilly 8°C/46°F at night.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
SUMMER
A good time to visit with average midday temperatures of 30°C/86°F, occasionally temperatures can, however, spike to 40°C/104°F and over. Morning are a much more pleasant 10°C/50°F.
The Little Karoo can be best described as having a semi-arid climate, with very little and sporadic rainfall through the year. With this in mind, there is no real good or bad time to visit, but it is worth bearing in mind that the summers are hot and winter surprisingly cool. We would, therefore, recommend the spring and autumn months as the best time to visit.
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What People Say
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The personalised service provided was far beyond my expectations. A three week trip visiting four countries in Africa, multiple game reserves, wineries and much, much more was flawless. While a close encounter with a leopard and her cubs…
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We got in touch after hearing about Hide & Seek from a friend. Have to say hats off to Jamie, he was so patient throughout, even through our indecisiveness! Ultimately we ended up with the most incredible holiday of our lives. Thank you again, we will be back!!
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Thank you for arranging our Safari holiday in Kenya and Tanzania for us. It was to celebrate our 40th. Wedding anniversary which was on July 1st. 2018, and through your arrangements, we have had a holiday that we will never forget...
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Thanks so much for a truly unforgettable once in a life time holiday. Hopefully we will be in touch again soon!
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Spot on in terms of itinerary . We not disappointed by any of the suggestions and had the best holiday ever! Thank you!
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Jamie was very helpful throughout the booking process and recommended the perfect holiday. There was nothing we would change having now been out to Tanzania. I would highly recommend Hide & Seek to friends and relatives.
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Jamie was excellent. Once I described what we wanted I knew he would come up with the business. ..and he did!!! 5 stars
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We spoke to numerous travel agents over the period we looked at booking our honeymoon and only hide and seek gave me the confidence I was looking for. Really pleased with our decision.
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Hide and seek dealt with our last minute travel plans extremely well. Obviously, our accommodations shifted as availability diminished but ultimately they came up with a vacation that we will never forget.
