BUSHMANS KLOOF ON CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER USA GOLD LIST – AGAIN!
Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat in the Cederberg (Western Cape, South Africa) has been selected, for the second year in a row, as one of the very few South African destinations to appear on the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler USA Annual Gold List 2010.
Sharing this distinction on the coveted ‘roll of honour’ is sister hotel, The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, in Cape Town. Both are members of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, along with The Milestone Hotel, which achieved top spot on the Gold List this year in the London city hotels category.
This exclusive international accolade follows hot on the heels of Bushmans Kloof being voted one of only three winners in the ‘Best Hotels for Food in Africa, Middle East and the Indian Ocean’ category of the 2010 Condé Nast Traveller UK Gold List, sharing the title with Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek, and all-villa resort, Maia, in the Seychelles. The Condé Nast Traveler USA Gold List, a readers’ poll of the ‘Best Places to Stay in The World’, is the most highly regarded list of its kind. Widely used by American travellers, it is recognised as ‘a compendium of properties as reliable as bullion itself’. Approximately 25,000 readers of the magazine give their impressions in the annual Readers’ Choice Survey. Each year’s Gold List score represents the percentage of those who rated a property ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ on specific criteria.
This year respondents cited the Bushmans Kloof experience as ‘deeply enriching’ and ‘beyond all expectations’ with hotel rooms ‘fusing modern and African design’, and service ‘impeccable on all levels’. The afternoon tea at Makana, its spectacular open-air dining venue, was described as being ‘in a class all of its own – pure confection’.
Bushmans Kloof is the ideal getaway, offering an exhilarating combination of wellness, tranquility, restoration, conservation and heritage. It is the ultimate haven to rest the mind and spirit, in the heart of the wilderness and surrounded by the wonders of nature. The highly acclaimed Relais & Châteaux lodge has 16 spectacular guest rooms and suites, combining beautiful finishes with an eclectic combination of ethnic and South African-colonial art and furnishings. Just 270kms from Cape Town, this ecological oasis of open plains, rock pools and waterfalls set amongst landscapes of staggering rock formations, has a spirit and mystical beauty that gently soothes and rejuvenates, leaving one feeling at peace and restored.
Bushmans Kloof has consistently received world-wide recognition for its exceptional dedication to preserving the natural beauty of the 7500 hectare reserve that provides a predator and malaria-free sanctuary to many endangered species of flora and fauna. With over 130 ancient Bushman rock art sites in the reserve it is also a South African Natural Heritage Site, renowned as one of the world’s largest open air rock art galleries. An inspiring holistic healing and wellness focus has been introduced, with additional facilities and spa/wellness programmes to enhance this special experience, allowing guests to make their stay one of discovery, enrichment and indulgence.
Having personally had the pleasure of spending three days at Bushmans Kloof recently, I wholeheartedly support the all above accolades and offer my own congratulations.
Richard Haas-Winkelman
