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Guest Reviews
Abalone House Boutique Guesthouse
Kriedoring Road
Paternoster, South Africa
Style: Contemporary Classic
Atmosphere: Quiet
South Africa’s urban centers are quite cosmopolitan, but get a bit out of town and it’s almost shocking how quickly you find yourself deep in the middle of nowhere. Here, in the Western Cape, a little over two hours from Cape Town, is the sleepy little village of Paternoster, which in turn is home to Abalone House, the sort of laid-back high-luxury villa-style boutique hotel that South Africa, these days, seems to specialize in.
The house is steeped in mellow coastal chic, and for a bit of color it’s decorated throughout with images by Tretchikoff, the massively popular Russian emigré painter who spent his most productive years in South Africa. Ten rooms carry on in the same key, all of them packed with dramatic globe-trotting antiques. If there’s one thing the Abalone House isn’t, it’s minimalist; personality drips from every corner.
If you’re not an old South Africa hand you might be surprised at the high level of culinary accomplishment about. Here the Irish-born chef Nickie Lawson makes the most of fresh, rustic West Coast ingredients, including a fair bit of very fine seafood — this is as fine a symbol as you could name for Abalone House’s mix of urbane sophistication and far-flung ruggedness.
How to get there:
Abalone House is approximately a 2-hour drive north of Cape Town International Airport (CPT).
