Vida Nova Retreat

This place has recently been taken under new management and you can tell, Melanie was incredibly helpful and available. We arrived just in time for lunch where we had the seafood platter and enjoyed it by the pool. We got upgraded to a little cottage with views of the mountain and vineyards and private jacuzzi. Dinner we stayed in and enjoyed the best Tuna from local Harbour and some delicious steak. This little retreat is also available to day visitors that just want to unwind or work remotely. They have garden pods for privacy that provide amazing shade. And the wild bunnies that help with keeping the vineyards healthy are too cute.

We arrived late, but was greeted with great hospitality. The rooms were excellent. Ours had a fireplace and a jacuzzi. We made proper use of this in winter. The breakfast was decent as well. We did not eat dinner, but we saw some of the food that people had ordered and it looked yummy. The staff and manager were very friendly. The only issue we had was the wine options available at the bar. Only expensive bottles were available, the more affordable ones were not available. The highlight for us was the jacuzzi. Even though the light was faulty, we really enjoyed it. Definitely will be coming back to explore more.

I'm torn about what to write about the place. You'd expect superior service, but you won't receive it. My bed was too soft, kept sliding off at night, so I used the very hard pillows they had to create a barrier for myself. I was so grateful I packed my own pillow so I used it for the rest of the visit. They ration towels. We were three (2 adults and a kid) in the room, but they kept giving two sets, and when I asked I was told, no more towels were available. My friend gave up on trying to get things fixed in her room, she didn't have privacy as one of the problems she experienced. The restaurant staff was lovely, they let us eat our own food, two nights in a row. That helped because the dinner menu is bland. Breakfast is the better option. No in house laundry service if you're there for a week. Even if you opt to wash your own clothes, no place to hang them. They have an outside service provider who will charge R150 to wash one dress. I would have overlooked all this if the hotel didn't start harassing me about the location of glasses once we checked out. It was the strangest conversation. They didn't outright say it but they were essentially accusing us of stealing champagne glasses. With all the luggage according to them, we somehow found a way to pack cheap champagne glasses for some to fly back to California with and some to another province. And this is after I had told them several times before we even check out that we don't drink alcohol. My other Cape Town hotels offered wine as complimentary and a welcome gift. These guys have orange juice and some imitation of champagne in the mini bar, and if you use it, they charge you. I told them we didn't drink, but the charge still appeared on the proforma, so we had to ask them to remove. I would never leave this review if it wasn't for the ridiculous glass encounter.