Marine Hermanus

You need only look up from your table, bed or book when staying at the smart cliffside hotel of Marine Hermanus to see whales breaching the Atlantic surf of Walker Bay.

The 42 suites, that surround a pretty internal courtyard and lovely groomed gardens, are decorated in a light palette of colours which feels smart, comfortable and clean. Built in 1902, the use of traditional furniture, heavy fabrics, antiques and chintz wallpaper really enhances the classic, early 20th-century seaside character here too. However the main feature at the hotel is its position on the Hermanus headland which gives it 360? views of the bays, the Overburg mountains and quite frankly one of the most magnificent seascapes in the southern hemisphere.

The in-house restaurant usually employs a very reputable chef making the food at the hotel consistently excellent. Hermanus is well known as the one of the planet’s best places to spot whales from the shoreline, its local town also carries a tangible European feel with its many cafés and arts culture.