PETS NEED A Break too!
- Categories - Pet-friendly Accommodation
Julie Berkman-Fluckiger allowed her fathers to accompany her to the fabulous ASARA Estate in Stellenbosch.
The welcome begins at the neatly paved, oak-tree lined driveway where guests are announced by the security guard. By the time one has reached the long albeit gentle drive to ASARA’s reception the team is ready to help park and attend to luggage. “Is this Julie our VIP guest,” one of the staff enquires looking into the car. By this stage Julie was a little disappointed at not having spotted a squirrel to chase while en route. Doors opening and we three are escorted to the ASARA’s reception.
ASARA is admittedly grand because of its large scale but it isn’t ostentatious in any way. The reception area, down a flight of stone stairs, is elegantly appointed. We are offered just-made juices while the check-in paperwork is underway.
Julie, and her fathers, are receiving the VIP treatment and, after putting aside the moist towels, we are escorted to the room.
ASARA hotel accommodations are in a collection of double-storey buildings set away from the main reception and restaurant and bar complex. Our elegant room had a large king bed for us and an almost equally large dog bed for Julie. A welcome card was addressed to her but she was more interested in sampling (inhaling, if I’m being truthful) the chicken broth the hotel had served for her in the room. Our arrival snacks included beautiful sliced-fruit plates while hers included home-made peanut butter biscuits.
The ASARA wine estate in Stellenbosch has some of the very best views of the winelands and offers guests looking for elegance and refinement top-notch accommodations which you can share with your pet family.
ASARA remains family-owned and run today and their passions for quality, craft and the enjoyment of delicious food and wine are evident in the guest experience. Everything encountered at ASARA is of a very high quality.
Louis Comfort Tiffany is best known for the stained-glass lamps he designed that became one of the most iconic looks of the Art Nouveau period. ASARA has a number of these valuable and highly collectable Tiffany lamps in its public areas. The estate’s wine, too, follow their overall commitment to quality and craft and with 100 ha under vine, split between 30% white and 70 % red cultivars, the range reflects the varying terriour.
Following ethical principles and with consideration for the land and the environment, ASARA supports conservation efforts across the estate with various initiatives as well as eco-friendly water and waste management. From a cuisine perspective ASARA continues to look at ways to only use the best locally sourced ingredients and do so in a respectful and sustainable way. During our visit we saw the recently re-planted vegetable garden and heard about beef and pork breeds they raise on a Wellington farm. Soon a new nose-to-tail fine-dining experience will be offered in their Belvedere room of their Raphael’s restaurant to champion those cuts that are typically wasted.
While ASARA is a working wine farm everything we saw looked pristine and tidy. Guests and their dogs are permitted the run of the estate. Julie loved her walks around the vineyards and the three large farm dams. While we enjoyed time lying at the swimming pool, she was focused on the Coots (a breed she encountered at ASARA for the first time) and the Egyptian Geese on the lawns and in the dams.
Throughout our stellar stay a table for us and a luxurious bed and bowl for Julie were always reserved and ready. She enjoyed being on the outside glass-enclosed deck of Sansibar where, overlooking the dam, she surveyed her domain. While we, cocktails in hand, continued to feast on yet another delicious offering from the chef.
www.ASARA.co.za
