Babylonstoren has been named South Africa’s #1 hotel in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards. For the fifth consecutive year, readers have awarded the farm hotel the country’s top position.
Less than an hour from Cape Town International Airport, at the foot of Simonsberg Mountain, Babylonstoren brings together gardens, wellness, heritage and farm-to-fork dining in a working Cape Dutch farm. Its defining landscape is a magnificent formal garden with more than 300 varieties of plants that are either edible or medicinal, and whose changing harvest shapes the menus and daily life on the farm.
A stay gives guests the freedom to follow their curiosity: cycle through vineyards and orchards, join the morning harvest, meet the water buffalo or swim in a secluded mountain pool. The Garden Spa offers time to restore, while Soetmelksvlei opens a window onto farm life in 1897, with traditional skills still practised by hand. Accommodation ranges from elegant family houses for exclusive use and refined Farmhouse Suites to whitewashed Garden Cottages beside the formal garden and spacious Fynbos Cottages set among indigenous planting, vineyards and orchards.
“This recognition belongs to the people who bring Babylonstoren to life every day,” says Dalené Claassens, director of hotel and hospitality. “Our gardeners, farmers, bakers, winemakers and hospitality team all contribute to the guest experience. Luxury here is the freedom to explore, the generosity of what we grow and make, and the care with which it is shared. Every detail should connect guests more closely to the farm. To receive this recognition from our guests is a powerful endorsement of that approach.”
More than 798 867 survey responses informed this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards, recognising the places travellers most look forward to revisiting. Among the travel industry’s longest-running accolades, the awards are published on Condé Nast Traveler’s website and celebrated in its November issue. The full list of winners can be found here.
The Award-Winning Stay
Make South Africa’s #1 hotel your next escape. Available from 7 October to 30 November 2026, The Award-Winning Stay offers two nights at Babylonstoren, with daily breakfast, all farm activities and a complimentary drive to the secluded mountain pool. Here, three hours are yours to swim, stretch out and take in the sweeping mountain views. A Babylonstoren picnic can be arranged at an additional cost, completing an unhurried afternoon above the farm. Book your Stay here.