Tuesday, 15 July, 2025
Food and Wine, Nina Caplan
Less than an hour’s drive inland from Cape Town, at the centre of a triangle of renowned wine regions known collectively as the Cape Winelands, sits a stunning winery hotel that is more of an ecosystem. Babylonstoren is a restored farm the size of a town: 1,070 wooded and cultivated hectares with 33 rooms, suites, and cottages, and 12 acres of fruits and vegetables. Buildings are a mix of elegantly modern and original whitewashed Cape Dutch structures, some of which date back to 1692.
From the terrace of Babylonstoren’s super-luxe Fynbos Family House, a magnificent five-bedroom villa that opened in 2024, native grasses and vines roll toward a dramatic mountainscape, set against the hazy blue of the sky. It’s so peaceful here that it’s tempting to stay put, drifting in the elegant wooden swing beside the private pool, or grilling meat from the farm shop for a braai, as South Africans call their barbecues.
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