Leeu Estates

The country cousin to the charming Leeu House in Franschhoek Village, Leeu Estates lies just a few minutes’ drive away, on a hillside surrounded by gardens, vineyards, and mountain peaks. Like its urban relation it’s a contemporary restoration of a lovely century-old Cape Dutch house, and it adds a handful of freestanding cottages (and a separate spa building) to raise its room count to 17.

Even at that size, it’s an intimate escape, more hideaway than resort. But it lacks for nothing in terms of comfort. Classic and deluxe rooms are spacious and sober, in neutral-toned textures of linen, sisal, stone and wood, and they come with rain showers and underfloor heating. Studios and suites add fireplaces as well as even more interior space, and the rooms in the cottages can be combined to turn them into self-contained residences for families or large parties.

Leeu Estates also features a restaurant helmed by the same Oliver Cattermole who’s in charge at Leeu House — where, naturally, you’ll find South African wines flowing in liberal quantities — as well as a tasting room run by the Mullineux & Leeu team. Other diversions include a proper spa with three treatment rooms and a 15-meter infinity pool. And you’re surrounded by lovely gardens, an impressive art collection, and beyond, the Franschhoek wine country in all of its glory.