SandiSplash

I stayed at Maison d’Ail for the last night of my Garden Route Trip in Franschhoek and although I sampled quite a variety of guesthouses on my trip, Maison d’Ail had to have been my favourite. It was a pity that I only got to spend one night here and I would have loved to have stayed a bit longer. Maison d’Ail kindly offered to give away a night for two to my readers so they can experience why I was so blown away by the guest house. The entry to the competition is right at the end of this post. But first let me tell you more about Maison d’Ail.

I loved the name of the guesthouse before I even saw it – Maison d’Ail – House of Garlic. The owners’ names are Mr and Mrs Garlick – how cute is that!

We arrived all hot and sweaty from walking around Franschhoek at midday. I’m quite baffled by why everyone complains about Durban’s heat. The rest of South Africa is just as hot! We were welcomed into the reception area and the lady that greeted was sweet enough to see how tired I was, got someone to take our bags up to our rooms and offered me a free beverage (from their stunning kitchen) to quench my thirst.  

The first thing I did when we got to our room was pass out from travel exhaustion out so I can definitely attest to how comfy the bed was. I loved the look of the room. Everything was clean, white and crisp and the silver-grey colour scheme worked so well off that white. The view from our room was of the mountain with Franschhoek written out in white stones.

I love big bathrooms and while this wasn’t that big, it did have a huge shower – more space to dance around while singing in the shower. There were loads of things hidden in the cupboards that I did not have time to use like a bathrobe. One of the guesthouses on my Garden Route Trip didn’t even offer shower gel and shampoo and for the same price, Maison d’Ail provided us with bathrobes. There was a coffee plunger.

After my nap, I walked out the same way I came in, this time marvelling at the long light blue coloured pool. After my dip in the pool at Hermanus, this pool was just calling my name but I didn’t have time for it. For those that prefer the indoors, they have a little open library area where you can curl up on the couch and have some me-time with a book. There are also balcony areas to chill out in if you want some sun. Did I mention there’s free wifi?

I loved loved loved the kitchen and dining area. There is an inside dining area, a little couch area with a fireplace and the outside area which we settled on for breakfast. Breakfast was my favourite time at this guest house. We were spoilt with a huge buffet selection of juice, fruits, yogurt, cereal, pastries with cheeses. They were all plated ready to be taken to our table so we weren’t dishing up at the counter. I prefer hot dishes and this breakfast was your standard English breakfast but I liked the little differences – like the use of cherry tomatoes instead of a thick slice of a salad tomato.

Before we left, the owners came to say hello to us and we had a lovely conversation about our trip, Franschhoek and…um, chemical engineering.

Now that you know all about the place, here’s how you can enter. The one night’s stay with breakfast at Masion d’Ail is only valid during March and April and no flights or other extras are included in this prize. I'll be running the giveaway until Christmas. Enter using Rafflecopter by doing any one of the following:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Maison d’Ail is providing the free guesthouse stay to the winner of this giveaway. I fully paid for the Maison d’Ail stay detailed in this post.