The Bend Country House
Unfortunately the room (we stayed in) has seen better days; mold grows in the bathroom; couches are dirty and marked with cigarette burns; the closet doesn't have any shelves - so you are forced to hang your clothes on the rail (but can't do so, as there are no hangers); the couches in the pub area have nice, fat spider-webs in its corners (i.e. not a spider web that the engineering spider started after the morning dust-off, but rather something he/ she has been working on for quite a while).
The staff are very warm and friendly.
We booked the cottage for 3 nights - as I could not find any photo's of the cottage, I phoned "management" and asked if they could send me some, so that I can see what it looks like and what (if anything) we need to bring with us. They said that they "may have 1 photo somewhere", which they will email to me - I never received the photo.
Upon our arrival, Sheila told my husband that they have plenty of rooms still available in the main "hotel" area, and that we are welcome to take a room if we are not comfortable in the cottage.
The cottage was nice - if you planned a "backpackers" weekend, where you pay R150 (or less) per night.
We asked whether we could rather stay in one of the hotel rooms that she so graciously offered.
The last day/ night of our stay, a wedding party arrived - and Sheila promptly and very loudly told everyone that the room she had set aside for one of the wedding guests have now been taken up by us, as we were not happy with the accommodation arranged; this story was repeated a couple of times during the course of the evening. The poor guest (whose room we now occupied) had to make do with the "backpackers" cottage.
So, I am sure that The Bend must have been a great place a few years ago, but it will, unfortunately, not see us again.
The stay at Bend Country House was pleasant, but not without its faults. The surrounding beauty of nature is definitely a plus. On arrival, do not expect someone to greet, you. I had to go search for someone to book us in and direct us to our room. The operational staff is always friendly and willing to assist or direct you if help is needed. There is definite maintenance that needs to be performed. During our stay, the roof leaked, with the result that the carpet next to the bed was wet and started smelling and I had to prop up the multi-plug to ensure that no one got electrocuted. The toilet did not stop running during the night, this resulted in us having to get up and having to manoeuvre the ball valve so that the water would stop running, so no sleep right through the night. The pillows provided needs replacement and the towels although nice and big has also known better days. The room has a kettle in cups, but unfortunately the tea bags were not topped up and for half our stay we could not have tea further in the room. I must say I expected more for the four stars rating shown on the website and the price you pay. My rating 4/10.