Winelands hotel scoops prestigious award

Lloyd van der Merwe and Karine Dequeker-van der Merwe have been working on various upgrades and tweaks since last year.

Lloyd van der Merwe and Karine Dequeker-van der Merwe have been working on various upgrades and tweaks since last year.

Published Nov 21, 2016

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Cape Town - Cape Winelands luxury small hotel destination Majeka House & Spa has scooped a coveted international award in recognition of their world class interior design.

Already a recipient of a string of awards and accolades over the years, Majeka House & Spa has in the past week clinched Best Design Hotel in Africa & the Middle East at the Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence 2017.

Praised as a ‘winning, dining and super styling destination’, the award comes at the end of a successful and exciting year; owners Lloyd van der Merwe and Karine Dequeker-van der Merwe have been working on various upgrades and tweaks since last year, calling in the expertise of designer Etienne Hanekom to work on the hotel’s rooms, Makaron Restaurant as well as the photogenic MLounge.

For visitors to the Winelands, five-star Majeka House & Spa is a very attractive prospect indeed. From its perfect position near the historic town of Stellenbosch to a welcoming and intimate atmosphere, gourmet spoils at Makaron Restaurant by Pete Goffe-Wood, the boutique Majeka House Spa and of course, its on trend designer surrounds, it’s a full house of luxury offerings and arresting eye candy at this 23-roomed Stellenbosch bolthole.

A photo posted by Kiersten • The Blonde Abroad (@theblondeabroad) on Apr 20, 2016 at 3:24am PDT

A fitting finale to the recent refurbishment is the launch of the hotel’s newly redecorated Pool Rooms. The duo of designtastic suites is perched in front of a slick, shared heated pool and elegant terrace. Designed to complement one another while retaining their own identity, each of the suites has a distinct personality, brought to life beautifully by Hanekom.

A photo posted by Sue Duminy (@sueduminy) on Oct 25, 2016 at 12:48am PDT

“We already had such a wonderful response to Etienne’s brave décor scheme in the rest of the hotel that we asked him to work more of his magic in these rooms which are two of our most popular offerings”, says owner Lloyd who together with Karine has been hosting guests from around the world since 2008.

With an oversized flamingo print in the hotel’s dining room proving a major talking point since the refurbishment of public areas was completed, Etienne extended the exotic bird reference in the rooms – making bold colour, pattern and design statements in each and making sure to include framed vintage prints of birds as a point of reference.

A photo posted by Natasha & Cameron (@theworldpursuit) on Oct 24, 2016 at 3:37pm PDT

“It all started with a collection of vintage Audubon bird prints which we found and we took it from there”, explains Etienne, “in nature, a riot of colour is often the norm, especially with birds, and I wanted to reflect that with the palette and furnishings so there are lots of different textures, there’s old, there’s new and there’s an out there colour palette too”.

The first suite features a flamboyant marriage of coral and chartreuse, sumptuous fabrics and a mix of antique and contemporary furnishings while the adjacent suite includes swathes of emerald green coupled with oversized tropical scenes and a feature wall dressed in an on-trend, metallic geometric wallpaper. The result is a thoroughly opulent albeit playful atmosphere.

Adapted from a press release for IOL

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