Spier Wine Farm

Style

Vine and dandy

Setting

Winelands wonder

Just outside Stellenbosch, Spier Wine Farm is rooted as much in the land as it is by the people who care for it. This family-friendly boutique hotel spans an impressive 650 hectares, with a talented team that hosts tours and tastings around its regenerative farmland, gardens and award-winning vineyards. Indoors, contemporary interiors have been infused with an artistic streak courtesy of local creatives, and chefs behind the clutch of revered restaurants spin seasonal fare into comforting classics.

Facilities

Rooms

80, including 12 suites.

Checkout

11am, and check-in is at 2pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More Details

Rates include a buffet and à la carte breakfast, welcome drink, minibar, self-guided art, nature and history walks, and a daily selection of hosted wine, art and food garden experiences.

Also

Two of the Luxury Garden Rooms have been adapted with step-free access and a wheelchair-friendly bathroom, and there are plenty of connecting room options. The hotel’s restaurants and bars are all accessible, and there are reserved parking spots for placard holders. However, it’s worth noting that the spa and pool haven’t been especially adapted and the estate’s more rural areas might be challenging to navigate.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

650-hectare estate with rewilded and food gardens, art installations, heritage buildings, a working farm and winery. There’s also a yoga and breathwork pavilion, fitness studio, free-to-borrow bikes, an events space, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: smart TV, USB and USB-C ports, air-conditioning, ceiling fan, free minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, free bottled water, bathrobes and bespoke bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

There’s really no bad choice when it comes to rooms here — even the smallest set-ups come with convivial sitting areas, working fireplaces and sweeping views over the estate. The one-off suites (History, Yellowwood, Water Lily and Cape Chestnut) showcase the talent of Spier’s designers, with custom themes and appealing additions such as farm-style kitchenettes and separate living spaces. Villas are standalone, sleep six and come with their own private swimming pools and chefs, should you fancy even more ensconcing extras.

Poolside

The outdoor heated saltwater pool (open 6am to 6.30pm) stretches 20 metres and is laced with plush sunloungers, scalloped parasols and encroaching flora from the wild surrounding gardens. There’s a second smaller pool outdoors at the spa, and a network of child-friendly splash pools weaved around the Elemental Garden.

Spa

Spier’s Spa is as immersed in nature as the land itself. Talented masseurs combine homemade herbal remedies and ancient practices with more modern methods across 10 treatment rooms, while an infrared sauna, cold therapy room, two steam rooms, relaxation lounge and mani-pedi salon extend the repertoire of this apothecary-style space. You’ll find Caren (the spa’s resident phytotherapist) in her consultation room, should you want a more in-depth understanding of your body’s needs, and there’s a Mindful Movement Studio for guided breathwork and yoga sessions. But this healing spot’s star is its Cape Herbal Bath House — an intimate two-person room that hosts three-hour private bathing rituals, starting with a full-body exfoliation and herbal immersion before a stone and shea butter massage.

Packing Tips

Green fingers — getting stuck in and learning about the land with Spier's resident experts is encouraged around this nurturing estate.

Also

Step inside the Soil Room and you’ll see there’s more to this space than its name suggests. Plants from the hotel's nursery have been positioned against a backdrop of custom, botanical artwork by Chris van Nierkerk to create a living gallery.

Children

All ages are welcome at Spier Wine Farm; over-16s are charged as adults. Access to the kids' club is included in rates and there’s a multitude of sleeping options for families.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

There’s no need to commit, here — the Picnickery (open noon–2pm) makes curating your own basket, or preordering one, an easy fix for days out.

Dress Code

The Garden Room and Vadas are fairly informal in their approach, but for evenings at Veld, we’d match its art-adorned interiors with bold tones and patterned fabrics.

Hotel Restaurant

In keeping with Spier’s sustainable mindset, menus across its five restaurants lean heavily on the goods grown by Megan in the estate’s regenerative food garden, reared by Angus around the farm and bolstered by the Cape’s small-scale, Fair For Life-certified suppliers. It’s an ethos seen first in the Garden Room’s seasonal breakfast spreads, all colourful fruits, homemade pastries and natural yoghurts, with à la carte options available. Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery takes the baton for all-day dining, dishing comforting classics (smoked brisket, fire-roasted flatbreads, glazed pork ribs and pizzas) throughout the day. As its name implies, there’s an attached bakery which sells slow-fermented sourdough and sweet, seasonal pies.

Reservations-only Veld ups the ante, in both flavour and feel, with fine dining that honours local flavours and thoughtfully curated pairings from an adjoining Wine Library. Bubbles & Braai pops up outdoors on warmer days for gourmet burgers, grilled to perfection on an open flame. If it’s a more intimate set-up you’re after, the historic Spier Manor hosts exclusive food and wine experiences throughout the year.

Hotel Bar

Naturally, Spier’s house-made wines top lists when it comes to tipple requests and (outside of tastings) sampling their notes is best done at the Lobby or Rooftop Bars. The latter is adults-only and admires the rewilded estate from its top-floor perch, while the former makes for a convivial spot come cooler evenings. There’s a Pool Bar, too, should you prefer your sips be beside the water.

Last Orders

The Garden Room opens 7am–11am; Vadas is open from 9am–8pm (4pm, Sunday to Tuesday). Veld’s dinner service is 6pm–9pm, and Bubbles & Braai opens as the weather allows. The Lobby Bar pours 11am–2am; the Rooftop Bar, 5pm–8.30pm; and the Pool Bar, 7am–6pm.

Room Service

Available around the clock.

Planes

Cape Town International sits around 20 minutes from the hotel by car and is your nearest airport. Staff can arrange transfers with a local company for an additional charge.

Automobiles

There's enough to do around the 650-hectare estate that a car won’t be essential, but if you’re planning on exploring further afield a set of wheels will be useful. There’s free private parking on-site, just across from reception.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Spier Wine Farm’s 650 surrounding hectares are (understandably) its pride and joy, and it’s a centuries-old site that’s well-worth exploring — how you do that is up to you. There are wine tastings that showcase the land’s award-winning terroir; guided Segway tours that bring you up close and personal with the vines; pick-your-own-produce visits to the food garden with its resident agro-ecologist, Megan McCarthy; and farm walks that lead you through rewilded landscapes, heritage buildings and art installations. Learn more about the latter with an art tour, too. A rotating schedule of events (including exhibitions, live music, plays and supper clubs) ensures your connection to creativity stays close. If you’d rather take days at a slower pace, yoga and breathwork sessions are hosted in the Mindful Movement Studio.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .