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It
was during his ownership that the property became extended.
Bertha Kellman, the new
owner in the 1920's, extended the building once more to become the Central
Hotel, operated by her two sons. The most famous visitor from the hotel was
General JC Smuts, an important historical figure not only in South Africa
but also overseas. Smuts would later be one of the designers from the United
Nations. Tristian Maske named the hotel in the 1970's the La Cotte Inn.
It was decided to
demolish the original building and the old fundaments can still be seen upon
today. The rural character from the old property however was kept. The new
owners, Evan and Shane-Ann Augustyn renovated the formal La Cotte Inn and
gave the present name The Franschhoek Inn.
The Franschhoek Inn
offers 30 spacious rooms, each with en-suite bathroom and the following room
facilities:
- Television
- Dual volt power
plugs (110/240 V)
- Bar fridge
- Direct dial
telephone
- Air-conditioning
- Individual
decorated rooms
Facilities:
Conference room for maximum
50 delegates, equipped with all modern audio-visual facilities. Conference
packages including accommodation and meals are possible.
Restaurant:
Elegant dining in our
Franschhoek Inn Restaurant.
Vinotique:
Our Vinotique puts the
accent on the Cape Wines. Wine tasting can be arranged guided by our
sommelier.
Swimming pool:
A central spot on the
courtyard. Enjoy lunch, cocktails around the pool or a lovely dive during
hot days.
Rooms:
30 spacious rooms: 2 Colonial
Queen, 5 Colonial Suites, 20 Pool Suites, 2 luxury pool suites and 1 Deluxe suite.
Parking: Safe secure
parkinng.
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The Franschhoek Inn
overlooks the picturesque vineyards and mountains from the historical
Franschhoek. The gracious charm from a typical French village, once found by
Huguenots on the run to avoid religious prosecution, can still be seen.
The Franschhoek Inn
offers Luxury accommodation, conference facilities, restaurant, swimming
pool and an excellent wine cellar. Its location is perfect to explore the
region and the village centre with its art galleries, cheese factory, 25
wine farms and estates, trout fishing, golf courses and artisan Belgian
chocolates.
The slogan from our
hotel is 'the pride of
Franschhoek' named after the flower with the same name occurring in the
Franschhoek Mountains.
'The Pride of Franschhoek'
The mountains
surrounding Franschoek is the natural habitat from the delicate pink Pride of Franschhoek
flower or better known as the Blushing Brides. This flower is important in
the local tradition. According to a legend, a French Huguenot farmer asked
the hand from a local beauty and had on that stage a flower on his jacket.
The more serious the more deep pink the flower is, the same colour which the
future bride should have when blushing.
The Blushing Bride (Serruria florida) is
part of the Protea family and is discovered in 1773 by Carl Thunberg. The
flower is then out of sight for 100 years, thinking that the Blushing Bride
would have extinct.
Professor Peter McOwan
would re-discover the flower in 1892 which was in those days a sensational
discovery. The delicate flower is then taken to the Kirstenbosch National
Botanical Gardens and would be presented to the English royal family in
London.
The flower became more
and more scarce in the 1930's and after a field fire in 1943 completely
disappeared. Three years later only 60 plants were found. This was proof
that proteas need fire to regenerated.
Nowadays the flower is
extremely popular in gardens and the Blushing Bride occurs in the
surrounding mountains.
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