Name: La Clé Lodge
Address: 32 Cabriere Street, Franschhoek, Franschhoek, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa
Rating: 10

Smoking areas

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Wheelchair Accessible

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Breakfast

Restaurant

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Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Library

Barbecue grill(s)

Hiking

Picnic area

Barbeque

Sun Deck

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Conference Hall

Business

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the cottage

Cape Town International Airport

La Clé Lodge

Franschhoek

We spent 3 nights here as part of our honeymoon, and loved it. We had a petit room which was very nice, very comfy bed and a nice bathroom. The pool area is amazing with views to die for. Breakfast was amazing, so much on offer and they’ll make you a hot breakfast at request too with no further cost. What sets this apart is the special touches, the complimentary wines poured whilst you bask in the sun, the chocolates by the bed, the wonderful staff who make you feel as if you’re in your own home. Also a great location to walk to many amazing restaurants, bars and to the wine tram (which is epic!). We highly recommend this and would definitely return to a beautiful part of the world

A home away from home

Le Cle was a beautiful lodge in Franschoek.  Just 2 blocks off the lovely center of town, it was a quiet oasis.  Beautiful gardens and winery in their back was lovely.  The staff was exceptional and kept the fireplaces warm (it was a bit chilly in the mornings when we were there), the breakfasts were amazing and every need was met.  We ate a wonderful dinner there one night also and they have massage service you can book which was a great way to end our trip to SA!  Definitely would stay there again.

Close to Town, but Quiet in Franschoek!

We were fortunate to visit Franschhoek, the epicenter of the South African wine lands.  Thank you to Classic Portfolio for arranging our stay, which exceeded all expectations with our lodging, activities and dinning arrangements.  We stayed at La Cle in La Galerie Villa, which couldn’t have be more beautiful.  The villa was absolutely stunning and within walking distance to the village. A special thank you to John and the wonderful La Cle staff for making our stay wonderful!

Fantastic Stay at La Cla Villas

We spent two nights of our honeymoon at La Cle and had the most fantastic time. The property is absolutely stunning - our room had a freestanding bath and one of the comfiest and biggest beds we've ever slept in. We were also welcomed by a complimentary bottle of their Chardonnay, and enjoyed complimentary homemade onion bhajis by the pool. 

The dining room is gorgeous, as is the breakfast - fresh fruit platters, a cheese board, pastries and a variety of delicious hot options cooked to order.  

There is also a small pond at the bottom of the vineyard with pedalos as well as a tennis court. Lovely spot at sunset. 

Chanè, Ian, Carmen and the team were always on hand and regularly checked in to make sure everything was to our liking. Thank you so much for our incredible stay - we'd love to return one day!

Fantastic stay

We stayed for 4 nights in the Courtyard room. 

We found this venue tried to be a bit of everything and therefore delivered none well. I am still not sure whether we were staying in a hotel or a B&B or your friend’s house (but your friend had moved out). So I’ll just call it a “venue”. 

First off I’ll start with the positives:
- it’s a central location within an easy, safe stroll of Franschhoek centre - could not be better
- the lodge has high potential to be something good - rooms and bathrooms are large
- the views are breathtaking and being able to wander around their vineyard is nice 
- Wonderful setting out by the pool with a glass of wine
- Ian worked the end of our stay and was a very strong, service orientated team member

The service we found just odd and barely there. We’ve stayed in very small venues in the past and had good experiences. They do have staff here - there are 2-3 people working in the lodge plus the manager going between venues. So this place does have staff. But they don’t deliver close to a hotel level of service. They will make you breakfast and do your room. We’d find ourselves having to pop our head in the kitchen to ask for a coffee at breakfast. We felt awkward here, a bit uncomfortable even. It’s not “the best of Cape Dutch hospitality” as their website claims. 
I’ve seen some comments that it’s like staying at a friend’s house and I can see that. The service style was not for us and not up to standard. They also suggest you tip the staff 250 A DAY! To put that in to context, you tip a good game driver 250 a day. Not housekeeping. I found that a bit embarrassing so we upped our tip a bit. 

Whilst the venue looks beautiful upon first glance, there’s room to improve. Some of the windows are rotting (in our bathroom above the toilet at the top), it wouldn’t take much effort to pop open the patio doors and the latch came off one of our windows so it’s very insecure as you could just open it from the outside if you wanted to. 
The safe in the room is tiny - too small for a laptop. Ours also did not work and we were told they frequently break and need replacing. The options we had were to put our things in there and someone to have the one and only key or lock things in our suitcase.

General maintenance is a bit hit and miss. For example, air conditioning moved or replaced but not repainted. 
The pool was not cleaned and there was dirt on the bottom and the steps (we checked it was dirt and not marks). Meanwhile, the pool in the villa next door was being cleaned as we saw on one of our wanders in the grounds. I’ve never stayed anywhere where they don’t clean the pool except self catering private villas (but even those they clean before you get there). 

Breakfast looks like an impressive spread at first but it’s actually basic. Giant bowls of granola and breakfast cereal fill the table. The cooked was ok. 

We were in the Courtyard Room which comes recommended on one well known booking website in the UK. It has a big bathroom with a wonderful shower. 
However, it’s right off the main living space so it’s noisy. It’s next to the toilet so that starts flushing in the morning through to the evening. It’s a house so the acoustics are like a house. You hear everything outside your room and visa versa. 

The WiFi is not acceptable… I couldn’t get the WiFi to work in my room unless I was very close to the door. I had to take one work call during my stay and sat in the main dining room. They did offer to drive me to another place for better wifi but that’s not really practical just before a client call.  There’s a comment in the guest book saying “the internet speed can be slow in South Africa, so please be patient”. It’s not as poor at Grande Provence which is nearby, Babylonstoren, Cape Town or even Kruger National Park. Everyone else experiences load shedding so that’s not an excuse and wifi is a basic these days. 

Our names weren’t right on check in - I’m Mrs X-Y and my husband is Mr Y. So they checked us in under Mr and Mrs X. This caused some confusion on check in but was quickly overcome. But our names weren’t updated. This caused a problem for our 6am pick up. No one is there at 6am except the gate guy. Our driver was not allowed in and they would not check the house for guests waiting for a driver. It’s down a long drive.

This property has such high potential - it would have been more comfortable if they offered hotel style service or wound it back and it was more luxury self catering - you would need your own fridge and access to the kitchen. But it’s lost somewhere in the middle.

Confused experience

This beautiful residence is located in a quiet street very close to the village of Franschhoek. You can enjoy a more than 5-star service, tranquillity and an insanely friendly staff. The decoration is top notch, the views magnificent, the catering amazing.... in short, nothing but superlatives for this blissful place! If you're looking for style without excessive bingbling, this is the place to be.

A more than royal welcome...

My husband and I stayed at La Cle in December as the first stop on our 3-week honeymoon in Africa. It was a beautiful, cozy, and wonderful experience to start our trip.

La Cle has a definite cozy, bed & breakfast feeling - it truly feels like you are a guest in someone's home (in a good way!) We stayed in one of the rooms on the bottom floor which was more than spacious (enough so that I had room to do yoga!)

Julia (the manager) as well as her colleague/co-manager were both very personable and always made sure to check in with us as we were coming or going or at breakfast. When we arrived late on a Saturday night (after 16+ hours of travel), they had prepared for us a veritable "feast" - a traditional South African braii with a variety of BBQ'd meats, sides, and a delicious key lime dessert.

The grounds are really breathtaking - its hard to tell when you are inside, but the back part of the inn extends quite a ways and there is a huge field, vineyard, and pond in the back! Would highly recommend at least exploring if not taking a bottle of wine and a blanket to enjoy an afternoon outside.

The breakfast was a highlight as well - fantastic fruit spread, freshly made pastries, fresh orange juice, and a great assortment of cheeses and nuts - in addition to a cook who will prepare eggs, sausage/bacon, etc.

Since we had just arrived in South Africa, the jet lag got us up early in the morning and we ended up doing several long early morning walks around Franschoek. Definitely a benefit of staying at La Cle is its central location within town and the walkability. We visited some of the other bigger hotels (Delayer Graff, Leeu Estates) while we were there and while they were both super nice - it wouldn't have been as easy to walk around. 

We had several great meals while we were in Franschoek - L'Orangerie, Protege, Chef's Warehouse, and La Petite Colombe - all of which we would recommend. 

Cozy, Luxurious & Right in town!

We spent a precious few days at La Cle in December and loved every minute - it really is a very special place. A stunning property, walking distance from Franschoek high street, beautifully decorated with stunning gardens and a well sized pool as well as a tennis court and lake too. It doesn't feel like a hotel and feels more like staying in a very large house, combined with the intimate service from Julia, Ian and the team. This was definitely one of our highlights of our SA trip and we will definitely want to return!

A very special hotel in the heart of the winelands.

La Cle is a stunning property with incredible grounds, attentive staff, fantastic breakfast and well-appointed rooms. We had a fantastic stay for our honeymoon and the properties private yet central location in Franschhoek was ideal for walking to restaurants, wine tram etc. Our room was clean comfortable and very nicely designed. Highly recommend and hope to revisit!

We could not fault our stay at La Cle.  Great location within easy walk to the high street and restaurants / shops.  Melanie, the manager was fabulous as were all the staff.  Very welcoming and recommended and arranged several restaurants for us - all delicious.  The hotel gardens were beautifully maintained and the breakfasts superb - especially the scrambled egg!  We did not eat there in the evening but other guests raves about the experience.  I would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel - very special.

La Clé Lodge

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