Spa break in Cape Winelands in 2010

5 Mountains Spa bed

My other half and I are partial to spa breaks. During winter, there are bargains to be had in Cape Town. We have had spa breaks at The High Rustenburg Hydro, Twelve Apostles Hotel, Romney Park and recently we spent four nights at 5 Mountains Lodge.

The other breaks were before my blogging days so I wasn’t taking pics or making notes. But here is a little bit of information  from memory about the spas, and links, should you want more information.

The High Rustenburg Hydro is one of the oldest spas in South Africa. It is set in the winelands near Stellenbosh. Their approach is very much on healing and detoxing. Our room had twin beds and we were assessed by therapists to decide which meals and treatments we would have.

5 Mountains Spa dining area

The agenda was cram packed. Breakfast arrived on a tray. One of us had fruit only, the other had fruit and muesli. Then we headed off for either a treatment, a massage or to the hydro centre for hydro therapy.

Most guests tended to remain in a dressing gown provided by the spa. We had a bowl of soup between main meals and lots of herb tea or water. Lunch and supper were buffets of nothing more than vegetables presented in different ways. They also allowed us one jacket potato with our evening meal. No alcohol.

It’s not a romantic break and we found keeping up with the program a bit hard going. The food was better than I expected. It’s the place to go for a body overhaul.

5 Mountains Spa pool area

Twelve Apostles was more about a great location, fine dining and a five star hotel with a few treatments thrown in. I can’t remember how we stumbled on this special. We loved the flotation tank and the chocolate body scrub.

We did not like the young manager who told us lunch wasn’t included. We had to drive back home to fetch the confirmation and show him that actually, it was. And from then on he had an attitude toward us.

Romney Park is a couple of meters from our guesthouse. So we stayed at home and walked down to have the day packages on offer there. I can’t speak about the food or the accommodation as we did our own detox and stayed at home.

There is a full salon and we had the works. Body scrub, facials, manicures, pedicures, massages, like I said the lot. What we saved on eating and sleeping out, we spent on pampering. The staff were thoroughly professional. We still pop in there for the odd special.

Click here for more on Spa breaks in Cape Town.