A unique experience. Dow to earth people running it - with a continental touch. Marie, who make the most delicious food is Swedish. She and Grant are the most charming hosts. This is a place where you can recharge your batteries, chill out, think. A Retreat in every sense of the word.

This really is a place where you can sit back, relax and enjoy the views, birds and surrounding nature. Hikes are availible, but also just sitting on the verandah or near the pool is a treat. The lovely hosts really make you feel welcome and introduce you to other guests. The meals are excellent, the rooms clean and comfortable.

We left Europe in snowstorm for two weeks in South Afrika. After two great days in Capetown we went to The Retreat at Groenfontein.
During our stay on christmas 2010 we were taken care of in a most wonderful way. We will never forget Grant and Marie and their staff, the meals, the bedrooms, the wonderful nature. Not to forget Marie's father, an old man taken well care of, we could see that he was enjoying life.
After two days we felt like new people, me, my wife and family, ready for safari, before new year and a flight back to snowstorm.

I rarely write reviews because I think it’s unfair in many ways, to criticize anything you’re unable to do yourself - but occasionally, just for the hell of it, I look at Tripadvisor, to read some of the current reviews of guesthouses we’ve stayed at previously. In doing so, I recently came across a vicious and personalized attack on the owners of The Retreat that cannot be allowed to go unanswered.
Writing a review of a guesthouse based on a one-night stay is dodgy to say the least, because every place, even the best in the world, has its good days and bad days. But to write a review that is so mean-minded and damaging to the reputation of an establishment that is acknowledged to be one of the best in the country in its class, is simply vindictive and irresponsible – and brushes aside the fact that Grant and Marie and their staff have brought pleasure and friendships to literally thousands of people over the years.
My wife and I have been regular visitors to The Retreat – in fact, almost since they opened more than ten years ago - and without doubt, it’s one of the best guesthouses we’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in, either in South Africa or overseas. Forget the fact that the setting is stunning, the accommodation is comfortable, the ambience is extraordinary and the food is wonderful - what makes The Retreat special is that it is run by people who truly understand the real meaning of the word hospitality.
There’s no bogus fawning over new arrivals, no martinets bustling about pretending to be businesslike, no absentee-owners, no fake smiles, and none of those de-personalised routines (like having to choose tonight what you think you’ll feel like having for breakfast tomorrow morning), that so often pass for ‘hospitality’ in many up-market guesthouses today.
Grant and Marie genuinely care for and are interested in their guests as individuals, and not just as occupancy-rate statistics. From the moment you arrive, they and their staff go out of their way to make you feel at home - from afternoon tea on the terrace, to early morning coffee in your room, to special dietary requirements, to making sure your dog has a bowl of water on the stoep - they are concerned about every aspect of your comfort and enjoyment.
The dinners are wonderful - honest, delicious, generous South African home cooking, with none of those poncey concoctions that masquerade as fine-dining these days in some circles. The good selection of house wines is local, unpretentious and excellent. And the breakfasts on the terrace in the morning sun looking out at the magnificent mountain scenery, are legendary.
In short, a visit to The Retreat is like being invited to one of those traditional country-house parties for the weekend, where – as the old chestnut says - you arrive as strangers and leave as friends, and we’ve often experienced people finding it difficult to drag themselves away from the interesting conversations and new friends they’ve made, in order to continue their journeys – and on many occasions, simply deciding to stay on for another night! That’s South African hospitality at its best and more than that, you can’t expect from any guesthouse.