From the outside, it's your standard double-storey art-deco Port Elizabeth home. Attractive, understated and completely deceptive of the opulence that lies within this converted home in the beachfront suburb of Summerstrand.

Having grown up suffering the indignity of having my home town labelled things like "the armpit of Africa", I found it a refreshing delight to check in to the Shamwari Townhouse.

The boutique hotel opened late last year after an extensive rebuild to convert it from family home into accommodation fit for royalty and presidents - indeed, Thabo Mbeki visited with his wife Zanele prior to the opening, and the presidential suite is named after the former first lady.

The original artwork, the gorgeous refurbished furniture, textured wallpapers and an 80-year-old Austrian piano all contribute to the feeling of world-class excellence oozing out of every surface.

Sad to say, while the glam factor of my old home town had been considerably upped, the wind levels had failed to change.

My boyfriend and I spent the afternoon sipping bubbly at the poolside under an umbrella designed to withstand the forces of nature - but it still seemed to come perilously close to toppling onto us.

A quick tour around the townhouse revealed facilities that had us oohing and aahing. For example, the private cinema has been recreated as an almost exact replica of the Mountbatten Theatre at Prince Charles's Clarence House. With the prince's permission, the wall and furniture palette, as well as the size of the theatre, is the same.

The gym even has a Powerplate machine, currently all the rage in gyms around South Africa. However, the only type of "powerplate" we planned on experiencing was the kind that involves a hearty meal.

The sumptuous underground dining cellar was booked by fellow guests, but I hope that I will one day get a chance to sit at the long, mahogany table, bedecked with candelabra.

Still, after inviting friends to join us upstairs in the dining room for dinner, we had a fantastic time. My crayfish-and-prawn cakes were delicious; others enjoyed dishes such as scallops or Karoo lamb with pan-fried fois gras. We retired (you just have to use words like this in such luxurious surroundings) to the salon privé for dessert, cigars and a final drink. It is here that the art- deco flavour is felt to the full, with prints of Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo adorning the walls. Books such as Playboy's The Big Book of Breasts had us giggling over our single malts.

During a chat with the proud owner, Adrian Gardiner of the Mantis Group, before dinner, his joy at bringing what he does best to his home town was evident. He's been wowing the world with Shamwari Game Reserve near Grahamstown since 1992, and felt it "was time for someone to do something special" in Port Elizabeth. Good, then, that he signed a reported R600-million deal with Dubai World Africa for shares in Mantis game reserves, as the Shamwari Townhouse was a sizeable investment on which he expects only his children will see a return.

After a night in our gigantic suite, complete with king-size bed, not one but two flatscreen TVs, a lounge and a private patio, we woke early to squeeze in pedicures at the spa before breakfast.

Like the home's original owner, who kept Gardiner waiting an extra year before moving into her new home, we too showed some reluctance to leave. I think it was the wind that finally blew us out of town.