Sara-Jayne Makwala King on dodgy hotels, wild nights and travelling with kids

I was born in Johannesburg but grew up in Surrey, England. For our holidays, we would often go to the British coast (places like Folkestone, Camber Sands, the Isle of Wight) and freeze our asses off for a week during the blink-and-you-miss-it British summer, or we’d take the ferry to France to explore and eat our bodyweight in moules marinières.

The thing I remember most about my childhood holidays is how the strictly enforced “at home” rule of not being allowed to play with my older and much cooler brother Adam didn’t seem to apply when we were on holiday. Either I was less irritating or he was more tolerant of his little sister when we were away. Happy memories.

My first trip abroad was to Portugal. We (Mum, Dad and Adam) went with my mum’s parents, my Granny and Grandpa, whom I adored. Every morning my granny and I would walk along the beach just after the fishermen had come in with their morning catch. We would count the dead fish along the shoreline, those that had “slipped through the net”, as it were. Not so much the “ones that got away”, but the “ones who nearly made it”.

A funny travel memory: When I was 18, I travelled to upstate New York to work as a camp counsellor for the summer. Afterwards, a few of us girls went backpacking. In New York City, we ended up staying in a hotel just off Times Square. It almost felt like an abandoned building, save for a few dorm-style rooms. My fellow travellers and I used to barricade the door with a bunk bed at night. It was dodgy! Our fellow guests were several very friendly, very scantily clad women who seemed to sleep a lot in the day, since they were always in their rooms. The good thing about the hotel was it was really easy to find at night thanks to all the red lights it had in the windows.

A bizarre thing that’s happened on my holidays: my best friend Ben and I were staying with his parents at their condo in Sarasota, Florida. We were in our late teens. We went clubbing one night and were having a great time, dancing and enjoying the vibe, until, at midnight on the dot, all the main lights in the club were turned off, the DJ started playing some aggressive house and everyone started stripping – literally tearing off all their clothes. For two teens from Surrey, it was all a bit much, so with our clothes still very much on, we left and got a cab back to the condo.

A memorable restaurant I ate in overseas was the Skyview Lounge at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, where I lived for a while in my 20s. It was my birthday and my mum had come out from the UK to celebrate and suggested we go, since we’d never been. At the time, it was such an iconic hotel and boasted about being the only seven-star hotel in the world. What was it like? Like much of Dubai, garish and overrated. Funnily enough, my favourite place to eat when I lived there was a South African restaurant called The Meat Co. Best ribs I’ve ever eaten.

I can’t single out one favourite international city, but a place I really enjoyed and would love to go back to is Singapore. I visited when I was living in Joburg and the contrast was extraordinary. Don’t get me wrong, I love Johannesburg, but having the freedom to travel and walk around as a woman alone, even late at night was so freeing. It reminded me of living in Dubai – only, nicer. Also, the food is incredible. Getting around on public transport is super easy and inexpensive.

My three must-sees/dos in Singapore:

1. Cocktails (mocktails in my case) at Marina Bay Sands.
2. Put your takkies on, buy an MRT (rail) ticket and explore the city on foot and by train. It’s cheap, clean and reliable.
3. Night Safari, a nocturnal wildlife park next to Singapore Zoo, within Mandai Wildlife Reserve.

The best place in the world for a night out is Bangkok. I visited Thailand several times when I was younger. It was a halfway meeting point for me and an Australian girlfriend. I remember feeling intimidated by the city on my first visit. I grew up on a farm in England, so was not always a lover of big cities – the noise, the pace, the pollution. But every time I returned to Bangkok, I loved it more and more. And nights in Bangkok are something else. Wandering down Khao San Road, eating street food and buying knock-off Gucci sunglasses at 11pm cannot be beat.

When travelling, I am a sucker for a well-appointed gym in a hotel. At the beginning of 2025, I started a health journey, which has seen me lose 45kg and become a bit of a gym fanatic. I’m sure I’ve become a bit of a bore about it, but training has been an absolute game changer for my physical and mental health.

My perfect holiday involves something for me and for my two small, unemployed besties who live with me (I am a mom of two small children, aged 3 and 6). These days, while my adventurous spirit remains, the raging wanderlust is forced to take something of a back seat and I’m leaning more towards resort holidays. Last year, the three of us went on our first overseas family holiday to Club Med La Plantation d’Albion in Mauritius and it was absolutely perfect. The smallies had a blast in the kids’ club; I was able to work out in the gym and relax by the (adults only – hurrah!) zen pool in the morning, and we’d meet up for lunch and hit the beach or family pool in the afternoon.

One tourist attraction that surprised me was the Mona Lisa. A lot smaller than I thought she’d be.

Something surprising I do when I travel is go to a meeting. I celebrated 19 years clean and sober in August and a large part of my recovery has been thanks to anonymous 12-step fellowship groups. Luckily, there are hundreds of thousands of them all over the world, which is a godsend for recovering addicts like me who love to travel. In my 19 years of sobriety, I have been to meetings in the UK, the US, the UAE, Thailand, Colombia and Jamaica. I’ve even done meetings on a cruise ship and in an airport library. Recovery doesn’t stop just because you’re not at home.

My favourite hotel in South Africa is the InterContinental Table Bay at the V&A in Cape Town. I stayed there last month following the recent renovation, and it’s really an icon in the Mother City. The attention to detail is remarkable. I had the best lamb chops I’ve ever tasted at Flint & Fennel and enjoyed the best hotel buffet breakfast I’ve ever had. I even ordered something called “Tiramisu French Toast”. I mean, have you ever!? The spa was next level, and my room overlooking Table Mountain really made me feel like a tourist in my own city.

The last place I went to was Caledon in the Western Cape. I took the kids for a few days in the school holidays. I found a wonderful little gem there called the Caledon Grace Guesthouse. It’s beautiful and peaceful and about 90 minutes from Cape Town. I’m in talks with them to host some writing retreats there next year, which is really exciting, so watch this space.

Bucket-list? I was watching the movie City Slickers recently and thought that, one day, I’d love to take my kids to a ranch somewhere like Montana or Colorado. I grew up with horses and to me there’s nothing like being on horseback, in the great outdoors.

• Sara-Jayne Makwala King is a bestselling author and host of the Weekend Breakfast show and podcast on CapeTalk.