Hotel Review: Annie's Inn, Williston, Northern Cape
This Karoo hotel has big, cool rooms for the weary traveller - and space for families too, writes Nick Yell
LOCATION
Van der Spuy Street, Williston, 118km east of Calvinia in the Northern Cape.
ROOMS
There are three bedrooms, one en suite family unit, another with a double bed and one with two single beds. All rooms have fans, mosquito nets and - vital for winter - electric blankets.STYLE
It's a grand, old (built in 1914) Victorian-style Karoo house with high ceilings and big, cool rooms. The furniture is mostly antique but beds and linen are modern and high quality.
FACILITIES
There is safe off-street parking; and tables on the stoep from where you can admire the beautiful garden. There's also a swimming pool and a braai area.THE EATING
We didn't have breakfast at Annie's (R80pp, R50 children under 12) but we did sample her son's excellent cooking - calamari and bobotie - from Manna's Restaurant.SERVICE
Annie is the lady who can - and does! Tired after a 600km motorbike ride, we couldn't bring ourselves to go out to a restaurant in town so she brought us menus and fetched dinner at no extra charge.THE 'DO' LIST
"Williston Mall" is an offbeat attraction with a restaurant, a shop with bric-a-brac, antiques and books, a succulents nursery, and assorted collectables from antique signs to old cars. There's also the "Tombstone Tour", which follows the work of a master carver, who fashioned unique tombstones out of sandstone. You can visit examples of corbelled houses on nearby farms, admire the Edwardian- and Victorian-era buildings and, in early September, enjoy the Williston Winter Festival.
BEST TIME TO GO
April to October.
RATES
R250-R300pp, family room R350.
BOOKING
Call 053-391-3541 or 083-456-6527 or visit placesforafrica.com...
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