BLOEM - JULY 2024

proceeds from the Mount Nelson
Chommies collection goes to The
Underdog Project, a registered Non-
Profit and Public Benefit Organisation
working with vulnerable children and
dogs in Cape Town.
Take a walking tour of the gardens.
The style and layout can be traced
back 170 years, when Hamilton Ross
bought the estate by auction. His
nephew, John, was a keen landscape
gardener, and turned the farmland
into a park with an orchard, vineyard,
aviary ... with fountains and lion
sculptures that are still in the gardens.
The walking tour takes you past the
driveway of palms - 80 of them were
planted in honour of the royal visit
of HRH Prince of Wales in 1925, and
the Malay Banyan Fig and Australian
Paperbark trees, European Oaks and
the enormous Tree Aloes and so many
more. A fascinating tour for gardeners.
Insider gossip: When President Bill
Clinton visited the Mount Nelson, his
rather over-enthusiastic SWAT team
asked for those palms to be cut down
as a security measure. Obviously the
hotel declined.
For those wanting to explore outside
the grounds, the Nellie is in walking
distance of Kloof Street - all coolest
cocktail bars and chic little cafes.
But staying within the grounds is a
pleasure with all that’s on offer. Daily,
and complimentary, activities include
events such as coffee and chocolate
tastings, a bootcamp with a fitness
coach who’ll put you through your
getitmagazine.co.za/bloemfontein
Passenger Posh Pooch!
paces, a history and architecture
tour through the hotel and gardens,
early morning yoga out on the lawn.
Insider gossip: John Lennon stayed at
the hotel under the pseudonym Mr
Greenwood and surprised guests by
meditating in the gardens.
It’s opulent. Extravagant. Lavish. The
attention to detail is extraordinary,
from the welcome notes to the
toiletry bags, monogrammed with
your initials, given on departure. From
the pillow menu with a choice of
half a dozen or so options to the fact
that staff remember exactly where
returning visitors (and there are
many) like their loungers placed next
to the pool, and what cocktail they
enjoy before dinner. Insider gossip:
The staff are obviously tight-lipped
about guests, but The Nellie has seen
everyone from Winston Churchill,
who was stationed there as young
war correspondent, to Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock
Holmes and a renowned spiritualist,
who apparently outraged guests by
holding seances in his hotel room, to
the Dalai Lama, who addressed more
than 500 visitors who sat cross-legged
on the floor in the ballroom.
If you’re visiting Cape Town but
staying elsewhere, day visitors are
welcome ... for breakfasts and teas,
cocktails and dinners, a spa treatment
or the popular Sunday At Oasis Jazz
Brunch. Insider tip: Book for the Chef’s
Table ... an intimate spot tucked
away in the kitchen, where you can
watch the chefs at work, enjoy their
creations, and maybe pick up a cheffie
tip or two while you’re there!
Details: 76 Orange Street, Cape Town. belmond.com
July 2024 Get It Bloemfontein 101