Fordoun Hotel and Spa

Fordoun Hotel and Spa is an award winning five-star luxury boutique hotel and spa located near Nottingham Road in the scenic KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. It is a family owned and managed destination with a history dating back to the 1800’s. Fordoun has a strong ethos on personalised hospitality and authenticity. The hotel comprises 22 luxurious, comfortable individually styled rooms and the relatively new addition self-catering farm village offering 9 fully equipped cottages, a chapel and a wedding/conference venue.

With panoramic views of the Drakensberg, in a tranquil country setting, the feeling of romance is almost tangible. Fordoun was created with the vision that every guest should leave feeling rejuvenated, find value in their Fordoun experience and change guests’ lives!

Fordoun is located in the rolling grasslands of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, where the air is crystal-clear and smog and traffic are echoes of another lifestyle. Guests can enjoy gentle walks around the grounds, visit the herb garden of Dr Ndlovu, or ride on mountain bikes along designated routes through the Fordoun estate. Fly-fishing is available on three still water dams at Fordoun or in season; in the pristine waters of the nearby Bushman’s or Mooi River. Golf is available at the magnificent Bosch Hoek or Gowrie Farm courses which are both just a few minutes away.

We offer three categories of rooms namely: Luxury, Deluxe Dam Facing and the Superior Mountain View rooms offering panoramic views of the Drakensberg.

Fordoun Hotel encapsulates the grandeur of a bygone era while embracing all modern life’s creature comforts. With only 22 individually-styled bedrooms, attention to detail and personalised service reigns supreme.

Fordoun Spa is in the heart of Nottingham Road, Midlands Meander and boasts a team of experts that include skilled masseuses, Reiki and Bio-energy specialists, a traditional African Healer and highly trained aestheticians.

The spa features internationally acclaimed treatments such as the rasul, (a Turkish steam and clay treatment room), a saline Floatation pool, a indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, sauna, steam room, hydrotherapy, and two couples treatment suites. One of the couple suites offers a hydrotherapy bath.

Treatments include:

Aromatherapy body and bath treatments, using exotic blends of essential oils to suit each customer’s needs
Totally unique African treatments which include the Indulgent African Earth Experience and the Inkomfe (African Potato) healing wraps
Hydrotherapy baths and showers
Various massages, including Deep Tissue massage, Ndukuduku massage, Swedish and Aromatherapy

Feet and hand treatments (Reflexology, Manicure & Pedicure)
Waxing
Lash and brow tinting
Body scrubs and spray tanning
A range of facials tailor made for every skin type
An array of high intensity slimming treatments that target all parts of the body
Pampering massages and treatments for our “Mums to be”

Hartford House

Peering through one teakwood door at Hartford House, you face the splendour of the 1800s. Opening another, the distant sounds of an ancient people at work lilt across the silent landscape, a country of great space, spectacular mountains and big skies. This place commands a headland between the world of traditional cultures and the gracious style of a bygone era.

Hartford is the resolution of all South African safaris, the journey’s exclamation point. A retreat from the hubbub where you make sense of a fast life and its senseless details, and where we learn to redress ourselves on a first name basis. There are too many luxury hotels in the world offering the same: a chocolate on the pillow, canned romance, and cuisine called “haut” because it’s spelled in French.

Hartford stands apart for its authenticity. Its architecture, views, dining, sounds and scents, its racehorses and its people are all exhilarating surprises, unique to this Zululand, this culture, to Africa.

Yes, you come here to be pampered, but at Hartford luxury is the journey, not the destination.

The truth is, Hartford just happened. A home, and a grand one at that, which grew into a hotel. A community looks to it as its watering hole, its nexus of entertainment, its fountain of gossip.

In so many ways, it’s gained and regained inspiration from the cultures it celebrates. It is life’s exception, a place at the same time comfortable beyond dreams, yet innocent of pretence.

Shaka Lodge

zulu waters - your own private game reserve

Zulu Waters Game Reserve offers you the exclusive use of its 3000 hectare estate, your time here is tailored to create the experience you want from South Africa. Situated in the peaceful malaria free foothills of the Drakensberg Mountain range in KwaZulu-Natal, Zulu Waters Game Reserve promises a uniquely intimate experience with the African wilderness. Whether you want to take a horse back ride up close and personal to the herds of wildebeest and buffalo or fish for wild brown trout in the 8km stretch of Bushman’s River, Zulu Water’s blend of exclusivity and adventure makes for an African experience unlike any other. Those who spend time at Zulu Waters Private Reserve are left with a sense that something in them has changed – they are perhaps a little more fulfilled – a little more inspired.

Based in the heart of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, making it a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg or a 2 hour drive from Durban – Zulu Waters is a perfect escape. Due to our stunning location summer days can go above 30°C whilst winter days reach 18°C. We are also in a malaria free area and incase of medical emergencies we have trained first aiders on site. The nearest hospital is an hour away but we do have access to helicopter emergency services nearby.

Experience the Drakensberg,
Kwazulu Natal Midlands & Battlefields

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