Vida Nova Retreat

Location, and room with the most comfortable bed and pillows and garden view. Felt peaceful. Breakfast was yummy and coffee good.

A few hairs in the bathroom ?

There was nothing to like, not after the inconsistent and terrible service received from the staff

Service and poor communication:We deliberately booked what was presented as a private unit with a private hot tub, based on the listing description and gallery. This created a reasonable expectation that the unit included its own private outdoor patio/stoep area.On the morning of arrival, we phoned the venue to confirm check-in and specifically asked whether we could bring our elderly small dog. We were clearly informed that pets are not allowed inside the unit but would be acceptable outside, which we reasonably understood to mean the private patio area associated with the unit. This was confirmed during the call.Upon arrival, this permission was withdrawn, and we were informed that pets were not allowed under any circumstances. As a result, we were unable to stay and were forced to cancel and secure alternative accommodation at short notice. Despite the cancellation being caused by the venue’s own miscommunication, no refund was provided.The issue was not the pet policy itself, but the misleading presentation of the unit and the lack of accurate and consistent communication.

Staff and pool area

The rooms were a bit dated and the doors and windows let in a lot of noise. If your room happens to close to the breakfast hall you will be woken up early by the noise from others.

Great breakfast. Good coffee. Lovely views.

Beautiful property, Rooms were spacious and clean. Plenty of parking and pool areas were very nice.

Gardens were beautiful. Breakfast was amazing

Before check in we were asked if we wanted a room on the ground floor, or on the first floor, we asked for a room on the first floor which was acknowledged. Upon check in we were taken to a room on the ground floor, I mentioned that we were given the option prior and that we preferred a room on the first floor. We then had to wait an hour and a half as ‘the room was clean they just needed to change the linen”, this was a bit frustrating as if we had known it would take this long we would have just taken the room on the ground floor.

The place was great, peaceful, quiet, clean, friendly staff.

The restaurant was not open, so food was an issue, no microwave in the rooms. We had an incident with a staircase on our room (maintenance issue) but we were changed to another room.

beautiful roomhot tubbeautiful gardenPatrick was kind and helpful

easter egg hunt for children through the breakfast area. should have notified the live in guests. everyone could have maybe met out in the garden and not walk through the breakfast area and wait by the patio /glass door where we were sittingbreakfast bad servicecold baconbad serviceMy personal number was given to an Uber driver called Godfrey

A great location in Hout Bay . Dining Menü disappointing. Expensive for what is offered . 20 + year old hotel and looking a little tired.

Staff were fantastic. They went above and beyond to help us out when our flight was cancelled at 7am and we needed to check in somewhere early rather than wait around with luggage until late afternoon. The waiter at breakfast time was also super friendly and helpful.Loved the bed, incredibly comfortable, fantastic night's sleep. Communal areas of the hotel (restaurant, library, gardens, pool area) were immaculate and beautifully maintained. Access to the private hot tub was quite a treat and much enjoyed.

I felt that, overall, the room didn't match the price tag. Unlike the stunning communal spaces, our room felt a little run down and tired. Doors and windows didn't shut properly, furniture was quite worn. It also lacked the extra little touches I would expect with this price tag, and I was surprised that a hotel billed at the luxury level only included the basic (although perfectly nice) breakfast - the slightly more fancy breakfast items (including something as simple as cappuccino, for example) are charged extra, and not cheap! Finally, I was very disappointed because one of the reasons for selecting his hotel was the spa and wellness facility. I was hoping to book a massage. This listing on the website is, however, misleading. THERE IS NO SPA AT THIS HOTEL.

The facilities, hot tub, space and location

Beautiful location pool and gardens were magnificent and so well kept

Good location and easy to drive to various places around . Nice and quiet area , not to much road noise . Staff were friendly and efficient . We had Friends join us for a meal and they all enjoyed the experience . Nice food for breakfast and evening meals

They seem to have a continual problem with WiFi and this affected the printer also as they were unable to give me a Receipt when I asked them , They were going to e.mail me the receipt but I am still waiting

I loved our stayThe hotel is gorgeous and not too big. Pool is lovely and the pods in garden are so cute.

The bed is rock hard and I struggled to.sleepWhen I booked the restaurant had a great menu with plant based options and sadly learnt they changed that so we had to eat out

Excellent location. Property was very beautiful and serene. Staff, Patrick et al, were very friendly and helpful. Food was great.

The only negative was that the hot tub was not very hot. Otherwise, no negatives.

We were welcomed with professional staff member that were more than welcome to accommodate our request. We loved our stay Melanie the GM of the place was super helpful . Clean ,quiet ,relaxing place exactly what we were looking for . We have enjoyed amazing tasty meals during our stay .We gonna be back during our next visit .

Bedroom and bathroom was very nice. Gardens were beautiful and had some very sweet bunnies! Cocktails delicious. Evening staff were very friendly.

Some of the breakfast staff could be impolite and took a long time to take our food order. Some towels were taken during room service even though we hadn’t put them out to be taken, and were not replaced, was a bit of a faff sorting this out.

StaffFoodBedroom

The property grounds were wonderful and perfect for time spent relaxing at the hotel by the pool instead of sightseeing. Our room was lovely and spacious with amazing views of the surrounding mountain landscape. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food was great. It was everything we needed after a few nights staying in the noisy and busy city of Cape Town.

Friendly reception staff

- WIFI unfortunately down and we urgently needed it for work. - Room cleanliness not up to par - floors were sticky/clammy (our bare feet dirty after walking around), bathroom toilet roll not full (was given a quarter roll), only 1 gown in cupboard, dress table chair broken and couches had marks on it. We also headed out to the swimming pool area where we had to ask for a swimming towel - only to be told they only have 1 available. - I had also pre-arranged breakfast to go as we were checking in for 1 night and needed to leave by 6:30am the next day. On arrival, the message was not passed on, was directed to speak to the Chef, spoke to Chef who half heartedly said he could make a sandwich for us. Upon checkout, nothing was prepared - the poor concierge has not been handed the message over - he offered to try make us something as we were trying to leave. He was incredibly helpful and could see he felt bad (even though he had been let down by his colleagues) I ended up grabbing a banana and small yoghurt from the kitchen on the way out. This property has potential - it is well situated, beautiful views, beautiful pool area but I feel it is lacking in organisation. Room needs to be well inspected on cleanliness and there needs to be "leadership" or better management. Unfortunately as a guest - the last feeling I want to have is that we're a "burden" there for our stay when requesting breakfast which I had pre-arranged or feel like its our fault there's not enough swimming towel. For the R3000 a night - I expected better.

A beautiful setting and the main building is well appointed

The steps to the room were wooden and extremely steep, I had to go down sideways the were so steep. Our room could do with a bit of TLC, doors to be painted, the shower was like a wet room but didn't drain properly.The restaurant staff were very slow, I had to repeatedly ask for glasses, cutlery and our order to be taken.