The Best Places to Stay in the Southern Free State ~ The completely landlocked province of the Free State is divided into regions with names that evoke images of Africa’s wide open plains. Names like Thabo Mofutsanyana, Lejweleputswa and Motheo.
The Free State is given over to huge swathes of farmland, the Maluti Mountains in the distance. It’s a province of wide skies, inspirational scenery and a sense of time having slowed…
The best places to stay in the southern Free State include the Motheo (mostly in the ‘city of roses’ – Bloemfontein) and Xhariep (accommodation in and around the Gariep dam) regions.
Interestingly ‘Motheo’ is the Sotho word for ‘strong base of a building’ in keeping with its southern location.
A far cry from the broekie lace and doilies of yesteryear, Bloemfontein has risen to the occasion with accommodation that satisfies….
Best places to stay in the southern Free State …
In & around Bloemfontein
The Oude Kraal Country Estate
We thought we’d start with a particularly special best places to stay in the southern Free State to help you part from any ideas of Bloemfontein’s accommodation offerings as staid, starched or frilled (Oude Kraal is just outside of the city, with views to match). A look through the photographs should be all it takes.
Liedjiesbos B&B
You’re going to love this modern guest house with its incredible garden, contemporary décor, private stoeps, views, trees and emphasis on comfort. Breakfast served between 7 – 9 am daily.
The Tredenham Boutique Hotel
10 wonderfully decorated and high-on-comfort rooms, apartments or suites in this low-key, high on style hotel in the Tredenham Valley luxury lifestyle estate.
City Living Boutique Hotel
As different from the former boutique hotel in Bloemfontein as it could be, with a distinctive city edge to its simple, clean décor and vibey shared spaces, this best places to stay in the southern Free State offers modern rooms and one family unit.
Franklin View Guest House
Set on the upper northern slopes of Naval Hill the views alone from this beautiful guest house are worth a stay here. The combination of yellowwood and leather in the communal living spaces, and the individually decorated rooms, offer comfort and ease.
Cottages at Moffett
These two little garden cottages are fairly popular, so if you like what you see (as we did on a recent trip to Bloemfontein) you might want to get your booking in sooner rather than later.
@ Greys Guesthouse
Choose from 8 modern, classy rooms and share open-plan lounge and dining areas with others whilst relaxing with a cup of coffee or tea. Breakfasts look pretty enticing too.
Allegro Guesthouse
There’s a special mix of styles and décor that is particularly attractive (have a closer look at Loslappie to see what we mean) at this guest house, and its communal areas are welcoming, exuding a ‘well lived in’ vibe that’s difficult to resist.
Horizon Stables
Stable-style accommodation with private patios around a grassy quadrangle. Horizon Stables is clever, classy and we think you’ll enjoy the comfort at rates you can afford angle. We particularly like that there’s a family suite.
The Nightingale Guest House
Choose from a family room, cottages or bedrooms in this central hotel-style best places to stay in the southern Free State.
Melsetter’s Guest Room
It’s nothing more, nothing less, than a little garden room that sleep three in Langenhoven Park. But we like the choice of décor, simplicity, and the price. Small but quaint.
Haldon Estates
You’re perched right on the outer perimeter of Bloemfontein in Kwaggafontein at Haldon, on an estate with a garden that seems to stretch for miles to give a distinctively country feel to the place, echoed in the interior design and the sandstone of the manor house.
Altissimo Guesthouse
If you’re vaguely a classical music fan, and even if you’re not, you’re going to enjoy this guest house for its rooms named after all the greats (Mozart is the honeymoon suite, naturally), and because the sweeping views over Lilyvale valley on the outskirts of Bloemfontein are beautiful.
Xhariep
Bethulie Guest Farm
This historical, refurbished house is beautifully reworked as an old-world guest house with wonderful wooden floors throughout, roaring hearth in the communal areas, and period furniture. All this on a farm in Bethulie.
Buckleys
A shaded front veranda, art pieces hung with flair, and three guest rooms from which to choose in the charming, imaginative town of Smithfield.
Springfontein House
Who would have thought that in the middle of a town few people even know about there would be such a find? With vine-clad trellises, peaceful and comfortable guest rooms, a library filled with books, and a perfect plunge pool out back. Sigh.
Otterskloof Private Game Reserve
Not far from the town of Philippolis close to where the Free State borders the Northern Cape you’ll find this 14 000 hectares of dramatic Karoo landscape on the edge of the Van Der Kloof Dam. Did we mention the breeding pairs of Cape clawless otters?
Hillside Farm
It’s not often that modern and farm go together but this behind-a-koppie farm with its beautiful garden and Free State views offers a few cottages for visitors. There’s little not to like.
