This past (very chilly) weekend, we headed up to the KwaZulu Natal midlands, to spend a night at the gorgeous Granny Mouse Country House & Spa.

After checking out the weather forecast for the weekend, I knew that there’d be a chance of snow in the Drakensberg, so the temperatures were going to plummet.  Luckily, I knew that Granny Mouse have wood-burning fires in all of their rooms, and electric blankets on the beds, just for that extra bit of warmth.  Nevertheless, I still packed my winter coat, warm boots and brand new Woolies scarf.

On arrival, we were greeted by the friendly staff at reception, with a roaring fire and a glass of champagne each.  We were booked into a Deluxe Suite (fancy!), and were given a brief tour of the lounge, dining areas, and then shown to our room.  You have a choice of Garden Rooms, Deluxe Rooms and Deluxe Suites at Granny Mouse.  The rooms all have king size beds (which can be replaced with twin beds on request), and the suites have stunning bay windows and bigger bathrooms, with a massive bath, double basins and a shower.  Our room was beautiful, decorated in a very country-chic style, and the little wood-burning fire would be lit for us while we were at dinner that evening.

We dropped our luggage off in our suite and headed out to explore the grounds for a bit.  Granny Mouse is the ideal wedding venue, as they have a small chapel on their grounds, as well as an area that can be used as either the wedding reception venue, or a venue for conferences or company team building.

They also have two different restaurants (a cafe-style Bistro, and The Eaves, their fine-dining restaurant), and a wine cellar where many different wines are housed, and where tastings are often held – you can do wine tastings or even a brandy or liqueur and chocolate tasting there!

An older-vintage bottle of wine from my favourite wine estate in the Cape.

Granny Mouse also has a cozy bar as well – the Mouse and Lion, with a roaring fire and a television screen – perfect for us to catch the South Africa vs Ireland rugby game later that evening.  You can have nearly any drink you could wish for here, and as with the rest of the hotel, the staff are friendly and helpful.  We grabbed a warming glass of Stone Road Shiraz here, to help us combat the chill outside.

How unique is this – wine corks, framed and lit up on the wall in the bar.

Although we didn’t get a chance to check it out, Granny Mouse also has a separate, self-catering Farmhouse that sleeps up to 12 people, and is fully furnished in the classic, country style.

The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and leave you feeling so in touch with nature.  The area is rich with over 200 species of bird, and some wildlife along the Lions River, which we could view from the balcony in our suite.

The grounds boast the same countryside feel, with bathtubs filled with plants, ivy creeping up the trees, and the cutest little sign posts everywhere.

We indulged in a spa treatment during the afternoon, but I’ll be telling you all about that in a separate blog post next week – possibly one of the nicest spas I’ve visited, and the most incredible full-body massage.

With the temperature dropping a little further, we threw on our warm coats and headed to The Eaves for the most delicious dinner.  They have switched over to their winter menu, and other than our delicious Amouse Bouche we dined on the Garlic and Chickpea puff pastry parcel, the Pork Loin and the Dill and Verbene Sous-Vide Kingklip.  And then of course, we were complete rebels, and ordered our own bottle of wine, rather than pairing the dish with the matching drink.

Blue Cream Cheese, fresh butter and Aubergine Atchar were served with fresh bread.  The Amouse Bouche of grilled chicken, rocket, red onion and paprika mayo.

We were so hungry, and the food looked so amazing, that we forgot to photograph it before we started eating!  From the top, Garlic & Puff Pastry Parcel; Pork Loin.

Dill & Verbene Sous-Vide Kingklip – aka the best fish dish I’ve ever eaten.

My very balanced breakfast – fruit and a donut, and the ‘Banger & Hash’, a delicious cheesegriller, hash brown, poached eggs and tomato relish.

Some of the wonderful staff from Granny Mouse.