Do you keep a list of hotels that you’d like to visit one day? Hubs and I do, and to be honest, with us being such travel-lovers, ours is pretty extensive. Needless to say, the Beverly Hills Hotel has always been one of our top spots we wanted to visit (other than the occasion bar visit or afternoon tea). So, when the opportunity arose, we grabbed it with arms wide open!
Not only is the hotel exquisite and luxurious, it holds a fondness in my heart for another reason. When my mom was in her 20’s, and before she got married, she actually ran the spa at the Beverly Hills (before it shut down and Mangwanani took over as the official spa service). She’s often spoken of her time working there with such love and passion that I knew I would feel the same way about the place where she spent so much of her youth.
We checked in smoothly and were shown to our room on the 7th floor (something we shared big smiles over, as 7 is our lucky number). We’d originally thought we’d be staying in a Standard Room, although there is nothing ‘standard’ about these rooms, they’re beautiful. However, the lovely Carmel walked us through to room 710 – what I can only guess is one of the Junior Suites.
The suite is MASSIVE and includes a full lounge, huge flat screen TV, a king-sized bed, private balcony (two actually, one off the lounge section and another off the bedroom), a walk in dressing room, gorgeous bath tub, refreshment station with mini bar and full sized bottles of liquor and a tea and coffee station. We were also utterly spoiled, as they’d laid out nibbles of biltong, nuts, dried and fresh fruit, bottled water, a bottle of wine and some divine nougat with Beverly Hills own branded ribbon on!
I loved the dark wood and counters in the bathroom, which just looked so luxe when offset against the snowy white and super thick and fluffy towels.
We had a function to attend in Umhlanga that night, so we didn’t get a chance to spend much time around the hotel – plus the elements Café Bar was booked for a private function.
One amazing indulgence was waking up, making some fresh coffee with the Nespresso machine and sitting on our private balcony, watching the waves and the lighthouse in the early morning light. There’s nothing like fresh sea air for the soul – especially when dressed in a comfy robe and slippers, sipping hot coffee and nibbling on shortbread fingers.
After a hot bath, we headed to breakfast in The Sugar Club – where meals and afternoon tea are served at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The selection of eats on the breakfast buffet was wonderful – the Continental/cold buffet was just sensational! Anything and everything I could have wanted for breakfast was on hand, including fresh pressed juices (if you’re ever there, try the apple and ginger, it was divine.
Apart from the cold, there was a hot buffet AND you could order breakfast dishes off the menu. We briefly contemplated ordering Eggs Benedict (a solid favourite for us), but when we saw the delicious hot buffet, we swiftly attacked that and forgot all about the plated dishes. Those creamy mushrooms especially are truly something special.
We took a brief stroll through the bar and the pool area before we left, and I can already tell you – I’m sure we’ll be back during the holidays for lunch or sun downers at the bar, as Hubs was quite taken by it. We also really loved the light fixtures in the bar, that are made from recycled glass.
Something I have to mention – the staff at the Beverly Hills Hotel are truly exceptional. All of them are so friendly, so well trained, and really make you feel so welcome. The General Manager John is also a ray of sunshine – always with a big smile and able to answer any questions you may have.
I also vlogged our entire time in Umhlanga, and the video is officially live on my YouTube channel, but you can watch it right here: –
Thank you to the Beverly Hills Hotel for a wonderful stay – we won’t forget our time with you, and we’ll be back soon for an afternoon tea treat and some visits to the bar for sure!
*DISCLAIMER – while we were hosted by the Beverly Hills Hotel for our stay, all opinions are honest and our own.