Bread & Barrel Palazzo Blouberg

Lying in bed, you can see an incredible view of the mountain and sea. The hosts were very welcoming, and the room was neat and comfortable. I wish I'd found this place sooner. Definitely somewhere I'd visit again.

The view is amazing. That's about the only good thing. We weren't told until check-in that the place had gone “off the grid.” It may sound noble, but it meant no water from 20:00 to 06:00, and the electricity also went off sometime at night. Shower early, charge your phones, and if you need to leave very early, you won't be able to shower. The bed was comfy and the Wi-Fi was OK, but the toilet was literally in our room behind a low wall, with no separate door. You and your partner would need to be very understanding to make that work. During our stay the generator broke, leaving us without power for many hours. For some reason, that also affected the water flow, so we couldn't shower or flush the loo. I tried calling reception to ask when things would be back, but nobody answered. When we went looking, reception was unattended. “You get what you pay for” really fits here. It's affordable, but beyond the view and comfortable bed, everything else was bad. Broken wooden panels and other random items were lying around, the pool was empty and dirty, and we had to enter through the garage instead of the front door. Two other guests in our group weren't impressed either. Buyer beware. We certainly won't be back.

It's an affordable place, but the online pictures don't match the actual facility, and it definitely isn't four stars. My staff had to control the dogs on the property whenever they came in. The cold weather wasn't catered for with heaters, and there was only one lightweight blanket. I won't book here again.

We visited in April this year and were very happy with the welcome from Jaco. The room and its excellent view of the sea and Table mountain were a pleasant surprise. We were told there was a water shortage while we were there, though we didn't experience it. I'd definitely return.