The Little Cottages

Richard and Rosa, thanks for making room for me in your lovely, peaceful nest. I enjoyed every minute and am grateful for the experience. It really felt like a home away from home. So cozy and calm. I’m already looking forward to coming back. God bless you!

We stayed for three nights in mid May 2022, booking through booking dot com. For the price, The Little Cottages was superb compared with the other Howick options on the site. If you’re not looking for the Ritz or high-end extras, it’s simple and just right. Goldilocks and Scrooge would probably both agree. The cottage has two bedrooms, one with a nice double/queen bed and the other with two singles, plus a pull-out bed in the sitting room. The beds were neither too hard nor too soft. There are two settees, one hard and one soft. The kitchen had a decent fridge, kettle, microwave and stove, with enough utensils, crockery and cutlery. Everything was clean and nicely presented. The shower worked well with good pressure, and the supplied linen, towels and bedding were good quality. The owners were friendly, and so were their dogs. The Spar is a few hundred metres down the road, and Howick town is about 4km away. You can hear traffic, but it wasn’t intrusive, with the main road around 800 metres away. There are fruit trees in the yard, attracting birds whose racket was lovely through the day. The overall feel was calm and tranquil. There’s a locked adjoining door by the double bedroom to an attached cottage where I believe an elderly parent lives, so be mindful of noise, especially late at night. We closed the bathroom and bedroom doors off from the sitting room while chatting into the early hours. Some things, like the hand basin, are worn and dated. The single-ply toilet paper was a practical and economical fail, though at this price I couldn’t expect the very best of everything. I gave four stars because the WiFi was odd and frustrating. YouTube worked, but Rumble didn’t. Google searches about the Midlands Meander either wouldn’t load or took so long that I gave up. Maybe the owners limit uploads and downloads or restrict certain sites for some reason. If you don’t need much internet or have complicated online needs, it’s not the end of the world. Whenever I need to go to Howick, The Little Cottages will be my first choice. It’s cost-effective simplicity. I couldn’t find the place on Google Maps when I wanted to leave a review, so as a Google Guide I had Google add the venue, and here I am leaving its first review. I hope the owners don’t mind, since they removed themselves from Google for some reason.

Richard and Rosline, thank you for the lovely cottages and such excellent service. We really enjoyed our stay, including having use of the pool. All the best for the future, and thanks again!

You get what you pay for here. It’s peaceful and quiet, and makes a good stopover on a trip from Gauteng to the South Coast. Stay a little longer to explore the area, there’s more to do than you might think.