Klaarstroom Guest House

Klaarstroom - South Africa

Email Klaarstroom Guest House Reservations: booksa@madbookings.com

The Guest House is a restored Victorian house where one can enjoy lofty ceilings, wooden floors and French doors opening onto wide stoeps. The décor is simple and elegant, a blend of period furniture and clean lines, echoing the refreshing purity of the Karoo landscape. All rooms are en-suite and have ceiling fans and heating. The house offers visitors a lounge-dining area with tea and coffee making facilities and a bar fridge for your convenience. There is a reading-room/sun-room from which to enjoy views of the garden and soak up the Karoo winter sun.

Spacious stoeps are a tranquil vantage point from which to enjoy mountain views, or sunsets punctuated by the windmill, or simply to watch the world go by – slowly, as it generally does in Klaarstroom!
There is also a swimming pool.

Old fashion hospitality:
Breakfast is served in the dining room or on one of the stoeps. Some guests prefer the traditional, spacious kitchen warmed in the winter months by the old Age stove.

We have a variety of rooms available. A twin room and two rooms with double beds are situated in the main house. Two twin rooms are in the converted waenhuis (wagon house). They have reed ceilings and private stoeps with views across to the pool area.

Meals:
If prior notice is given, supper will be provided at an extra cost. If a guest wishes to use the guesthouse as a retreat, then additional meals (lunches, teas) will gladly be offered, by arrangement

Where to find Klaarstroom Guest House:
Klaarstroom Guest House is situated in the picturesque, peaceful village of Klaarstroom, an authentic Victorian, working farm village situated at the foot of the Swartberg Mountains.
The village is positioned at the Great Karoo entrance to Meiringspoort, a spectacular gorge through the Swartberg mountain range which links the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo (Klein Karoo).

Klaarstroom Guest House is conveniently situated behind sheltering koppies, just 500m off the N12, a major artery from Gauteng and the Free State to the Southern Cape Coast (Garden Route, Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, George, Fancourt, Hartenbos, Stilbaai). This makes us a convenient stopover en route to any of these destinations.

Klaarstroom also serves as a stopover for 4x4 enthusiasts from the Cape Town area who wish to get a close and early start before exploring Baviaanskloof.
Next time you are driving along the road towards Meiringspoort turn into Klaarstroom and if the sign is up outside the guest house, feel free to drop into the Klaarstoom Tea Room and Koffie Kombuis for ... tea and cake, coffee and rusks, a milkshake, breakfast or any combination of the above that tickles your fancy!

Klaarstroom forms a hub from which to explore the tourist heartland of the Klein Karoo (Oudtshoorn is 60km to the South-West) and the tranquility of the vast plains of the Great Karoo (Prince Albert is 60km to the East, Beaufort West and the Karoo National Park, 120km to the North).
Guests also find Klaarstroom a comfortably situated retreat from which to enjoy the bustle of the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (Oudtshoorn) and the Town and Olive Festival (Prince Albert).

Step back in time
Klaarstroom, meaning "clear stream", was established in the mid-19th century.
It presented the first opportunity to farmers from deep in the Great Karoo, en route to the small port of Mossel Bay, to wash their precious cargo of wool in the clear mountain streams.
A wool-washing facility was soon established. Time, technology, the railroad and modern highways passed Klaarstroom by with the wool-washing facility having long since disappeared.
Today the tiny inner village is hidden away from the nearby highway. It remains an historical snapshot of a Southern African Victorian village, sporting three churches, a Victorian police station, an old-world General Dealer Store and excellent examples of restored Victorian homesteads.
The Anglican Church cemetery has two Anglo-Boer War graves - each with its own story.
Your hosts, owners Jeremy and Sharon Witts-Hewinson, are justifiably proud of the beautiful area in which they live and will happily advise you about routes, drives and activities.

You can cycle informal mountain biking routes or enjoy motoring and motor biking drives - a circular route from Klaarstroom, through Meiringspoort to De Rust, along the Oude Muragie Road and on to the Cango Caves, the Swartberg Pass, Prince Albert and back to Klaarstroom along the Prince Albert and Klaarstroom valleys makes an excellent day trip.
OR... take on 4x4 drives
... go for informal walks in the surrounding veld or hiking trails in the surrounding areas
... run the annual Meiringspoort Half Marathon, held in Spring
... take part in the bi-annual Carp Derby held at the nearby Stompdrift Dam
... indulge in wine tasting and purchases at Domein Doornkraal, Mons Ruber and Bergwater wine estates.

The guest house lends itself to family gatherings - imagine celebrating a special birthday or anniversary here, away from it all, with close friends and family.
Klaarstroom is a tranquil base from which to enjoy the annual Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees held in Oudtshoorn or Prince Albert's annual Town and Olive Festival
... an excellent "base camp" for hunters
... a central point from which to explore the many tourist destinations which are a comfortable day trip away: Cango Caves, Oudtshoorn and its famous Ostrich Show Farms, the Cango Wildlife Ranch, Gamkaskloof (Die Hel / The Hell), Prince Albert, Karoo National Park.
... an ideal location for astronomers and stargazers to explore clear night skies.
... an artist's inspiration with clear, crisp light, spectacular scenery, mountain backdrops and 19th century architecture.
... a quiet place for private or small group retreats.

You can also simply relax, unwind, and let the Karoo air and sun wash over you.

Email Klaarstroom Guest House Reservations: booksa@madbookings.com