The five-star Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel & Spa in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, may have the slowest-moving lift in the historic town but it doesn’t matter a jot, as you, like this writer, will want to spend as much time there as possible.

With only 16 rooms, Coopmanhuijs is a true boutique hotel, and when you experience the understated elegance and luxury of refined attention to detail, its five stars hardly seem sufficient.

This hotel comprises separate historic buildings that have been combined via the glass conservatory courtyard between them. Its frontage is high up at 33 Church Street and a block away from the Moederkerk.

The Stellenbosch community is South Africa’s second-oldest Dutch Reformed congregation and was established in 1686. The church’s original location today houses De Oude Werf Hotel, directly opposite Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel & Spa.

Neo-Georgian architecture

The first owner of the property was Alhardus Bartholomeus Coopman in 1713, who built a typical ‘H-layout’, single-storey Cape Dutch house. The oldest known photograph of Stellenbosch is of a scene in Church Street that shows Coopmanhuijs on the far right.

The current Neo-Georgian architecture of the Old House section of Coopmanhuijs came into being between 1870 and 1900. It was declared a National Heritage Site in 1978. In its more recent history, Coopmanhuijs was the residence of André and Helena Pieterse until 2007, when the conversion into Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel & Spa began.

“As there was no space to position a construction crane during this conversion process, building materials had to be conveyed by hand and wheelbarrow mainly through the front door. The interior decorating of Coopmanhuijs was attended to by Helena, who also oversaw Fancourt Hotel & Country Club Estate, George,” according to information supplied to Farmer’s Weekly by the hotel.

Its front stoep is covered by a red-and-white awning with tables and comfortable chairs that invite you to take time to enjoy every pleasurable experience, such as perfect coffee or one of the many top-class meals available.

There are two old timber desks on either side as you enter the hotel, and the brilliantly attentive and capable staff are always at the ready. One of those desks will likely be occupied by the hotel’s general manager, Suzaan Groenewald.

The entire staff complement strikes one as warmly capable and committed to delivering the very best service experience. Every person engaged with, irrespective of their rank, impressed.

Award-winning hotel

Opened in 2010, Coopmanhuijs has had a long run of winning awards, such as being consistently ranked number one on TripAdvisor among all hotels in Stellenbosch. It was also awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 10 times in as many years.

Things that matter to guests include a detailed weather breakdown for the next day, which is left in the room at turndown, and the five-star evening room refresh, where curtains are drawn, the bathroom spruced up, and the bed prepared for sleep.

Another very welcome thing is to find two large umbrellas, made from high-quality materials and with timber handles, in the room.

A softly stuffed fabric-covered coat hanger (and not those annoying anti-theft ones, either) makes all the difference to a woman with delicates the likes of a cashmere cardigan. If Italian clothing company Loro Piana were a hotel, it would be this one.

Well-appointed bathrooms have bidets. It seems unimaginable that new hotels nowadays are built without a standalone hand shower or in-seat bidet, given that more than half of the global population uses them.

Despite all the understated European-influenced nuances, this property also features very
highly among the Hollywood set. Its founder, André Pieterse, a former executive vice-president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer International and Ma-Afrika Films, was the producer of the original e’Lollipop film.

Ma-Afrika Hotels owns Coopmanhuijs and The Stellenbosch Hotel. Don’t be surprised to find other movie moguls among its guests.

The best rooms are the Deluxe ones, each with its own balcony with views over the swimming pool. The most affordable room is described as ‘Petite’ on the hotel’s website and has drawbacks for some people.

All rooms have well-stocked minibars, espresso makers, kettles and a selection of teas, robes and slippers, as well as home-made baked treats. There’s also good Wi-Fi and Internet throughout the hotel.

Superb food

Helena’s Restaurant at Coopmanhuijs, named after Helena Pieterse, is superb. A buffet and à la carte breakfast is offered to guests, and there are many choices of where to sit: outside next to the pool, or on the front stoep. There are inside tables, too, under the original yellowwood ceiling or in the glass-roofed conservatory.

The kitchen is in the centre of the hotel, and I found it charming to walk past it to reach the stairs or lift to room 10 on the third floor.

The refined attention to detail in the hotel and its interiors is echoed in its food offering. Its slogan, ‘Where the comfortable is made remarkable’, is equally apt in the cuisine.

At face value, the menu is similar to those of many other hotel breakfasts, but the quality of ingredients and their refined preparation are not.

Two breakfast menu standouts include oeufs cocotte (French baked eggs cooked in cream with ham and cheese) and exquisite eggs florentine (eggs poached with smoked salmon or ham, on toasted English muffins with wilted spinach and delicious hollandaise sauce). It is garnished with stir-fried vegetables.

The slow-cooked beef short rib with spinach, Parmentier potatoes (potatoes mashed with beef gravy and cheese), and creamy wild mushroom and brandy sauce for R245 is outstanding.

Although not tasted, these menu items also caught Farmer’s Weekly’s attention: Swartland rack of lamb served with tomato à la Provençal and carrot-and-raisin couscous with a cumin and thyme sauce (R295), and dukkah-spiced beef fillet, which comes with caramelised shallots, celeriac cream and Béarnaise sauce for R325, visiting the cuisines of North Africa, Finland and France along the way.

Secure off-site parking is available, and your car will be valet parked and returned the moment you need it.

At Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel & Spa, it isn’t the one detail they get right so much as the combination of all the details, all the time, that make this experience so exceptional.

Email [email protected], or visit coopmanhuijs.co.za.