The drive here was long and worth every km. We drove from East London and it was a comfortable 3 hour drive. Booking was made on booking.com ,Hacklewood Hill Country House, Port Elizabeth. I must admit, this was not my accomodation choice for this weekends “Trip & Explore Bag of Fun”. I love………..!!!! that I did not choose, we would have missed out on so much history, beauty and quality service.
First impression – First 3 words, that came to mind …. Old,antique,preserved. The Manor has an old victorian themed, antique and well preserved decor. The Manor was built in 1898 ( I love this bed, felt like we were in old Victoria) and has 9 ensuite rooms (Flamingo, Madiba, Sunbird, Lady Elizabeth ,Loerie, Hugenot, Fynbos, Court, Garden). It has a tennis court, pool and a lovely garden.

UnstaFavourites (Favorite pic/moments)
Facilities – There is a fully fledged restaurant , fully carpeted rooms and bathrooms with bathtubs. Rooms come with a gown and slipper set, bottled water, tea/coffee, espresso machine, porter and room turn-down service (another fav). One thing about me, I love fully carpeted flooring, I love walking around a barefooted and comfortable . So in other words the only uncarpeted/uncovered space in the room, is the balcony & I love it !!
Comments –
- The decor is old and fragile, would have appreciated more coasters in the room, for the wine bottles,water etc.
- The walls in the restaurant are not sound proof and if there’s guests having their food on the balcony, you might as well pull out a chair and order a plate !!!( if you are in the rooms above) I highly recommend taking note of this when booking, rooms close to the restaurant.
- I love those “who are we booklets” I think these should be in every room, the manor looks like it has so much history to share, would have been lovely not to use google.

- Welcome Reception
- I received a very warm welcome and the experience was very pleasant and accommodative. The room I was initially allocated to, (it was above the restaurant and the guests were interfering with my enjoyment) I requested to be moved and was moved with zero fuss with no stress caused.
- Service
- Amazing, the staff are very kind and helpful
- Resturaunt
- Ok, so in primary I went to a Roman Catholic School. We are old school baby and so is this establishment !! I swear they have the exact table cloths & cutlery we used for Home Economics, back in primary !!! Thank you, for the memories, best years of my life !!! I can not believe it. I hated these spoons, they are big and I always had to negotiate myself around a bite. Listen izolo (izilo = yesterday- in isiXhosa) I was negotiating with a huge grin on my face !!
- Parking
- Off the road parking but the entrance and parking is narrow. Its definitely a parking space were driving skill and experience comes at an advantage.
- Location
- The Manor is located in Walmer,Port Elizabeth – 152 Propect Road. It is a 5 minute drive to the Walmer Shopping Centre
- Facilities
- Reception Line – Contact with reception is available (it works,2 rings you are attended to), the phone works and reception is well manned
- The Booking.com app lists that there’s a radio in the room, we did not have one in our room and did not need, so we did not make a fuss about it.
- The bathroom window blinds – The bathroom blinds were not working (Did not close, all the way down). We had to switch off the bathroom lights in the evening 😦 This was sorted in the morning)
- Ambiance
- This place has a lot of character and room for creative expression. It truly transports you to “Old Victoria”

- Channel – Mzantsi HD – Sadly its a big 0 !!! (Qanda – egg – Xhosa)
- Rating
- Booking.com – :):):):):)
- Unstafavourites – :):):):)
I love how this establishment has maintained some of the accommodation luxuries some of us, have grown accustomed to, pre-COVID. Things like gowns in the room, pens (free marketing material, the last 3 establishments I visited, did not have them anymore), food ( fresh and well cooked food). These little things truly made spending the weekend here, truly memorable and fun.

A part of me feels that someone is ignoring her talent. Why do I feel that writing is more of a calling than a hobby. Why do I feel that there’s a novelist inside you? Release that author. There’s only one life to live.
This is such a beautiful narration of something as simple as spending a weekend in a lodge.
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Thank you so much, truly appreciate the comment
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