I love Pretoria girls, I love Pretoria girls…..
Do you know that song? It was stuck in my head for my entire (short) trip to Pretoria.
From a FREEZING Cape Town, I hopped on board my flight to OR Tambo, hired a car (actually my colleague did, as the woman at Avis told me my license expired and she obviously wasn’t going to give me a car- my bad) & took the 30 minute drive down the R21. Very quick and convenient.
Me at the Avis counter like… Via DailyVox
We first headed to our meeting and I had some pretty damn good PnP coffee. They had a barista and everything.
As evening approached, we made our way through the Waterkloof area. The houses there are huge! The guesthouse was easy to find using Google Maps and we made our way up the long, steep and narrow driveway. My work makes bookings using a travel agent so I never speak directly to the hotel. This means that whenever I arrive at a hotel/BnB/etc, I always hold my breath, hoping my room’s been booked and that the place is expecting me. Sometimes things fall through – it’s happened before.
Anyway, I had no problems at Crane’s Nest. They were expecting us and we quickly filled in the breakfast form. They had an extensive breakfast list and I was happy to request the halaal breakfast.
Crane’s Nest front room and patio
My room was decent, had all the necessities (a hair dryer is a necessity, don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise), a fully loaded fridge (beware chocoholics and alcoholics!), a comfy bed and lots of storage. It also led out to a little garden. The place is apparently famous for birdwatching so if you have time, do check that out. Sadly, I also missed out on checking out their spa.
Crane’s Nest room and garden
The only thing I felt was missing from my room, was a shower. And the wifi wasn’t working. And the hairdryer (sad face)…
I visited some family in the evening and when my cousin dropped me back there, I forgot my phone in his car. With no phone, landline or wifi, I had no way of contacting him. At 11pm! Luckily, a kind staff member let me use his phone so I could call my dad (the only number I know out of my head) – who called my uncle – who called my cousin! My poor cousin had to drive back there.
Thumbs up for good service.
-Rif
Crane’s Nest Guesthouse – http://www.cranesnest.co.za/