MELT INTO THE MAGALIES
The stellar spa amid the lovely trees and mountains is your main excuse to make time for this lodge, writes
IT’S a quick drive from Joburg to the Magaliesberg. In an hour and a bit (depending on traffic) you leave the city madness behind and find yourself in a calm and open space, where you can see the big sky.
The rains this year have been especially kind to the mountains — the trees are majestic and green, the grasslands are fresh and inviting with tiny purple and yellow flowers everywhere, and the Magalies River running through the little town is splashing and gurgling with abundance.
Nestled on the banks of this river is a nature reserve in which one can find the Valley Lodge and Spa: a country hotel that has the most amazing spa — make sure you book some treatments, and well in advance as they are quite busy.
The hotel reception is the standard elegant vibe — lots of browns, golds and old leathers, but the minute my partner and I step into the soothing clean space of the spa (which smells divinely of lavender), we know it’s going to be a grand and luxurious experience.
We first get tucked up in the fluffiest of white robes. Then we take full advantage of the heated indoor mineral pool and Jacuzzi — so remember to bring your swimming suits.
The pool is just bliss. We spend two hours floating about, chatting, drinking champagne and de-stressing. We decide to have lunch in the spa and order from a generous menu that has quite a few standout items. One of them is the oxtail Bolognese, which is rich, filling and has a balance of subtle flavours. The sirloin steak is a bit overcooked for medium rare, but is a good cut.
We then have an aromatherapy massage, one of the better massages I have ever had. The hour feels like five minutes. Our bones melt. We don’t want to leave but our day at the spa is over so we head outdoors for a meander.
The lodge has 7km of hiking trails — and there’s enough birdlife to satisfy the strictest twitcher. We canoe down the river, and then relax on the loungers outside our lovely room. But we have visitors — a dazzle of zebras come around to eat the leaves and grass. They are clearly used to people and politely, with absolutely no fuss, munch their way to the poolside.
All in all, we have had a good day so we are looking forward to our supper.
But what we get is a buffet. We hate buffets.
We track down a waiter and ask if we can order off the menu. The response is that we can but it will be a long wait as the kitchen is busy. They’ve had a few conferences that weekend and that is apparently why we are beholden to the buffet.
The next day we go back to the spa — and spend a few more hours floating in a cocoon of happiness. That alone makes Valley Lodge and Spa worthy of a few more returns. — Platt was a guest of Valley Lodge and Spa