Le Quartier Francais

Le Quartier Francais

Morning here starts with coffee at the window, looking out over Franschhoek, the Cape winelands village known as its Gourmet Capital, stirring awake below. Le Quartier Français holds twenty-five rooms across two floors in the middle of that village, close enough that most guests leave the car in the free parking and walk in to find the shops and quaint corners. The one room type here that few hotels its size carry is a stand-alone cottage built for four adults and three children, a real option for a family or a travelling group rather than the usual single king or twin. Standard rooms lean smaller, several with an indoor fireplace, bathrobes, slippers, a mini-bar and a DVD player, details that read more like a well-kept house than a hotel. Outside there's a garden and terrace, an outdoor pool for the afternoon heat, and a library for the hour after dinner. The restaurant and bar run vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menus and pack lunches for a day among the vines, while a conference hall handles business groups without pulling focus from the romance the address is known for, and a playroom with babysitting keeps young families from feeling like an afterthought. Couples marking an occasion have the bridal suite; anyone hoping for a sprawling resort with several pools or a place for the family dog should look elsewhere, since pets aren't permitted. Airport transfers cost extra and check-in runs from two in the afternoon, worth noting before booking. What lingers afterward is smaller than any amenity list: a fire lit in a room built for it, and a village close enough to walk to, far enough to forget. Twenty-five rooms in the middle of Franschhoek, close enough to walk everywhere, with a rare family-sized cottage sleeping seven and rooms built around an indoor fireplace. There's a pool, a library and a kitchen that runs vegan and gluten-free menus alongside the wine-country classics.