Hermanus lures in massive crowds annually for whale watching and because of this, it is a small town that is saturated with B&B’s, guesthouses and hotels up and down every street. It can be hard to sift through the plethora available to find the real gems but Ocean Eleven is one such pearl.

Ocean Eleven Guesthouse

The luxury guesthouse is situated on Westcliff Road, which, if you were standing facing the ocean from the heart of town, would be to your right, towards the new harbour. The entrance makes it look deceivingly small but once you are inside the property you can appreciate it fully.

Its Cape Cod style perfectly suits its position, situated literally right on the oceanfront. From the outside pool area, the view looks over scrubby indigenous flora that seamlessly becomes the blue waters of Walker Bay. The view extends right across the Hermanus coastline and is uninterrupted and utterly breathtaking.

A Cosy Inside

The interior of the guesthouse is beautifully decorated with an intimate ambience that makes you feel as though you are in someone’s home, rather than a guesthouse.

Tea is laid on in the lounge area and guests can help themselves to a slice of lovely homemade cake or tart, fresh fruit and rusks.

There is a lovely wall of books that lines the lounge, so if you have enough time, you can pick from the selection of novels, curl up on a couch and escape.

Rooms with a View

Our room overlooked the whole of Walker Bay and once we had settled in and taken in the view, we changed into comfy robes and headed out to the pool deck to relax. One by one other guests had the same idea. The allure of the warm winter sun and the plushest of lounger cushions was a fatal combo. It took real effort to keep my eyes open to read another page of my book and not to succumb to the lull of the waves and inevitable afternoon nap. It was a battle I eventually lost.

After a day of wine tasting and lunch at Creation Wines in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, we headed back to the guesthouse for a great night’s sleep in perfect quiet.

We awoke to another perfectly clear Overberg winter’s day and enjoyed breakfast in the sunny enclosed patio area. A parfait of seasonal fruits and yoghurt was followed by a delicious fry up.

Whale Watching from Oceans Eleven

Even though we didn’t visit in the traditional time for Southern Right whale watching, if you do visit at that time (August-Oct) you could comfortably whale watch from the pool area or from the balcony of the upper-level sea-facing rooms. This awesome viewing plus all the special touches make Ocean Eleven the perfect spot for a weekend getaway at any time of year.

The Oceans 11 team are friendly and unobtrusive and will go out of their way to make your stay as memorable as possible.

11 Westcliff Rd, Hermanus, 7200 | Tel: 028 312 1332

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