Thaba Eco Hotel: Weekend Getaway
Thaba Eco Hotel is situated on a hilltop, offering views of the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve and the Johannesburg skyline. Just 20 minutes outside of bustling Joburg, the hotel is a popular weekend escape, without a long drive.
I booked a night at Thaba Eco Hotel using my airline rewards miles that were expiring.
Check in is at 2pm and we were given a glass of champagne to start off our staycation!
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The Vibe at Thaba Eco Hotel
Thaba is definitely a vibe, but not the one you may be excepting based on what you see on the website. Although the setting—among the greenery of the nearby reserve— is in line with the eco scene I expected, the rest of the hotel screams large-scale event and conference venue.
Those looking for a quiet stay should look elsewhere as music from multiple locations echoes across the hotel grounds throughout the day and into the evening. Maybe it was just our weekend luck…?
However, if you’re looking to dress up, hit the E Bar, and then enjoy a steak dinner at Kraal before sleeping, then Thaba Eco Hotel is the right choice for you. It also seems like a popular location for birthday parties for all ages.
The grounds at Thaba were really nice to walk around throughout the day.
Rooms at Thaba
I just had one type of room available through the airline’s reward system and so we stayed in the Executive Suite, which costs R4,550/night. This ground-floor room is in a private garden space with only a few other rooms around. There were several water features that made for a relaxing vibe (when the music from the E Bar wasn’t playing).
Our room was huge and nicely decorated. We don’t have a TV at home so it was fun to watch a movie in the evening on the big screen.
The bathroom was modern, but of course had no door in true South African fashion.
The mini bar was fully stocked and is included in Thaba’s rates. We took the 2 wine bottles and 2 beers back home with us!
Maybe I’m being nitpicking, but we didn’t experience the typical turn-down service to remove the bazillion pillows from the bed, close curtains, and dim the lights by the time we returned to dinner. Most 4-star hotels typically do this. Considering there were several hotel staff passing (almost every 2-3 minutes whenever we sat outside), this was surprising.
If you’re interested in a room with a balcony view over the nature reserve, consider staying in the “Luxury Double Room Upper Level” room. These are around R2,450/night.
Visit Thaba’s website to book.
The Hotel Pool
I was most excited about visiting the pool at Thaba, considering the hot weather we’d been having in Joburg. The pool is only open to guests.
Unfortunately, the pool had an air of neglect. The pool cleaning materials were off and there were leaves everywhere. The pool is surrounded by trees, I get that leaves will fall in, but typical pool cleaning materials will manage most of that. It just felt odd that the machine was in the pool without it working.
There are just 4 little cabanas around the pool, which gives me the impression that in a hotel of 50 rooms, not many people come here for the pool…Now that I look at my own pictures, it still looks refreshing but in person, I wasn’t as impressed.
I got in anyway since it was a scorching day!
For those wondering, the pool is not heated.
The Food at Thaba
The weekend brunch buffet really surprised me in the best way at Thaba’s Kraal Restaurant. The buffet menu was varied and delicious. I loved the shakshuka eggs and mushrooms, as well as the flapjacks. I paired the flapjacks with yogurt and two compotes that are worth mentioning: blueberry with nutmeg and peach with cinnamon.
There was also the typical omelet station, several different kinds of sausages, and even stir fry noodles. Wilhelm had a whopping 3 servings of breakfast!
For lunch and dinner, Kraal Restaurant features classic dishes ranging from steak and burgers to pizza and pasta. There are a few fish dishes, but vegetarians will have to make do with the salads and veg pizza. I suggest you make a dinner reservation for Friday or Saturday evening if you plan to go because the restaurant gets full.
Room service pulls from the main menu at Kraal Restaurant.
You can also order some of the starters and pizzas from the restaurant while having a drink at E Bar. The bar was already packed with no room for us at 6pm on Saturday so it’s clearly popular! Get here a little early and look stylish!
Instead of eating at Kraal for dinner, we opted to take a short drive to Vera Vita for some pasta. We weren’t that interested by the fish/veg options but the burgers and steaks looked popular.
The Sinzinani Spa
The spa experience at Thaba Eco Hotel was really wonderful. We booked one of the massage specials: 45 minutes for a back massage for R450. We had to pay a 50% deposit in advance.
Sinzinani typically books out two to three weeks in advance, so book your spot when you reserve the hotel room. We got lucky because there were cancellations when I requested our booking. The space is very calm and beautiful with a great view overlooking the surroundings. I really enjoyed the massage. There are also other typical spa treatments available.
Booking During Events
We had the unfortunate circumstance of spending the night during a weekend of a music festival. The festival was only on Sunday but it impacted the Saturday we arrived as well.
I only found out about the event the day before simply because, when making my spa booking, the spa’s receptionist let me know to come extra early on Sunday as there was an event on-site.
I then called the hotel to find out if there were going to be any disruptions due to this event and to ask about the lunch and pool options. The manager told me that guests would not be able to use the restaurant’s facilities or the pool after 11 AM… Although the manager never said flat out “you can’t be here after check out,” that was their expectation as we were told we couldn’t keep the room, nor be in any of the hotel’s areas. I felt that there was very poor customer service throughout this conversation.
Considering I was planning to stay at the hotel beyond checkout for lunch and to hang out by the pool (which as we know by now, I didn’t love the pool anyway), I was really upset.
Anyway, I know this is a very rare occurrence where a large-scale event would take over a hotel, however, it definitely impacted my experience at Thaba.
I’m happy with the sculpture tho.
Things to do around Thaba Eco Hotel
- Visit the Field Berry Farm while you’re out there! Just 20 minutes away from Thaba, you can visit the farm for berry picking every weekend from January to April. There are some farm stalls, drinks and coffee, raspberry products, and incredible desserts. The entrance is R50 and well worth it.
- Hike at Klipriviersberg Municipal Nature Reserve
- Hike at Thaba Trails
- Visit The Lab Style Coffee Bar for breakfast and coffee in beakers!
Got any questions about Thaba Eco Hotel? Let me know in the comments or send me an email!