I spent two nights in the Drakensberg for a work conference this week. We were treated to a stay at the Champagne Sports resort. We drove down from Johannesburg very early on Wednesday morning, stopping along the way for a quick breakfast and coffee and were at the resort in just over 4 hours.
Between Winterton and the resort is a little centre called Thokozisa, that had a little antique shop, shoe shop and mohair shop that we went into.
I managed to find two beautiful vintage cream coloured platters at the antique shops, for a very reasonable price. I found a pack of 5 mohair socks for R120 each at the Cape Mohair shop, and also some gorgeous boots for my son that were marked down by 40% in the little shoe shop. I think I did pretty well for somewhere at the side of the road!
Our stay at the resort was a good one with nicely decorated rooms and pretty surroundings. Lots of amenities and the food was good too. It can get really cold in the mountains though and we were surprised that there was not much apart from a panel heater in the room we stayed in. No air on with heater, no electric blanket on the bed. Not what we expected from a hotel in an area that gets as cold as it does there.
We stayed at another hotel in the same area over Christmas time, Cathedral Peak. If I had to choose which one to stay in based on having stayed at both, I think I would prefer the Cathedral Peak hotel over the Champagne Sports. The Cathedral Peak hotel was more toddler friendly. There was a "baby/toddler" swimming pool that was fenced off and set a way away from the hotel building. The pool at Champagne Sports was right next to the dining room and patio - not great to walk around in your costume with a mommy-body! Also the pool wasn't fenced off which really would have kept us on edge.
The food had a better variety at Cathedral Peak, but the room at Champagne Sports was finished to a better quality.
One other thing was that once you get to Cathedral Peak, it's quite a drive to do any sightseeing whereas the Champagne Sports resort was really close to some shops and activities. Cathedral Peak is literally in the mountains, whereas Champagne Sports had the mountains in the distance by comparison.
I managed to get a peek at the timeshare units at Champagne Sports and these were three bedrooms with loads of beds, nice lounge and dining room and kitchen area.
