As you drive into the Erinvale Estate, it feels as if you are stepping back in time. Were it not for the parking lot full of cars, you might easily be convinced by the Cape Dutch style manor house and huge shady oaks that the year was 1680 – when the farm was under the ownership of then governor of the Cape Willem Adriaan van der Stel – or at least 1868, when the farm was purchased by Irishman Edward Strangman, who renamed it Erinvale (Irish valley).

Although the name remains, most of the original manor house, which burnt down in a fire in 1951, has been rebuilt. The hotel’s 57 rooms occupy Cape Dutch-style buildings – whitewashed walls, dark green shutters, and thatched roofs – where the original stables once stood. The large conference center, which can seat up to 250 guests, was once a pigsty. If you’re thinking of getting married at the estate, it also has a quaint little chapel.

The estate may be old, but the rooms are by no means dated: you can expect flat-screen televisions with a range of satellite channels, heated towel rails, high-quality tea and coffee, and luxurious toiletries. The estate is quite a drive from the actual town of Somerset West, but it is also fairly self-contained. On the property, you’ll find a restaurant called Seventeen07 that serves up dishes that reflect South Africa’s rich culinary heritage, an Irish pub – Skelligs – a hairdresser, and a spa that has four treatment rooms, a steam room, and an indoor heated pool.

The Erinvale Golf Club, while technically not part of the Erinvale Estate, is situated right next door to the hotel. If you are a guest at the hotel, you’ll get preferential rates for the 18-hole golf course, which was designed by famous South African golfer Gary Player. Because three acclaimed wine estates – Lourensford, Vergelegen, and Morgenster – were once part of the original estate owned by Van der Stel, you won’t have to go far to taste some of the superb wines the Helderberg region has to offer.