Spier Wine Estate in the Cape Winelands has become a premier destination for families wanting to travel without compromising on luxury. Since mid 2005, occupancy in The Village Hotel by families with children in tow has increased substantially, leading Spier to renovate certain parts of the hotel to become even more child-friendly for the kids.

For example, one of the design principles of The Village Hotel is that rooms are centred around communal courtyards, each with its own swimming pool.  'Because so many of our guests have small children who haven't yet learned to swim, we've created a toddler-friendly area in the first section of the hotel that doesn't have a pool, but rather a large garden which we've now enclosed with a sturdy wooden fence,' explained general manager, Andrew Dietrich.

'This means parents can sit on their verandas, enjoy a glass of wine and not have to worry about whether their children will fall in the pool. We've also added more interleading rooms as well as other outdoor activities such as a jungle gym,' he said.

Derek Carelse, brand director of Spier, commented: 'It's seldom that one finds a luxury hotel that actually encourages family travel. Families want to travel together and often, when it comes to luxury establishments, find that children "should be seen and not heard".'

Dietrich adds: 'At Spier, we welcome children and have created a number of experiences - mostly based on conservation and nature - to encourage children to have fun in a safe outdoor environment.'

"At the same time, we want our guests to have a four star time, with the attendent luxury that this implies. So we've defined a means by which children and parents can have fun together but also by which parents can do things on their own and know their children are safe,' Carelse said.

The fun starts the moment guests check into their hotel room. Children are provided with a colourful "welcome" toy box full of traditional games, crafted toys and age-specific books to enjoy during their stay.

Watching nature's small miracles, experiencing the feeling of space in which to run wild, interacting first hand with birds and animals, exploring a farm and discovering its secrets: these are the kinds of activities that children at Spier can do while still playing in a protected environment.

Spier also has a children's clubhouse in the The Village Hotel in which children can play games, watch DVDs, or eat from a special menu while their parents play golf at De Zalze, adjacent to Spier, or enjoy treatments in the Camelot Spa. There is also a babysitting service available.

But should children be old enough for a touch of independence, they can ride through the estate on horseback or mountain bikes, take a tractor trip or a spin in a horse-drawn carriage or simply enjoy an adventure walk through the Estate, taking in an archeological dig at the Slangkop site.

A hugely popular component of the children's experience - one that adults love too - is the Cheetah Outreach programme which allows kids to see and touch the cheetahs that live on the Estate. Nothing is quite so marvellous as the expression on a child's face when they feel and hear the sound of a cheetah purring.

Source: Spier  / 17 July 2006

Read more on things to do with kids in Cape Town and the Winelands:

• Spier Hotel
• The Cape Winelands
• Stellenbosch
• Things to do: Kids decide