With accommodation for barely 60 guests in about 10,000 acres of floral expanse, and with a wide variety of touristic as well as community-based activities, Grootbos, near Cape Town in South Africa is redefining luxury hospitality, Michael Lutzeyer, Director, Grootbos tells India Outbound.

What are the key attractions for guests coming to Grootbos?

We are a private nature reserve, about two hours from Cape Town on the Atlantic Ocean and in the richest botanical area you can find. That is why this area is called the Cape Floristic Kingdom. There is a diversity of plants that you cannot find anywhere else on the planet. To give you an idea, Grootbos on its own has over 950 different species of plants, of which we discovered seven new species for science that had never been discovered before. So, we specialise on the Cape Floristic Kingdom. At the same time, because we are on the coast, we are fortunate enough to have the Marine Big Five.

Marine Big Five are the hump-backed Dolphins, Cape Fur Seals, the so-called African Penguin, the Great White Shark and the Southern Right Whale. It is called the Southern Right Whale as it is easy to hunt. It is a surface whale and the only whale that did not sink when wounded.

It comes close to coast to breed. The mating season starts in July, birth is in September-October and they leave in December. This is the greatest spot in the world to see these whales, by boat or by air or even from the coast itself as they are only a few hundred metres away.

In this beautiful, little surrounding, we have built a luxury lodge with free standing accommodation. But because we are also so involved in nature, every guest that stays with us stays carbon free. We are carbon neutral since five years already, and in this luxury concept we look after nature, but even more importantly, we are looking after the communities.

We have a separate foundation in which we employed 45 people in our early learning centres where over 300 young children not only study but also have sports like hockey, athletics, canoeing and rugby for women. We also have schools where we train and develop gardeners through a one-year course and we also have training for hospitality and guiding, and then in the end also career development.

What is so different with our model is that the guests that arrive at Grootbos don’t only have the luxury of having a private little villa, over 70 sqm in size and where you have your own bathroom, one bedroom, a lounge with these incredible views. Guests can choose activities that they would like to have during their stay. Everything is guided by us, like guided botanical safaris, with specialist guides bird safaris, the Marine Big Five safaris, so you can go whale watching, go shark diving. You are able to walk along beaches where we show you the rare birds that we have, the sea anemones, the shells. We also have forest walks and stargazing.

We also specialise on food that comes from our own gardens and last but not the least, our menu I think is unique in South Africa. Our entire menu is vegetarian, and those guests that want the protein can add it to the vegetarian menu.

What is the total room inventory at Grootbos?

Our property is close to 10,000 acres in size, entirely private, just for these 60 guests we are talking about, with two types of lodges, one for families, the other one for grown ups and kids not below the age of 10, of which we have 16 suites and the other one has 13 suites and each of them is very individual, very private.

We also have two villas for multigeneration family, that is with six bedrooms and four bedrooms. In both villas, you have your own butlers, your own chefs and your own guides. So once again, you have everything in private. Our cost is approximately USD 600 per person per night and in the low season, about USD 400 per person, which includes virtually everything on the property.

Which are your biggest markets?

Our biggest market is the European market, starting with the English German market, followed by Italian and the Dutch market and then also the American.

Is multi-generation travel big in these markets?

It is something that is coming more and more. It started after September 11 attacks in 2001 in the United States, when people couldn’t travel, but where it really kicked off all of a sudden was during Covid. For the first time people that you couldn’t visit or you couldn’t see died. We were separated. So more and more people are saying we have to come back to our roots, to our families, like those in India.

How is India as a market for you?

For us, it is still a very small market, it was a bigger market when South African Airways had flights to India, which is not there anymore. And the visa issue is a major issue that they are having at the moment. We love receiving the Indian people, they are great travellers and I would love to see more Indian guests at Grootbos.