Name: Swellen2 Farm Lodge
Address: N2 Highway, Swellendam, Swellendam, Swellendam, 6740, South Africa
Rating: 9

Smoke-free property

Heating

Express check-in/check-out

Garden

Terrace

Private check-in/check-out

Patio

Outdoor furniture

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Fridge

Family room

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Wardrobe/Closet

Linens

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Iron and board

Laundry

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Packed Lunches

Kettle

Meals

English

Multi-language staff

Languages Spoken

Barbecue grill(s)

Picnic area

Barbeque

Sun Deck

Recreation

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Event facilities

Business

Children's playground

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Swellen2 Farm Lodge

Swellendam

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We stayed one night on part of a family holiday. Richard went above and beyond to accommodate our needs (I had to be on a business call early in the morning).

The room was neat though bathroom was just ok (the toilet had a leak and the shower curtain needed a little attention).

The pool and trampoline were great for the kids and in very good condition.

The kids loved seeing the farm animals.

We didn’t make use of the shared kitchen.

Good overnight stay

Our family getaway was definitely the best one in a long time. On Arrival we were greeted by Richard, a charming gentlemen with a so much enthusiasm, you've got to appreciate the energy. We had the entire place to ourselves, all 25 family members. On Saturday morning, all our kids were invited to watch and help feed the animals, which they thoroughly enjoyed.The place is perfect for all ages. The bedroom/ bathroom facilities are very well kept. Kitchen well equipped with all necessities . We had organised a family fun weekend away which included games like tug of war, egg and spoon race for the little ones, etc. Richard very kindly allowed us free reign of one side of the farm which we could use for all our games. Our children cannot wait to return to Swellen2 Farm Lodge, and we certainly look forward to seeing Richard and Angela, and all the animals again soon. Definite Great Value for money.  A very Big Thank You to Richard and Angela Mwah

Great Value For Money

Two Grannies, Three grandsons, One Farm Lodge = Winning combination.  In the school holidays my sister and I took our three grandsons on a road trip from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and beyond.  First stop was SwelleN2 Farm Lodge.   The owner was down to earth, explained the fly-catcher system to the children, allowed them access to the goats, and there was a bunny cage, ostriches, cows, and a pot-bellied pig to keep them enthralled.  Lovely log cabins set along a large verandah.  A self catering kitchen/entertainment area.  The highlight for the kids was that we allowed the three boys to sleep in their own bungalow, while we two grannies slept next door.  Completely safe.    

Grandkids Delight

We stayed here for 1 night during a 3 week car tour from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in October 2017. My wife and I are from Seattle WA and were travelling with my sister from Johannesburg. We are all in our late 60s. We prefer mid-range accommodation.

In order to obtain a better idea of local accommodation standards and costs, I waited until the end of the tour before completing this review.

Pluses ============
Behind the bunkhouse there was a wide deck, a stream and a pleasant nature area with birds. This area was more peaceful than the front. (The rooms should have faced this way, we felt). The farm had tame animals like ostriches, guinea fowl, rabbits, sheep and mules. The hosts were friendly and Angela gave us a half dozen eggs as a parting gift. Derek responded promptly when we told him of the light and gas stove issues (see below).

Minuses =============
We arrived early evening at the SwellN2 Farm Lodge. Unfortunately, this was noisy, poorly maintained and overpriced. It was effectively a long bunkhouse, like a backpackers, with about 10 rooms mounted side by side on concrete pillars, with a shared kitchen. There was little privacy if one had one’s curtains drawn. People clumping down the long walkway to the main staircase in the center of the bunkhouse structure made the rooms vibrate and one’s tea cup rattle in its saucer. The kitchen and dining room were a mess owing to the presence of a group of young men who were on a 4 week plumbing assignment at a nearby sports stadium. It seemed these guys were either bachelors or were used to having women clean up behind them. I had to wash some of their dishes so that I could use the sink. The shared living room had a TV which the young men kept mostly on a high volume, and which made the adjacent dining room effectively unusable. Several times I asked them to turn it down. They complied, but soon another member would show up and crank up the volume. During our stay we did not see a staff member attempt to clean up the kitchen and dining room for use by other guests like ourselves. Fortunately the young men had gone to work by about 08h00 so we had a period of peace (but still a dirty communal area) before the 10h00 checkout.

We reserved this on Booking.com. They rated it “Very Good – 8.2”. We find this unbelievable. Marketing hype? Their posting was also misleading, as unfortunately has been the case twice on this tour. The swimming pool shown in the cover photo was a small 2.5 x 5 m and was half full of unattractive looking water. Not usable. Neither was the Wi-Fi. (Booking stated “Outdoor Pool. Free Wi-fi). When we asked for the Wi-Fi password, the hosts apologized and said it didn’t work at the bunkhouse. They added that we might get a slow connection if we drove the 0.5 km from the bunkhouse to their farmhouse, but it wasn’t clear where guests could sit to use a laptop or whether 220V was available. If, as in Cape Town, the pool had been in limbo owing to water restrictions, Booking and our hosts might have pointed this out beforehand, and we would have been sympathetic. Instead, it simply appeared neglected, like the kitchen.

When we arrived, our room had the single main light out. It was too dark without it, so I had to drive to the farmhouse to summon the owner Richard, who showed up with a long ladder to replace it. I held the ladder which he had placed over my bed to reach the high ceiling. Quite an operation. Our room had 3 dorm-style wooden beds with firm mattresses. The comforters worked fine. Two beds had reading lamps, the third not. The hot shower worked well. When my sister went to boil water for soup, the kitchen stove had run out of gas, which Richard then took another half hour to replace. There was no soap in our bathroom (I was told to “come to the farmhouse to collect some”) and no washcloth in the kitchen for washing dishes or for cleaning the many crumbs off the tables . Our room lacked waste bins, so Richard gave us the one from the kitchen, which from then on had no waste bin. A large humming Canola oil factory was situated 400 m away, and hiway N2 was 200 m away. These disturbed the peacefulness of what could have been a good farm experience. There were no bug screens on the windows, and when I tried to read my Kindle that evening, with a window partly open to avoid stuffiness, I was soon surrounded by dozens of insects. A useful introduction to Entomology in this biodiverse area of the Cape. I spent a while counting the species – perhaps 8.

Neither the owners nor their staff seemed to pay attention to the little things which are important in an hotel. At R700 cash (no credit cards) for 3 persons, it was the worst value and the poorest accommodation of our two Garden Route tours (this one and in April 2016). At R350-400 it might have been passable. Perhaps Swellendam is an expensive place to stay, more so than Hermanus, Plett, Natures Value and Oudtshoorn?

Summary =============
The accommodation was poor value at R700 cash (about USD 52). We would not stay there again. 

My rating: 2/5. Location: -34.058770, 20.420734

Not peaceful. Poorly maintained. Overpriced.

Extremely friendly and helpful owner - Richard! It's basic but very functional and despite being next to the N2 National Road...extremely quiet and peaceful. Wonderful setting with everything you need to rest, rejuvinate and travel on! If you want to explore the close by Nature Reserves or the historically rich town of Swellendam then this is just the right place. Tranquil farmyard setting a stones throw from Swellendam and directly adjacent the N2! Absolutely awesome...we really enjoyed our stay!

Swellen2 Farm Lodge

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