It’s not every day that one gets to eat and sleep in premises that are a national monument!
Going to explore and experience the Old Rectory Hotel & Spa in Plettenberg should be a bucket-list thing to do because it’s just one of the sweetest little hotels on the Garden Route, simply steeped in history.
Like other hotels and getaways in the area, the Old Rectory has become a staycation success story since Covid-19 put paid to overseas travel and locals started exploring their own backyards.
While overseas guests are coming back, South Africans are also flocking here — and booking their second stay, sometimes a year in advance, when they leave.
The derelict Old Rectory site was acquired in 2015 by Rare Earth Retreats; a family-owned collection of boutique hotels, country houses and safari lodges in SA.
Then the building was completely reimagined to become a boutique hotel, embracing its rich history and status as a national monument.
What was once a building that in 1777 housed troops supervising the storage and shipment of timber by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), opened in 2017 as a five-star boutique hotel with 18 bedrooms and what was once the chapel is now a luxurious spa.
The Old Rectory is the oldest surviving building in Plettenberg Bay and it’s also significant owing to its rich history so intertwined with that of the Garden Route.
There is a milkwood tree in the garden here that is thought to be 850 years old, making it one of the oldest in the area, maybe even the oldest.
In 1778, Plettenberg Bay was known as “Bahia Formosa”, meaning beautiful bay in Portuguese.
Hard to imagine it now, but in those days the area was farmland and thick indigenous forest on the outskirts of a British colony.
Even as late as the early 1920s, the little town of Plett was made up of only two shops, the Old Rectory, three houses and six shacks.
Be sure to linger over the old black and white photos in the lobby of the hotel, to get an idea of what the area and the building looked like then.
There are clues to the early history of the property in its architectural details and archives.
Notations on a plan of Plettenberg Bay in the late 1700s describe the house and timber store as the “pakhuis en militaaren logies”, alluding to its origins as a barracks.
This is a reminder that life along this stretch of idyllic coastline was once fraught with danger for those living there; its seaward-facing position undoubtedly chosen in a defensive measure against some hostile force during what was an unstable time politically.
When John Barrow, the private secretary to the Earl Macartney, was sent to report on the “lesser-known” areas of the British colony in 1797 — Plettenberg Bay among them — his findings included the ships “landing place” (which is now Beacon Island beach) and a glowing impression of The Old Rectory and its command of the foreshore.
He described it as “a new and handsome dwelling house, a magazine for the reception of timber, 200 feet (61m) in length, and a strong commodious building for the reception of troops”.
This commodious building is today the main reception area of the hotel and restaurant.
Baron Joachim van Plettenberg arrived in Plettenberg Bay in 1778 and the town was named after him.
The property was occupied early in the 19th century, by professional whaler, Captain John Sinclair and his wife Julia Maria, who lived there together until his death 1859.
After Sinclair’s death, the government bought “The Barracks” for £1,000 but sold it again 10 years later for £200 to Bishop Robert Gray, on behalf of the Anglican Church.
The sale included 18 acres of land along the foreshore, effectively granting landing rights to the church and for the next 70 years the rectory housed men of cloth, their families and missionaries.
Only one major alteration of the building is recorded during that time, when the rotting thatched roof was replaced with a corrugated iron one in 1887.
At the same time, a courtyard separating two sections of the building was also enclosed, forming the long, continuous floor plan that is still like this even today.
The wooden barn on the northern side of the house was where Bishop Gray was known to have held church services — until the neighbouring St Peter’s Church was built.
The barn also served as a school towards the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s and is now The Old Rectory’s tranquil in-house spa.
This history and old photographs were key to understanding the history of the building, something the architects respected when tasked with the restoration.
They had to decide which period of its existence to focus on and based on an early Cape Dutch photo they chose this as a reference point.
Amazingly, aside from the relatively minor update in 1887, few structural alterations have been made to this landmark, making it a rare piece of architectural and cultural history that remains virtually intact from the days of its construction roughly hundreds of years ago.
Today the building’s architectural heritage is paired with striking SA art expertly curated by well-known art curator Michele Bestbier and the result is a bright contemporary interior with a modern look that complements the original yellowwood floors, oak beams and stone walls
The Old Rectory has been reborn to continue its legacy of welcoming travellers, albeit not arriving on ships to the lush coastline of the Garden Route.
It’s filled with character, understated luxury and has the vibrant energy of what is Plett.
They have has embarked on a solar project which when introduced later this year will make the Old Rectory largely immune to load-shedding.
Soak up this history while you are there, but also take a walk to the beach — only a couple hundred metres from the hotel.
And if you need a snack during the day, The Bungalow, on the way to the beach serves a mean pizza.
The restaurant is intimate and hearkens back to a gracious time when tables were set with starchy white linen and dining out was something special.
The stone walls in here are the same as they were 250 years ago.
Chef Dayne, as he is known, has over a decade of experience running kitchens in some of the most respected hotels and lodges in SA and he is driven by a passion for food and new ways to take food to that next-level.
There is something traditional with a twist on the menu for everyone, but what trumped the dinner for me was chef Dayne’s starter which is called a mushroom arancini served with tomato jam, truffle sauce, basil oil, Parmesan cream, rocket and pickled cucumber.
It’s not actually on the menu, but be sure to ask for it.
It’s the most delicious mushroom dish I have tasted.
Doing the time warp in Plett
Old Rectory Hotel & Spa has rich history linked to war, religion and education
Image: Supplied
It’s not every day that one gets to eat and sleep in premises that are a national monument!
Going to explore and experience the Old Rectory Hotel & Spa in Plettenberg should be a bucket-list thing to do because it’s just one of the sweetest little hotels on the Garden Route, simply steeped in history.
Like other hotels and getaways in the area, the Old Rectory has become a staycation success story since Covid-19 put paid to overseas travel and locals started exploring their own backyards.
While overseas guests are coming back, South Africans are also flocking here — and booking their second stay, sometimes a year in advance, when they leave.
The derelict Old Rectory site was acquired in 2015 by Rare Earth Retreats; a family-owned collection of boutique hotels, country houses and safari lodges in SA.
Then the building was completely reimagined to become a boutique hotel, embracing its rich history and status as a national monument.
What was once a building that in 1777 housed troops supervising the storage and shipment of timber by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), opened in 2017 as a five-star boutique hotel with 18 bedrooms and what was once the chapel is now a luxurious spa.
The Old Rectory is the oldest surviving building in Plettenberg Bay and it’s also significant owing to its rich history so intertwined with that of the Garden Route.
There is a milkwood tree in the garden here that is thought to be 850 years old, making it one of the oldest in the area, maybe even the oldest.
In 1778, Plettenberg Bay was known as “Bahia Formosa”, meaning beautiful bay in Portuguese.
Hard to imagine it now, but in those days the area was farmland and thick indigenous forest on the outskirts of a British colony.
Even as late as the early 1920s, the little town of Plett was made up of only two shops, the Old Rectory, three houses and six shacks.
Be sure to linger over the old black and white photos in the lobby of the hotel, to get an idea of what the area and the building looked like then.
There are clues to the early history of the property in its architectural details and archives.
Notations on a plan of Plettenberg Bay in the late 1700s describe the house and timber store as the “pakhuis en militaaren logies”, alluding to its origins as a barracks.
This is a reminder that life along this stretch of idyllic coastline was once fraught with danger for those living there; its seaward-facing position undoubtedly chosen in a defensive measure against some hostile force during what was an unstable time politically.
When John Barrow, the private secretary to the Earl Macartney, was sent to report on the “lesser-known” areas of the British colony in 1797 — Plettenberg Bay among them — his findings included the ships “landing place” (which is now Beacon Island beach) and a glowing impression of The Old Rectory and its command of the foreshore.
He described it as “a new and handsome dwelling house, a magazine for the reception of timber, 200 feet (61m) in length, and a strong commodious building for the reception of troops”.
This commodious building is today the main reception area of the hotel and restaurant.
Baron Joachim van Plettenberg arrived in Plettenberg Bay in 1778 and the town was named after him.
The property was occupied early in the 19th century, by professional whaler, Captain John Sinclair and his wife Julia Maria, who lived there together until his death 1859.
After Sinclair’s death, the government bought “The Barracks” for £1,000 but sold it again 10 years later for £200 to Bishop Robert Gray, on behalf of the Anglican Church.
The sale included 18 acres of land along the foreshore, effectively granting landing rights to the church and for the next 70 years the rectory housed men of cloth, their families and missionaries.
Only one major alteration of the building is recorded during that time, when the rotting thatched roof was replaced with a corrugated iron one in 1887.
At the same time, a courtyard separating two sections of the building was also enclosed, forming the long, continuous floor plan that is still like this even today.
The wooden barn on the northern side of the house was where Bishop Gray was known to have held church services — until the neighbouring St Peter’s Church was built.
The barn also served as a school towards the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s and is now The Old Rectory’s tranquil in-house spa.
This history and old photographs were key to understanding the history of the building, something the architects respected when tasked with the restoration.
They had to decide which period of its existence to focus on and based on an early Cape Dutch photo they chose this as a reference point.
Amazingly, aside from the relatively minor update in 1887, few structural alterations have been made to this landmark, making it a rare piece of architectural and cultural history that remains virtually intact from the days of its construction roughly hundreds of years ago.
Today the building’s architectural heritage is paired with striking SA art expertly curated by well-known art curator Michele Bestbier and the result is a bright contemporary interior with a modern look that complements the original yellowwood floors, oak beams and stone walls
The Old Rectory has been reborn to continue its legacy of welcoming travellers, albeit not arriving on ships to the lush coastline of the Garden Route.
It’s filled with character, understated luxury and has the vibrant energy of what is Plett.
They have has embarked on a solar project which when introduced later this year will make the Old Rectory largely immune to load-shedding.
Soak up this history while you are there, but also take a walk to the beach — only a couple hundred metres from the hotel.
And if you need a snack during the day, The Bungalow, on the way to the beach serves a mean pizza.
The restaurant is intimate and hearkens back to a gracious time when tables were set with starchy white linen and dining out was something special.
The stone walls in here are the same as they were 250 years ago.
Chef Dayne, as he is known, has over a decade of experience running kitchens in some of the most respected hotels and lodges in SA and he is driven by a passion for food and new ways to take food to that next-level.
There is something traditional with a twist on the menu for everyone, but what trumped the dinner for me was chef Dayne’s starter which is called a mushroom arancini served with tomato jam, truffle sauce, basil oil, Parmesan cream, rocket and pickled cucumber.
It’s not actually on the menu, but be sure to ask for it.
It’s the most delicious mushroom dish I have tasted.
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