Swing your pants in an excited fashion. New to this South African pleasuredome are six private villas: a colourful explosion of Caran d’Ache high drama. Liz Biden’s hotels are the most famous in South Africa, and this must be the most expensive hotel in the country. You can’t believe it works, really – the chequered marble flooring, the lime-green curtains, the chandeliers so large they’re like intergalactic UFOs. And yet there is a reason why Christian Lacroix and Elton John love it here. Set apart in the gardens, surrounded by vines and apple and plum trees, this is heady stuff. It ain’t no barefoot chic, peeps – it’s a riot of glory, with massive roaring fires, four-posters and roses. The GM, Edward Morton, lives, eats and breathes the place; staff – at a ratio of 10 to one, or at least it certainly feels like it – are impossible to match. One Indian billionaire who insists on travelling the world with his own staff has said it’s the only place where he doesn’t need them, and revisited three times in 12 months.

  • LocationFranschhoek Valley, South Africa
  • Rates

three nights from £2,135, including British Airways flights, car hire and breakfast.

Contact: Tourism Corporation Africa

Tel: 021 426 0991

Email: shanaaz@tourismcorp.co.za

Website: www.tourismcorp.co.za