April 2022 - Wanderwiles

Qatar Airways Qsuites: 26+ hours of luxury flying

The last hurrah of my big birthday trip was a two-flight return journey from Cape Town to Dallas via Doha on Qatar Airways Qsuites. I’d been wanting try Qsuites for awhile, but it just never worked into our plans. With American Airlines offering this pair of flights on partner Qatar Airways for a super-reasonable 70,000 miles, now was the time!

While the route might see ridiculously out-of-the-way on first glance, it was actually perfect and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The first flight was overnight, Cape Town to Doha, so I chose two interior seats (Qsuites are in a 1-2-1 configuration) so that David and I could merge our seat cubicles. We shared dinner, then had our seats reconfigured to have a private double bed in the sky. We loved it!

After a restful overnight, we landed early in Doha with enough time to check out Qatar Airways impressive Al Mourjan business class lounge. (It’s hard to believe Qsuites are only business class as they outstrip many a first class seat for comfort, excellent dining and pure luxury.) The lounge is immense with a huge reflecting pool running through a central, two-story space, touch pads at every seat, private rooms and cubicles and an upstairs dining room (do reserve). Signs advised that the number of persons allowed in the lounge was limited, but we were allowed in immediately and it’s hard to imagine how many people would make that vast space and seating capacity overcrowded.

Inside the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge in Doha

The second leg of our journey was a 16-hour flight non-stop from Doha to Dallas, one of the longest flights in the world. After our first flight, we couldn’t wait to get back on a plane to check out the window seats I’d chosen for this leg of the journey. Would that I was always so eager to get back on a plane! Once again, we were offered White Company pajamas for the flight. When I told our attendant that we already had a pair from the previous flight, he urged us to take another so we got a couple of sets for my sons. They’re delightfully comfortable and we’ve all enjoyed wearing them back at home on tv nights.

Windows seats were ideal for this flight and we felt like we got a free tour of the planet from the sky. The weather was clear for the entire flight back and we got surprisingly clear views of Iraq and Euphrates, Romania, Turkey, Greenland and its melting glaciers… I took pictures out the window, comparing them to the flight map on my seat screen and adding labels. I’m a sucker for a little nerdy fun!

Qsuites dining really deserves a shout-out. It exceeded my (high) expectations. The lobster Thermador, in particular, rivaled any I’ve had in a restaurant. (See lead photo.) Wines and champagne were good, a final “lobster salad sandwich” boasted big lobster chunks and a full, shelled claw. Delicious!

South Africa finale: A gorgeous hotel in a former Constantia vineyard

Although the room we stayed in listed online at over $700/night, our stay at The Cellars-Hohenort was completely free thanks to Hyatt credit card “annual” certificates which David had accumulated over the pandemic as Hyatt and other hotel chains extended the validity of such certificates during the worldwide shut-down. (We used my three certificates for our stay at The Marine Hermanus.) The Cellars-Hohenort is part of the Liz McGrath collection of three 5-star hotels which, along with The Marine Hermanus, had just come under the Hyatt umbrella. We couldn’t have been happier with this use of the certificates!

Magnificent camphor trees and other idyllic spots on the grounds of The Cellars-Hohenort

The Cellars-Hohenort is housed in several gleaming white, traditional-style buildings of a former winery. The hotel sits on grounds that could rival any botanical garden with flower beds, fountains, ponds, a small vineyard and a stand of immense 272-year old Camphor trees (planted in 1760). We loved exploring the grounds and ate every breakfast enjoying the view of Table Mountain.

View from our indoor breakfast table. The weather was so nice
we moved outside for our last two mornings

Due to our Hyatt status, the Cellars-Hohenort comped us our “continental breakfast,” an ample spread that went beyond the usual. This is a perk they probably weren’t obliged to offer during a free stay and really added to the value of our certificates. We ate dinner twice in their excellent restaurant, too. We charged to the room then paid at check-out with a Hyatt credit card so that we earned 9x the points for those expenses. (The bonus points did not automatically show on my statement, probably because of the affiliate-status of the Liz MacGrath hotels, but a call to Hyatt had those extra points quickly added to my account.)

The Cellars-Hohenort could not be more conveniently located for wine tasting in the Constantia region. We made stops at Klein Constantia, Eagles’ Nest and Constantia Glen, the furthest from our hotel being a 12-minute drive away. The wines were all good and we really loved the views from the pretty terrace dining area at Constantia Glen. Eagle’s Nest was particularly family-friendly with children playing around picnic tables scattered around a back lawn.

We spent our last full day wandering the spectacular Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a mere 6-minute drive from The Cellars-Hohenort. The Kirstenbosch website justly boasts “Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is acclaimed as one of the great botanic gardens of the world. Few gardens can match the sheer grandeur of the setting of Kirstenbosch, against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain.” I could do a post just on the garden, but enough for now. Suffice it to say, we loved it, it’s more than worth the trip, and the on-site restaurant moyo Kirstenbosch is delightful, too, especially if you can snag a table outside on a gorgeous day.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, founded in 1913

Although we felt far from the bustle of Cape Town proper, it’s only an easy <25-minute drive from The Cellars-Hohenort to the Cape Town airport. We did leave a little earlier than necessary to avoid rush hour, though, on the advice of the hotel.

An Afrikaner ostrich farm

Skeiding ostriches were as curious about us as we were about them.

I’m behind on blogging having been distracted by the holidays and then the heartbreaking last weeks with my beloved, nearly 18-year old dog, so am finishing up the end of our South Africa trip while on a transAtlantic cruise from Florida back to Europe. I’ll keep it brief, but I hated to let two favorite South African stays (and a pair of awesome Qatar Airways Qsuites flights home) go unreported.

Looking for something different after our time driving South Africa’s Garden Route, I was intrigued to find Skeiding Guest Farm, billed as a working ostrich farm. How fun!) Turning inland from the Garden Route, the drive to Skeiding took us through dramatic mountain passes into the Little Karoo, a rugged high plains area. We stopped for lunch at a funky little roadside café and gift shop called Bella de Karoo and descended back through the mountains to the ostrich farm at the end of some miles of unpaved road. (Bella de Karoo apparently has guest rooms elsewhere, but we didn’t check those out.)

The main house at Skeiding Guest Farm where meals are served.

Skeiding Guest Farm is run by a married couple, Neels and Anné-Lize, who both trace their ancestry back to the earliest Afrikaner settlers. Skeiding is a working farm on 1200 hectares (appx. 2965 acres). We were met at the main house by Neels who checked us in and showed us to our charming cottage with its big covered patio overlooking a sweeping vista. After settling on a dinner time, David and I headed out to hike the farm (a working ranch as well as a farm), accompanied by Clara, the friendly doberman.

Skeiding farm (clockwise from top): views of the Langeberg Mountains, a curious ostrich, view from the living room of our cottage, and hiking with Clara the doberman

On this first ramble, we saw lots of sheep, but no ostriches. We also marveled at the local birds, particularly the brilliant yellow and red weaver birds who flitted back and forth among their woven nests that dangle like straw Christmas ornaments from so many African trees.

We found the farm’s flock of ostriches on a later hike, laughing as the big-eyed creatures at first ran from us, then approached, looking for treats. Neels told us he’d greatly reduced the flock as selling meat became a money-losing business due to international restrictions following an outbreak of bird disease in Africa. He now mostly keeps the ostriches for guests and to sell their eggs to race horse breeders who use them for feed to enhance the horses’ coats and general health.

Neels at the braai and an excellent dinner

Food at Skeiding Guest Farm deserves a special mention as it was abundant and outstanding. Anné-Lize is the main cook while Neels is in charge of the indoor braai (barbecue). We opted for ostrich steaks, of course, which Neels barbecued to perfection in front of us. The rest of the meal, accompanied by local wine, was equally delicious. The next morning revealed an extensive spread of a dozen cheeses(!), picture-perfect fruit plates, and cooked-to-order scrambled ostrich eggs. More food that we needed, but we enjoyed every bit of it!