The Boathouse is a beautifully located property in Hout Bay on the "right" side of the mountain. We enjoyed our stay at the Boathouse. Here are some points to note:
- The pictures don't do justice to the views. The views are absolutely spectacular.
- Whilst Cape Town can be quite windy, this home does not get the worst of the wind given that it's up against the mountain.
- The bedrooms are wonderfully spacious. Again something the pictures don't necessarily give you a good sense of.
- The main bedroom is huge with spectacular views.
- The one bedroom downstairs is also surprisingly big.
- Tracey is very responsive and will try to accommodate you. Despite Tracey being in the US herself (for part of our stay) she would always respond timeously and try to help. We also had the support of her daughter who was staying on the property.
- The house has 1 TV although Tracey did make a plan to get a second TV in. We were a large group (kids, teenagers, parents and grandparents) so it was not possible to accommodate everyone's viewing needs given the 2 TVs.
- The home is in close proximity to shops and restaurants in the area. It is also a very short drive to the beach.
- The internet is poor at best. Whilst fibre is available in the area, the owners have not made the transition. There is no DSTV / satellite TV but there is Netflix. However, given the poor state of the internet, watching Netflix is not really a viable option. We have teenage kids and without a decent wifi for their devices and no TV especially during lockdown / COVID (restricted movement) it was really not fun and became expensive as we were consuming large amounts of mobile data. If you have teenage kids or are dependent on a decent wifi connection, then I would suggest you arrange your own connectivity.
- When the internet did work we had a few instances where we could not use Netflix as there were too many devices signed on. Netflix I understand allows 5 devices and we had just 2 TVs. We were asked to log in via our own Netflix accounts, which I suggest you have available.
- If you have cat allergies, you will find it difficult as it's quite difficult to keep the cats out of the house. We were forewarned by Tracey about the cats and that they would be kept in the cottage but inevitably we found them in the main house.
- Fortunately we only experienced around 2 hours of load shedding but we did have a day without power and a morning without water. I understand the former is an isolated incident.
- Tracey did contribute to the electricity (R2000) during the stay and we had to put in an additional R3500 roughly for a 28 night stay. This is a large home so you need to budget accordingly for electricity.
- Although there is a garage you will have to park on the street as the family park their vehicles in the garage and driveway to garage. Tracey assured me the security is good and whilst we did not have a break in, we did have a hit and run, with some bad damage to the front of the vehicle.
- It's important to note that some parts of the home will be off limits e.g. the cottage, the garage and the wine cellar. We were aware of the cottage and wine cellar being off limits at the time of booking.
- This house is effectively spread over 4 levels. Once you are in the main living area however, it really only feels like a double storey home. Nevertheless, for elderly or low mobility people this could be tough.
- Although it did not bother us too much, you can expect that given the position of the home on the mountain, you may encounter the odd snake. We found what we determined to be a small spotted harlequin snake (only a mildly venomous species) in the outdoor pool whilst swimming.
- The indoor pool has a safety net which is great if you have young kids. As it is an indoor pool and is not heated (or heating has not been turned on) you can expect the water to be fairly cold.
- If you value your privacy this home may not be ideal for you as there were 2 - 3 people in the cottage almost all the time. Tracey did indicate that her daughter maybe there some of the time.