Between the Ocean and Winelands

Pros: Location Excellent Host excellent Property Great

Luxurious, home from home, allowing us to feel very pampered. We thrived

Pros: We had the house to ourselves. Beautiful, well- appointed and everything we needed to move in and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I liked the fact that they trusted us with their precious belongings which were not packed away, but on display. It felt as if I were holidaying in a friend's home. Loved the outdoor area and BBQ for entertaining. The plunge pool off the patio, protected from the wind, the large bedrooms and use of wifi and Netflix. Security. Home from home.

Cons: Until the day we arrived, we had thought that we would be staying at Croydon Wine Estate, which is a wine and olive estate, and also has a dam. Our son-in-law came prepared to fish. However, we were directed, just before arrival, to Sitari Country Lodge Estate. We received no instructions on arrival, so we really had to work things out as we went along. We had been told that the cleaner had cleaned the day before- not sure that happened as the house surfaces were dusty. We were there in summer and would have loved fans or aircon in every bedroom. I bedroom had no fan and it was very hot at night. Mosquitoes plagued us but we bought plug-in mosquito repellant (I have allergies). We discovered that the HTH floater with chlorine for the pool was set for a medium-size pool and caused actual skin burns on 3/4 residents and 2 visitors. Ants from the front garden invaded the sofa in the lounge and salt was put down to deter them. The host forgot to provide a new access code to the estate on one occasion and we had to contact the host to obtain a new access code on our return from shopping.