The Royal Hotel

CatherineReichardt
Reviews: 1606

2.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

Period accommodation with modern touches

Many of the houses in upper Pilgrim's Rest are actually annexes to the Royal Hotel, which boasts a surprising 50 double bedrooms.
If you're booking in here, bear in mind that you may have to walk between your room and the hotel facilities. As the town is built in a steep valley, you would do well to let the hotel know when you're booking if you have mobility problems so that they can arrange accommodation in one of the closer rooms.

Opinion of Price: about average

Jenniflower
Reviews: 1567

5 out of 5 stars User Rating

2.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

Victorian Royal Hotel

Since I was a little girl, and first visited Pilgrim's Rest, I have always wanted to stay at the Royal Hotel.. so it was a dream come true for me to actually stay here... and it was even better than I had hoped for!

We stayed in the annexe to the hotel, which used to be the town's local bank! It has a lovely long balcony that runs down two sides of it.

Inside is a large and comfortable bedroom, with a passageway for a cupboard and place for your suitacses, which leads to a separate WC and a bathroom, with an original old victorian bath.

Service is outstanding - they depend on tourist trade in this town and so they know how to treat their visitors! The hotel includes breakfast in the room cost and it is a lovely breakfast: you can have full english/go the fruit and yoghurt route/go the cereal/muesli route/go the continental ham, cheese and croissant route.

It's all there for you, and you can have as much as you like.

The Royal Hotel restaurant is open for all meals and we had a lovely meal the night before in it as well.. I will write about this in a restaurant tip, as it stands alone from the hotel.

Unique Quality: This hotel is a space caught in time - buildings are made of tin and materials of the day, as they were during gold rush days... style is Victorian.

I love the typical sunken bath and the old fashioned handbasin.

There is an open fire in your bedroom, and a ceiling fan, as it does get rather hot here during summer!

Tea and coffee facilities are here too, with a complimentary biscuit and old fashioned-styled pamphlet about the area and what you can see and do.

There is also an example of one of the old newspapers of the time, which you can take away, prior to exploring the old town!

Staying here was a wonderful experience and if you are looking for that out-of-the-ordinary experience, this is the place to be!

Opinion of Price: about average
Related to: Historical Travel, Museum Visits, National/State Park

The Royal Hotel Photo: The Royal Hotel

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MarioPortugal
Reviews: 696

3.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

in the centre of the historic monument village

Unique Quality: quote from their brochure:

The Hotel lies at the heart of Pilgrim's Rest, a historic mining monument village, one of Mpumalanga's premier tourist attractions.

It offers guests a unique taste of late Victorian style.

The Ten converted, authentic late 19th century buildings make up the Royal Hotel's 50 richly decorated bedrooms, with antique brass beds, washstands, and sumptuous en suite-Victorian ball & claw baths.

Charm shops, museums and an underground winery provides a wealth of leisure activities, including trout fishing, horseback riding, hiking and excellent golfing.

The Royal Hotel is a short drive from the world-renowned Kruger national Park and the spectacular Blyde River Canyon and many more scenic attractions to explore.

The elegant lounge extends a warm invitation to settle into plush armchairs and take tea in front of a roaring fire.

Our Peachtree & Diggers Restaurant serves hearty old fashioned meals of fine local ingredients.

The attention to period detail extends to the historical Church Bar, a former relocated school chapel.

The Royal and magical village boasts one of the most popular venues for your special Wedding day.

» Rates: R230 per person - w/ breakfast.

Opinion of Price: N/A
Related to: Historical Travel

The Royal Hotel Photo: Royal Hotel - front door

3 more images

PEE-WEE
Reviews: 745

3.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

THE ROYAL HOTEL

The Royal Hotel in Pilgrim's Rest is perhaps one of South Africa's best known hotels. This national monument is famous for its atmosphere and world class service and facilities.

The Royal Hotel, situated in Pilgrim's Rest, was impeccably restored recently, to reflect true late Victorian style. Composed of ten authentic buildings dating back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, the hotel now offers 50 charming en-suite bedrooms. Declared a goldfield in 1873, Pilgrim's Rest became a cosmopolitan center of activity in South Africa. Today it stands as a legacy to these pioneers. The town was proclaimed a National Monument in 1986.

Victorian era. Upon entering the Royal Hotel, visitors are immediately taken on a nostalgia filled trip into the past. The reception walls are lined with the most interesting photographs and artifacts providing vivid glimpses of Pilgrim's Rest's history. This theme is carried forward into the lounge as well as the very famous public bar.

The Royal Hotel bedrooms are truly in a different class. Fifty en-suite bedrooms are spread over a number of annexes to the main hotel and all of them radiate extreme character. Furnished with genuine antique brass beds, wash stands, wardrobes and other furniture, visitors cannot but be transported back into history. Rounding off this atmosphere are authentic Victorian baths, sanitary ware and fixtures. In these surroundings, electric shavers, driers and other equipment will seem out of place.

Rounding off the Royal Hotel experience is our informal restaurant where hearty old-fashioned meals are served in a historical atmosphere in keeping with the rest of the Hotel. Enjoying a meal outside while taking in the scenery, is an experience worthwhile.

Once a school chapel in Cape Town, the very popular and famous "Church Bar" was shipped to the former Lorenco Marques (Maputo, Mozambique) from where it was transported overland to the village by ox-wagon.

Opinion of Price: N/A
Related to: Family Travel

The Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel

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Period accommodation with modern touches

Victorian Royal Hotel

in the centre of the historic monument village

THE ROYAL HOTEL

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