Refurbishing the old girl….

The Cavern has a story and a history and we are enormously grateful for the words of our guests; beautiful resort, wonderful for families, spectacular property, price-quality ratio was top, so many activities and endless possibilities…. But, in a world of modern and new, how do we continue to provide quality holidays?

Each year we have a project budget which is just for refurbishing the old girl. I often equate this stone home, with its many nooks and crannies to an old ship. Battered with time, holding memories of old and steadfast in an ever changing world. It is the familiarity of The Cavern which draws many people back but we cannot hold onto this alone and we must update where possible.

Over the past 4 years we have retiled every bathroom (bar 4 superior suites which are still looking fine but are scheduled for Feb 2018). There are 55 rooms and so it has been rather a lengthy process with a bit of noise and slight irritation here and there but the end result has been super. Bathrooms must be neat, inviting and sparkly clean so it was a good job to get done. Out with the brown and in with the new!

In 2018 we will be giving our small reading lounge – The Quiet Lounge – a refurb. This is the “Positively No Children OR Dogs” place. The children seem to listen but the dogs can’t read! It’s a special space at The Cavern and if you sit in the couch on the left, closest to the window, you can hide from the world and its troubles (pesky teenage children or the occasional grumpy toddler!). The afternoon sun streams in during the Winter months and it has a range of informative coffee table books which can keep you busy for hours; John Hone’s amazing collection of photographs of the Drakensberg, Botanical Art albums, War collections and positive news about how Awesome SA really is! It is a place where the adults have always congregated for evening drinks before dinner and many conversations, discussions and arguments have gone down.

We will also be working on the walkways between the buildings. Elsa Pooley, who advises on the gardens, has put her foot down and said it is time! We hope to have new paving done around the main building before Christmas and we will slowly work on the other areas in the New Year.

Our Austrian adventure in June gave us a host of new ideas and we will definitely need to make a few changes for the children. A tree-house perhaps, a couple more slides to make the downhills a little quicker and hopefully an Archimedes screw for some fun water play if the budget allows!

Life is all about taking the good and sharing it, heeding the suggestions and learning from them and making changes where possible. We will certainly work hard at keeping the old lady afloat!

2 thoughts on “Refurbishing the old girl….”

  1. Keep it up Megan. The Cavern is still the greatest holiday place in the Berg. I once tried to find a similar place in the Cape but with no success.

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