Grand Hotel or how to change century!

The days are becoming short and gloom... Time for a flash back to my South African holiday, time to travel through the centuries to Pilgrim’s Rest. It is a small town in the Mpumalanga province. It has been declared a national monument because of its untouched heritage.

Pilgrim's Rest is situated on the magnificent Panorama Route on the eastern Escarpment region of the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The area is richly imbued with a diversity of natural, cultural and historic gems. The village is a fascinating window into the past and captures the spirit of a bygone era and its people in their quest for gold. It used to be a busy village full of people desperatly looking for the precious metal and a bette life. As it became clear that no gold was left to find the village was abandonned. And this is what propobly saved its authenticity. It was rediscovered only recently and restored with care to preserve it whilst turning it into a tourist attraction.

There is no better place to stay in Pilgrim's Rest than the Royal Hotel. This national monument is famous for its atmosphere, cozy armchairs, Brass beds and Ball-and-Claw baths, flower printed wall paper... Waking up in one of those rooms before having a large trapper breakfast is just like waking up in a Western!

The wooden Chapel adjacent to the hotel has been turned into a bar (yes I know...) where every traveler leaves a memory note written on a bill in his local currency. Not only do you travel through time but you also travel the World!

The lobby