La Residence, Franschhoek - Baroque Excess in the Winelands

There is a photograph taken of you on arrival and placed on your nightstand by the time you reach your suite. The card alongside it reads: "We are celebrating you." This tells you almost everything you need to know about La Residence. The hotel - part of the family-owned Royal Portfolio collection alongside The Silo in Cape Town, Royal Malewane in Greater Kruger, and Birkenhead House on the Hermanus cliffs - is a place of deliberate, sustained extravagance.

Its 30-acre estate in the Franschhoek Valley is draped in roses, ancient olive groves, plum orchards, and vineyards that actually produce wine. Peacocks wander freely across lawns framed by mountain ranges that seem improbably close, as though someone positioned them for effect. The interior is all chandeliers, Persian rugs, crystal mirrors, baroque beds, and hand-embroidered silks from India and Morocco. The owner and designer, Liz Biden, has described minimalism as "not my thing," and the hotel is the fullest possible expression of that philosophy.

Location

Franschhoek sits in a narrow valley in the Cape Winelands, about an hour's drive east of Cape Town. The town has a distinctly French character - its name means "French Corner" in Dutch - owing to the Huguenot settlers who arrived in the late seventeenth century. Today it is best known as South Africa's culinary capital, dense with award-winning restaurants, wine estates that stretch to the foot of the mountains, boutique galleries, and chocolate shops.

La Residence sits on the valley floor on Elandskloof Farm, surrounded on all sides by peaks that catch the afternoon light at an angle that seems designed to make everyone present feel briefly photogenic. The hotel is within easy walking and cycling distance of the town center, and runs a complimentary shuttle for those who prefer not to make the journey on foot.

How a Family Retreat Became a Winelands Icon

La Residence was originally envisioned as a private family retreat for Liz and Phil Biden before it was folded into the Royal Portfolio, the boutique collection the couple built from a converted Kruger bush camp in 1999 - two days after Liz had officially retired from a career in fashion. The family connection is woven into the hotel's wine labels: the estate's two wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz red blend and a Shiraz rosé, are named after Biden family members.

The hotel has grown incrementally over the years, adding the Vineyard Suites, and most recently - opening in December 2024 - Franschhoek House, a six-bedroom exclusive-use villa within the estate grounds. The estate also has its own farm manager, a Franschhoek local, who leads informal tours of the property and brings its evolving story to life for those who want context alongside their comfort.

The Great Hall

The main dining room at La Residence is called the Great Hall, and it earns the name without much effort. Glittering chandeliers hang above black-and-white Victorian floor tiles; large fireplaces anchor each end of the room.

In winter, you eat by firelight. In warmer months, the tall doors open onto shaded terraces overlooking the lawn, the mountains, and the tops of palm fronds. The space is simultaneously formal and relaxed - one of those rooms where the grandeur is so complete that it eventually stops feeling intimidating.

The kitchen philosophy is farm-to-table in the most literal sense: the estate's own vegetable garden, herb beds, and plum orchards supply the kitchen directly, and in summer you eat figs, pomegranates, and artichokes pulled from the property that morning. Beyond the estate, the chefs work with a network of artisanal local producers to source meat, cheese, and salad leaves.

The menu changes with the seasons, and the sommelier - Wayve Kolevsohn, one of the first African women to hold her certification - is on hand to guide food and wine pairings from a list that covers both the estate's own vintages and an extensive collection of new-wave South African producers.

The terrace is an alternative worth considering over the main hall in good weather. It looks onto the pond and surrounding gardens, and the light in the late afternoon - when the mountains cast long shadows across the valley - has a quality that makes every meal feel vaguely ceremonial.

Breakfast runs until 11 a.m., lunch until mid-afternoon, and dinner is an unhurried affair that begins with cocktails and canapés at sunset and moves inside at whatever pace suits you.

Cellar Dinner Experience

For something apart from the main dining room, La Residence offers a private dinner in its below-ground wine cellar. The setting is candlelit and close - walls lined with fine vintages, crystal glassware catching the flame, and a silence that exists nowhere else on the property. The evening is designed for groups of between four and ten, meaning it functions as a genuinely exclusive event rather than a shared dining room dressed up with dim lighting.

A five-course menu is prepared by the culinary team and paired with South African wines chosen by the sommelier. Bookings require twenty-four hours' notice and the space is available subject to availability - it is worth arranging before you arrive rather than hoping for a slot once you're there.

Suites Designed to Stop You in Your Tracks

La Residence has three distinct types of accommodation spread across the estate. The main hotel building contains the Luxury and Superior suites, which are designed in a manner that makes adjectives feel inadequate - each one has a unique color scheme, its own set of design influences, and enough decorative detail to spend a meaningful amount of time simply taking stock of the room.

The Vineyard Suites are a separate cluster of private villas with their own pools and gardens, positioned within the vineyards a short walk from the main house. And Franschhoek House is the estate's new exclusive-use villa, sleeping up to twelve guests and operated with its own private chef and concierge.

Across all categories, the aesthetic is the same: opulent, personal, and deeply attentive to materials, color, and space.

Luxury Suites

The six Luxury Suites in the main hotel building are approximately 90 square meters each and look out over the valley. Each one has been individually styled - the handwriting is Liz Biden's throughout, but no two rooms share a palette or a mood.

All suites have king beds, with twin configurations available on request, air conditioning, underfloor heating, and full mini bars. House wines, spirits, cocktails, beer, and soft drinks are included in the rate, as is breakfast and all laundry.

Expect baroque statement beds, marble bathrooms fitted with both a deep tub and a separate shower, and the kind of decorative density that repays a slow first exploration of the room.

Superior Suites

The five Superior Suites are slightly larger than the Luxury Suites at around 100 square meters, and each has a private balcony or verandah that looks toward either the mountains or the vineyards. The bathrooms are generously proportioned, with a sumptuous bath as the centerpiece.

Like the Luxury Suites, the Superior Suites are individually decorated, with king beds, full air conditioning, underfloor heating, and included beverages and meals. The private outdoor space makes these particularly good rooms for the kind of slow morning where you do very little except drink coffee and look at mountains.

Vineyard Suite

Set slightly apart from the main hotel among the vines, the five Vineyard Suites range from a one-bedroom studio to a three-bedroom villa with a children's room, making them better suited to families or groups who want more space and more privacy than the main building offers.

Each suite has its own central living and dining area, a covered patio, and a private garden. The three-bedroom option runs to 165 square meters and can accommodate four adults and two children.

All Vineyard Suite guests have access to the shared Terrace Room - a more informal dining and social space with its own bar and kitchen - and each suite comes with its own private plunge pool.

The Pool

The main swimming pool at the hotel is set in the grounds with the mountains behind it and sun loungers arranged in the particular way that makes any pool in a spectacular landscape feel slightly unreal. It is available to all guests of the main hotel and the Vineyard Suites, with the Terrace Room pool serving as an additional communal space for Vineyard Suite guests.

In the warmer months - November through April, when daytime temperatures regularly exceed 30 degrees Celsius - the pool occupies a significant portion of the day without anyone feeling as though time has been wasted.

The Pond

At the front of the property, an olive grove borders a pond that has a tea house beside it - a small, shaded structure that doubles as the most tranquil spot on the estate for afternoon refreshments or a spa treatment.

The pond also serves as a sunset viewing point: the Loggia, an outdoor aperitif area overlooking the water, is where cocktails and canapés are served in the evening before dinner. The light here at dusk, bouncing off still water with the mountains behind, is the kind of thing that makes otherwise unsentimental people reach for their camera.

The Estate Grounds

The estate's thirty acres contain an ambitious and productive landscape: Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vineyards, plum orchards, a working vegetable garden, fruit trees, an olive grove, and a rose garden that is, by any account, extravagant. The kitchen draws on all of it - the summer months yield figs, pomegranates, artichokes, and herbs that go directly from ground to plate.

Walking the estate in the early morning, before the heat of the day settles in, is one of the better things to do here. The farm manager runs informal guided tours that cover the vineyards, the orchards, and the kitchen garden, often with encounters alongside the estate's animals: peacocks, guinea fowl, chickens, springboks, and the miniature horses Tango and Twist, which appear to have the run of the place and to know it.

Getting Out

The Franschhoek Valley is well suited to outdoor activity at almost every level of ambition. Hikers have access to the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve, which offers ten trails of varying length and difficulty - routes run through fynbos, along riverbanks, and across mountain slopes past named wine estates. Trail runners find similar terrain with enough gradient variation to make it interesting.

Cyclists can choose between a gentle pedal into the village, circular routes of between fourteen and twenty kilometers through rural farmland, or more demanding upland climbs for those inclined toward suffering. E-bikes are available for those who want to tour the wine estates without excessive effort - the hotel concierge can assist with bookings and suggest routes.

For golfers, Pearl Valley Golf Estate in the Paarl Valley - about twenty minutes away - offers a Jack Nicklaus-designed eighteen-hole championship course that sits among vineyards and mountains. Helicopter tours are also available for aerial views of the winelands or coastal excursions. The concierge can arrange most of it, including wine-tasting tours by road, bike, foot, or horse.