It’s 6.30am and the sounds of secateurs and Cape voices reaches me as I reach for my morning coffee. I go outside in a big fluffy robe and look across the vineyards, stretched like cornrows tight across the scalp of the foothills surrounding the Franschhoek mountain. The workers are harvesting the grapes as they have since the days of the Huguenots. A tractor purrs up the hill bearing a trailer-full fresh from the vines.

It’s harvest time at La Residence, surely one of the most beautiful places in Franschhoek. The guests receive a wake-up call to put on their oldest clothes, go and join in the picking before the sun strikes the grapes and then sit down to a bountiful Harvest breakfast, groaning with fresh figs, sweet watermelon and strawberries, local cheeses and honey on the comb, all grown on the estate. There are even blueberry pancakes, all moist and purple.

It’s my second morning at the La Residence Villas and I have been luxuriating in my own private 360 degree view of the green and verdant mountains, stark during the day with isolated trees at their summit, yet bathed in pinky rose in the late evening. A Cape Dutch style house nestles halfway up, half obscured by tall trees. My private pool is inviting and flanked by a burgeoning rose garden and blooming salvias.

The French-shuttered bathroom is filled with Charlotte Rhys goodies and a wealth of towels which get whisked off with the laundry twice a day. The bar fridge is stuffed full of nougat and locally made chocolates and the drinks tray is fully stocked. A bottle of La Residence’s Rosemary Jane 2012 sits calling my name on the table.

On my arrival the charming general manager Edward Morton meets me with a nice chilled glass of the above bubbles and a tussie mussie fresh from the garden. A charming touch that encapsulates what this gorgeous boutique hotel is all about. The driveway is imposing, with springbuck grazing under the trees and olive groves before the car swings into the main driveway. The archway of the door is framed by a nude bronze figure in front of a rectangular fountain which plays all day.

The hotel is a palatial home-from-home, where the guests are treated like gold. A mere five years old, La Residence was originally a family home. Designed along the lines of a French chateau, there are 11 luxurious suites, each decorated in a different style by owner Liz Biden and interior decorator Ralph Krall. Each room has its own name – the Tibetan suite with its Oriental murals or the Frangipani suite, a positive palace with a bed hugged by marble pillars and a bath reminiscent of the time of Cleopatra and Caesar. Some suites are named for flowers (Honeysuckle, Fuschia, Disa), some are Eastern-inspired (Tang)  or African (Huguenot, Nomatemba) and some have their own unique splendour (Maharani, Armani, Chambre Bleu).

Both Liz and Ralph have a love affair with colour and the rooms glow with burnt orange silk curtains and chandeliers. There is a certain secluded splendour to each suite, and guests can choose complete privacy or to join in the hotel atmosphere. There are wonderful chairs and chaise lounges everywhere to relax and take in the view and outside joins inside in an airy love affair.
The entrance boasts an enormous Indian chandelier hung over a great bowl of fresh flowers in a chequerboard patterned hallway. This leads straight out into the pool area, dubbed The Persian Alley, which is like some Eastern palace, lined with palm trees and festooned with Persian carpets. And of course the mountains, which frame a beautiful picture.
Speaking of pictures, the hotel boasts an impressive collection of important South African art, as well as lovely paintings on loan, and staff have put together a special inventory.

La Residence is the sort of place that begs for a wedding, and there is in fact a wedding courtyard for 150 guests maximum in front of the spa. However, a wedding marquee has been set up before in front of the pool area for the sort of Big Fat Franschhoek Wedding that every bride dreams of.
The visitors’ book is thoroughly enthusiastic – but my favourite comment was: “The closest thing to Paradise on earth”!

La Residence is part of the Royal Portfolio, which also has Royal Malewane and Birkenhead House in its stable.