Why it's holistic
- Every part of a stay at Grootbos is designed to promote inner peace and living in harmony with nature, the resort says, from spa treatments to immersive nature activities.
- Guided fynbos walks, botanical tours and marine safaris carry that idea outdoors, and the spas use the Bellabaci cupping massage system and aromatherapy oils.
- The Grootbos Foundation adds a second layer: a registered non-profit, audited annually, that works to conserve critically endangered fynbos and to train people in the surrounding communities.
- The resort says a stay leaves a positive impact behind.
About
Grootbos has two wellness spas, and both are set into the landscape: the Garden Lodge Spa overlooks an indigenous fynbos garden and has three treatment rooms, including a couple's room, and a sauna, while the Forest Spa sits amid ancient milkwood forest. The reserve covers 4,000 hectares with 1,000 recorded plant species, above Walker Bay near Hermanus and under two hours from Cape Town. Guided botanical tours, walks and hikes, horse riding from its own stables and marine safaris to see the Marine Big Five fill the days. Guests stay at Forest Lodge or Garden Lodge, which was rebuilt and reopened in April 2022, or in one of two private villas. The Grootbos Foundation, set up in 2003 by the owning Lutzeyer family, works on fynbos conservation and community skills training.
