An Incredible Country-Style Wedding Venue in Swellendam

A quaint chapel, rustic luxury accommodation and sunset safari picnics at Rotterdam Boutique Hotel

Update: 9 October 2019

Massive en-suite rooms with Buffeljags River and pasture-facing balcony and incredible starlit skies, two-bedroom apartment or compact luxury rooms overlooking the pool. Orange and dairy farm tours and a gorgeous self-drive sunset safari picnic. Plus ample features you'd expect from a wedding venue and functions venue in Swellendam.

Rotterdam Guest Farm just outside of Swellendam seems made for boutique weddings, weekend getaways, countryside stopovers on the Cape Town-Plett route, family reunions and group bookings. Here’s why.

AN IDEAL WEDDING AND FUNCTION VENUE
Rotterdam is becoming quite the popular Swellendam wedding venue and is well equipped to accommodate large groups. An unmistakable quality of Rotterdam is that it can sleep up to 38 people in the various buildings on the farm. Take the experiences, breakfast and big boma with swimming pool into account and it’s easy to see that this is an ideal Swellendam function venue for anything from a wedding celebration to a tour or business getaway (the De Wagenhuis restaurant doubles up as a great conferencing area) or even a memorable family reunion.

BOUTIQUE WEDDINGS
With its own charming chapel, plentiful accommodation and only a two-hour drive from Cape Town, Rotterdam is a good choice for a wedding in a relaxed country setting. Plus, chef Josh Conradie and his wife, Christelle, offer guests an exquisite dining experience at the Rotterdam Restaurant.

And if you rent out the entire space, including all rooms and facilities, you get the use of the chapel (which seats 60) for free. Accommodation rates start at R545pp sharing.

Or, book six or more rooms for your wedding at Rotterdam and the bride and groom stay for free.

WELCOME TO ROTTERDAM
Just 10km outside of SA’s fourth oldest town and tourist attraction Swellendam, on the banks of the Buffeljags River, lies pastoral gem Rotterdam Guest Farm. Situated on a historically important gathering and weigh point site for farmers of the 1800 and 1900s, it’s today a working citrus and dairy farm, offering visitors unique Cape countryside experiences.

Rotterdam boasts several boutique and bed-and-breakfast style accommodation spaces in beautifully restored farm buildings bordered by pasture and the river. Most prominently, perhaps, is the popular De Wagenhuis, an extremely accurate reconstruction of the original barn that stood on this property from the 1700s.

4-STAR LUXURY AT DE WAGENHUIS
The thatched-roofed De Wagenhuis boasts seven rooms. Choose from exceptionally spacious top-floor rooms with en-suite bathrooms and balconies overlooking the pastures (and grazing cows every morning) to more intimate rooms and even a downstairs flat – this space is named after famed Cape Town Gardens gardener Jan Auge who retired and lived out the remainder of his life in Rotterdam.

Wagenhuis also houses the bar and restaurant area, where you can have a farm-style continental breakfast (just arrange beforehand) or retrieve your breakfast baskets or braai packs (perfect for sharing and gathering around the big boma and braai nearby). And speaking of the boma, it’s adjacent to the neat little farm chapel and Fraser Jones accommodation buildings.

3-STAR SPLENDOUR AT THE FRASER JONES
Named after the Fraser Jones family who purchased and restored the farm, the Fraser Jones is a multi-level building constructed around a communal courtyard overlooking the boma and swimming pool. It has 12 double rooms with a choice of either facing the courtyard or the river to the East.

UNIQUE ROTTERDAM EXPERIENCES
Waking up every morning to Jersey cows grazing in the pasture mere metres away is enough to convince you that a guided Rotterdam farm tour is a must. It includes both a dairy farm experience and a tour of the citrus plantations.

Also be sure to ask the staff at Rotterdam to book your self-drive sunset game drive and picnic at the nearby Kwetu Guest Farm. It’s an unmissable wildlife experience of giraffe and antelope to ostrich. Plus: get closer to an eland than you’ve ever been before – ask about their citrus addiction.

Barge cruises on the nearby Buffeljags Dam and cooking classes are also available on request.

Tip: Ask about their special packages that include your stay plus a few cool experiences.

GOOD FOR ADVENTURE
Located just 10 minutes from Swellendam means you have access to all the pastoral town’s museums (like the Drostdy Museum in town) and activities such as the famous Faerie Sanctuary on Buitenkant Street, and of course, all the popular eateries – lunch at the Old Gaol anyone?

And further afield you’re 12 minutes’ drive from Bontebok National Park and 41 minutes from quaint Karoo town Barrydale. A definite must is taking the 46-minute drive down to De Hoop Nature Reserve on the coast where you might catch sight of Southern Right Whales in the bay. 

Did you know Rotterdam also offers an incredible bachelorette party special and a farm stay special?

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Curious about Swellendam? Check out these exciting things to do in the area as well as unique places to stay in Swellendam. Also, see these exceptional accommodation specials in and around Cape Town. You might also want to check out these special places to host your function or event.

Tying the knot? Here are some key insights into planning your wedding, as well as a few lesser-known wedding venues in Cape Town and where to get married in the Cape Winelands.

Plus: Check out the cool Swellendam glamping stay option nearby and pay a visit to the famous Bontebok National Park.

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