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If you ask the man-in-the-street “where is the Karoo and what do you think it looks like”, they will answer as follows: “traditional, old style and friendly region. In the same breathe they will tell you about the numerous one horse towns and that those horses died many years ago.” Stereotype but still in many instances a valid observation.

Once a year, when “die groot trek” takes place from the big cities to the coast, many a traveller starts looking for overnight accommodation in that same traditional old style Karoo, often disappointed that seemingly there is nothing more city-like accommodation available, at the typical low Karoo price of course, because overnight accommodation should not cost anything……

More and more travellers, however, start discovering the little gems in the Karoo, the hidden treasures with contemporary décor and modern approach. The Karoo is “in” again. It is cool to visit Karoo festivals and to explore the wide-open spaces, just to discover that there is so much life and happiness in this harsh desert-like region, where the summers are hot and where the winters are long and freezing cold.

One of those hidden gems is in a place called Hanover, a tiny one-horse-town, where the church can seat more people than that there are living in the vicinity, a town where there is nothing more than a tiny supermarket for the daily needs, a town that once was the most important and central trading post of the country.

A young man, Jan-Sauer Lambrechts, born and bred in the Upper Karoo and an architect with passion for design (whose heart skips a beat when he sees the latest edition of the House & Leisure), decided to bring Cape Town closer to the people of Gauteng and making the Capetonians feel more at home in the middle of nowhere. He turned a more than 150-year-old house, into a unique guesthouse where true Karoo tradition is combined with contemporary décor, where sleeping op die platteland becomes an experience of note and where eating “skaapstertjies” becomes the latest trend in South Africa.

Boutique Guesthouse Hanover is a great concept, loved by young and old. Not in the least thanks to the enormous back stoep that overlooks a quiet and lush garden and from where one can see the lesser kestrels coming home to the trees of Hanover to roost after a day of foraging insects and small rodents in the veld. This stoep is the centre point for a great traditional braai or a nice evening kuier with friends. With a good glass of wine and awesome food, people wonder what happened to “ou tannie” se boerekos. Although that the ingredients for the meals at the Boutique Guesthouse Hanover are predominantly from the Karoo, the fusion with the Mediterranean cooking style is recognizable.

Would you like to get the Karoo under your skin, would you like to experience true Karoo hospitality in a modern environment, yet breathing indelible history and feel at home immediately? Then contact the Boutique Guesthouse Hanover. The guesthouse is open 24/7/365.