You'd be barmy not to try Trents

By Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel

31 Jan 2011

There's a posh girl's school in St Andrews, Bedfordview. There's also a smart boutique hotel, St. Andrews Hotel, that makes me immediately think of properties such as The Peech, Fairlawns and 10 Bompas. The standout here is the first-rate service, which impressed me. The location too is lovely, overlooking Gillooly's lake.

Modern frontage, great food.

We Capetonians forget what pleasant weather Joburgers enjoy, and the night we dined at St Andrew's Signature Hotel's Trents restaurant, the air was balmy.

The hotel, recently expanded to 59 rooms, is in a converted home so the main building has balconies and new wings jutting out. If you saw it from the sky, I'm sure it would look like a star. There is a separate building for the new bedrooms and conference suites.

Décor is boudoir meets bordello with lots of sensual textures you'll want to touch as you walk past. As someone who eschews instant coffee, I'm always thrilled when they have individual French press plungers as they do here (or those fabulous Nespresso machines that are becoming ever-more popular in fine hotel rooms.)

Free Wi-Fi

Good beds make a good hotel - but those bigs balls aren't the choccies, in case you were wondering...

Rooms in the main house differ in size and layout considerably so I suggest that you consider your needs carefully - the superior suites have views over the lake and large balconies and two double beds pushed side-by-side. I liked the fact that multi-plug adapters were easy to reach at the desk and while they offer free Wi-Fi, the speed from the internet cable at the desk is very fast.

Chef Enrico has worked with some of the top names in the bush - John Jackson at Royal Malewane among them. The food at Trent's was extremely well executed and I was thrilled not to find a foam or gel on my plate. Expect salmon roulade (rolled in steamed Nori) followed by the most delicious beef fillet with an elegant classical reduction, and truffle-scented mashed potatoes. Chocolate mousse topped chocolate brownie for dessert is very sweet.

'Eat me...'

... These are... and they're crying out... "Eat me!"

Speaking of chocolate, rather than place something sugary to eat at turndown (usually after one has brushed one's teeth) they have glorious piles of chocolate balls in burnished foil that scream Eat Me in an unnerving and irresistible way, to eat at any time.

Like all five-star hotels they have a spa on the premises. They were installing air conditioners in each of the spa suites when we visited. The St Andrew's Spa focuses on natural products.

For a stay that's near the airport (less than 15-minutes door to door), has service levels among the highest I've experienced, has quality cuisine, open spaces and views, I recommend the St Andrew's Signature Hotel. Drawbacks are its distance from Sandton and great shopping and entertainment destinations and their energy-saving, motion-activated lighting which may go dark while you're sitting on the loo - so you may need to wave your arms about a bit.

For more information go to www.st-Andrewshotel.co.za.