Book your place in the Sun

You can see for miles - and it's a great view.

Divided into South, Central and Northern areas, The Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park is a World Heritage Wilderness Site and as popular with birders who look out for the rare bearded vulture and uncommon cranes as it is with hikers and cultural travellers interested in the over 150 pristine rock art sites. The battlefields of the South African (Anglo/Boer) War are also in this greater area.

Near The Drakensberg Sun, Tsogo Sun Hotel's 78-roomed resort hotel and time-share complex are Champagne Castle Hotel and Champagne Sports Resort.

A big plus for any stablishment is a comfortable bed.

Spread over 900 hectares, the Drakensberg Sun is a perennial favourite during school holidays but, as deputy general manager Jenny Turnbull explains, corporate business is growing and conferences and team-building business is on the up. As a listed company, Jenny is not permitted to share percentage occupancy rates or disclose the hotel's competitor set but she is able to say that as one of the most established hotels in the area, occupancy is good all year around. When we visited, at the tail end of winter, most of the other guests appeared to be young families and older couples.

You'll probably be eating in

As there aren't many other restaurants in the area, rates are generally quoted on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis and our executive room, 112 had the benefit of opening directly onto the lawns. It has a good-sized sitting area with a two-seater couch and an over-sized wing-back chair. It also has an interleading door to convert it into a family room. Best available rates can fluctuate between R1900 during low-demand times to R2600 in busier periods.

Built on a slope does present some problems if you don't like stairs.

Children's programmes are supervised throughout the year with age-appropriate activities taking place in an area adjacent to the main restaurant, in the Fighting Trout Bar and down at the pool. Management have cleverly out-sourced a number of activities including the children's programme, horse riding and Drakensberg Canopy Tours.

The Lone Stranger rides again... Not!

This visit will forever stay in my mind as the first place I got onto a horse. Although there is a gym at the hotel which forms part of the Spa building, near the mini golf, there is so much walking to be done if you want to gad about up and down the mountain slopes as we did, that staying fit was the least of our concerns. We decided to walk to the stables, a good distance from the hotel, down the rolling lawns, right at the feature pool and across the huge lake. I was a picture of calm and excited to be mounting a horse for the first time.

"This is the horse wot dun it to Berkman, M'Lud."

Until I got on. Turns out I'm afraid of heights and the prospect of falling off a horse filled me with terror. An agonising 15 minutes into our gentle trot I asked to turn back, embarrassed.

Something for just about every taste

Despite being on a strict and limited diet, I thought the variety of food at the hotel impressive and everything I tasted was well prepared. It did take a huge amount of fortitude to eat only fruit and oats porridge when one of the biggest breakfast buffets I have seen is available. At dinner they have a sushi-making section which again impressed - not often to find good quality sashimi at an all-you-can-eat. On our second day a large conference was at the hotel but it was well managed in terms of having areas sectioned off for their use and we didn't feel spare.

You're not short of space.

A downside is that the property, because of its sloping position, is not suitable for people who aren't comfortable with stairs. Tsogo Sun is about to embark on a major refurbishment of rooms and bathrooms, which is one of the niggling issues that keeps being raised by TripAdvisor reviews.

The environment is majestic and pristine and this property's wow factor is the panorama of mountain peaks, rolling lawns and lake below.

For more information go to www.tsogosun.co.za.