There’s good news and bad news.
The bad news is that I've been a bit negligent in keeping the Oude Leeskamer Guest House blog updated, but the good news (or so our Accountant tells us whilst peering over over our books) is that we have been so busy over the last 6 weeks that we have barely had time to think and reflect, never mind putting our thoughts into meaningful sentences in our blog.
The big news of the moment is that on the 1st of March the Oude Leeskamer Guest House celebrated its 6 month birthday! WOW … 6 months already… where does the time go? It feels like just the other day that we opened the doors on a fresh Spring morning and waited in anticipation for our first guest to arrive! (Now that our Accountant’s nervous twitch and slightly hysterical laughter at the state of our books has subsided somewhat we can break the silence and admit we waited 5 very long and nerve-racking days for that elusive first guest to arrive… and to the amazing Lize Gresse – thanks for being such a perfect first guest!)
The early days were very daunting, exhilarating and unpredictable. We got some things right from the beginning and got many others horribly wrong. The day our very friendly courtyard squirrel undertook its morning ablutions on one of the Japanese Maple tree’s branches will be remembered for some time to come, for whilst we have no problem with the squirrels morning routine per se, it did end up causing some consternation as said droppings landed right between the kiwi and nectarine slices on a particularly nice Swiss guests’ breakfast fruit platter.
Another less than fond memory was the day we were hosting a cocktail party to announce the opening of the guest house to an assortment of Stellenbosch’s good citizens. Amidst the tours of the guest house, the quaffing of good wine and the serving of Smoked Salmon Blinis (or as our housekeeper Hilda referred to them … those Russian Fish Plaatkoekies), the shower inlet pipe in room 3 had sprung a leak and was causing a veritable tidal wave of shower water to cascade onto the newly installed bar. As if this wasn’t enough drama for one night, no sooner had the indoor waterfall ceased to rain, before the distinctive smell of something burning starting filling up the space so recently filled with pouring water. Amidst all the action I had totally forgotten about the baked camembert and garlic focacia fingers I was lightly toasting in the oven… To this day we still don’t know if the guests simply didn’t notice the baptism of fire and flood that beset the launch cocktail party or if they were simply to polite (and potentially to mellowed by complimentary beer and wine) to say anything!
But the fact that we started our life as 78th best guest house in Stellenbosch (out of the 78 guest houses in Stellenbosch at the time) and have made it into the top 10 a mere 6 months later suggests we’re doing alright (see http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g312673-d1878274-Reviews-Oude_Leeskamer_Guest_House-Stellenbosch_Western_Cape.html. (And serves as a great source of reassurance when staring at a booking sheet the wrong side of half full)
We have also experienced great satisfaction in being part of breathing new life into the Oude Leeskamer building. Over the course of the last two centuries the Oude Leeskamer has served as a magistrate's office, school, political meeting place, residential home, architects' studio and originally a Reading Room - hence the name “Oude Leeskamer”. Over the years many of South Africa’s most well known politicians, academics and business leaders have delivered speeches and participated in debates in the Oude Leeskamer - it was here that a relatively unknown D.F. Malan delivered his first public political address, so shakily that the critics openly predicted that he would never amount to much. But Malan persevered, - eventually becoming the 5th Prime Minister of South Africa.
The building’s most noteworthy role, however, is the fact that the decision to found one of South Africa’s first Gymnasiums was taken in the building on 28th January 1864 when Reverend J. H. Neethling managed to obtain the 43 signatures of Stellenbosch’s most influential citizens – along the much needed promise of an initial start-up fund of GBP450. It was this Gymnasium that later developed into one of South Africa’s most prestigious boys school and the country’s premier University – the University of Stellenbosch.
Over the past 6 months as Paul and I grew more attached to the building, we have realized that this building is special for many, many people and we love being able to share it with them. Hardly a week goes by where we don’t have an inquisitive visitor (or a sticky beak?!? as one of the visitors candidly referred to herself) popping in to see what’s become of the building and sharing some nostalgic memory.
We have some very exciting developments in the pipeline for the second half of 2011 (so watch this space!), but what will not change is our commitment to giving our guests authentic South African hospitality in a wonderful building in a very special town in the country that is unlike any other and which we love to call home.
Running a business is not easy, starting a business during a recession is especially brave (we much prefer this term to the often proffered stupid, reckless or even clinically insane). Since we started out we’ve experienced the full range of emotions from despair to euphoria (and everything in between, usually on a daily basis!), and have worked harder than we ever expected to.
But we have also had the privilege of meeting all sorts of wonderful, interesting and amazing people and enjoying many hours of animated conversation – usually around the bar. Conversations have ranged from discussing Monty Pythons’ Bicycle Repair Man video and the top ten reasons to visit Upington to how one hosts a formal English High Tea for 100 ladies in Oklahoma, Texas!
We are still a far way from where we would like to be (and many of you know about our grand plans for late 2011 and beyond), but we’re making steady progress. It is the dedication of our faithful and hardworking staff Hilda and Grace, the vision and commitment of Fred and Jean to restoring this fantastic building, the encouragement of our amazing family and friends and of course the support of the many guests that have passed through our doors that have allowed us to reach our 6 month milestone still going strong. And for this we are extremely grateful.
Here’s to the next six months – cheers!
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