Honey Bee Suite
Glamping at its finest beneath the canopy of Platbos Forest
We are happy to introduce you to our eco-friendly, off-grid Honey Bee Suite. Offering private accommodation, this forest venue sleeps 2 guests. The Honey Bee Suite is exclusive in that guests enjoy the privilege of having this unique and beautiful forest venue all to themselves.
Honey Bee Suite ~ What to Expect
Our rustic and comfortable accommodation aims to provide guests with a sense of being at one with the forest environment. The site of the Honey Bee Suite is orientated around a magnificent and ancient white stinkwood tree – by our estimates it is well over 500 years of age.
The Honey Bee offers private and secluded accommodation and sleeps 2 guests in a free-standing tented room with a double bed. A mosquito net is supplied for the summer months and the bedroom has a drop-down, canvas blind that enables you to feel truly part of the forest if you so wish. The ablutions – composting toilet, basin and shower – are separate from the tented bedroom and are semi-enclosed: designed to make your stay at Platbos a true forest experience. Hot water is supplied via the old fashioned ‘donkey boiler system’. The freestanding kitchenette has French doors and a fireplace, so no matter the weather, you will have a cozy forest getaway!
The hot tub – set beneath a beautiful white stinkwood tree – uses untreated river water and takes ‘forest bathing’ to the next level! Guests need to operate the wood-fired tub themselves but full instructions are supplied. The Hot Tub has a cover but it is not fenced. These facilities are therefore not child-friendly. Please see Honey Bee Facilities below for further information.
Honey Bee Suite is accessed via a short forest pathway from the designated parking area and all facilities are for the exclusive use of our Honey Bee guests. This unit is a short walk from our Bush Buck Suite but they are screened from one another by dense forest. A private pathway from the suite gives guests access to the main forest trail.
For guests booking during weekdays, please be aware that Platbos is a nature reserve that requires active management and protection. During certain months of the year the Platbos Conservation Trust needs to carry out routine fire-break maintenance as well as alien clearing on our neighbour’s property. As far as possible, we try to minimize the noise disturbances for our guests but sadly, the reality is that without this ongoing, costly care, the forest would no longer be here to be enjoyed.
Prospective guests also need to please be aware that occasionally, atmospheric and particular wind conditions combine to amplify noise levels coming from the valley below where there is a wedding venue. Fortunately, these are infrequent disturbances, but guests are hereby alerted to this possibility ahead of time.
We do not have a reception office – we have structured things so that guests can go straight to their respective units. In order to facilitate this and ensure that you have a truly magical, hassle-free stay in the forest, we send important information, a map and directions which need to be read and/or printed out ahead of your stay.
Please explore our website to learn more about some of the forest’s fauna and flora as well as our conservation work at the Reserve.
Honey Bee Suite Facilities:
- Double bed with mosquito net. All linen, towels and bedding provided.
Indoor / Outdoor Kitchen:
- Fully equipped kitchen with pots, pans, cutlery and crockery.
- Gas for cooking (note: no oven, microwave or fridge as the Honey Bee Suite is off-grid).
- We provide a Cooler Box (stored at the “Freezer Hut”) but you may like to bring along your own as well. Re-freeze your ice bricks and ice trays in the communal freezer.
Outdoor Fireplace:
- Grid is provided.
Open Air Shower:
- Hot water fuelled by the old-fashioned Donkey Boiler. Wood is supplied for this; however, guests are responsible for making their own fires.
- Washstand and basin.
Hot Tub:
- Two bags of wood are provided; additional wood can be purchased from the “Freezer Hut”.
- Guests to heat water themselves (find instructions in the ‘Guest Info Folder’ & Sign Boards at the Honey Bee).
Also to Note:
- A mountain river is our source of water. As this water has not been tested or treated, please bring along your own drinking water.
- A Solar lantern and candles are provided but you may like to bring extra lighting and flashlights.
- Wood is provided for the ‘donkey boiler’ (one bag for each night of your stay). Rooikrans Braai wood, a by-product from our alien clearing, is available at R50.00 per bag. Please collect this from the “Freezer Hut” in the fire break and leave your money in the honesty box. No outside wood is allowed to be brought onto the Reserve as this may introduce the dreaded “Shot Hole Borer Beetle” which will have dire consequences for the forest trees.
- Please bring along your own fire-lighters for your camp fire. We do however supply fire-lighters for your Donkey Fire.
- The greatest threat to Platbos Forest is fire: our donkey systems are contained and safe to use. However never leave a campfire burning unattended, and please do not make overly large fires.
- Honey Bee is off-grid; this means no electrical plug points or fridge (but as already stated, there is use of the communal freezer).
- Please do not use “Doom-type” pesticide sprays, etc, but DO bring along insect repellent during the summer months for mosquitoes.
- Please respect the tranquillity of the forest and keep noise levels down. Loud and excited voices carry far into the forest and disturb the peace for other guests as well as for the forest’s wildlife. Strictly no music is allowed.
- Cell phone receptivity varies in the forest and Vodacom receives better reception.
- Platbos is a wilderness area and a legally protected habitat: no collection, removal or relocation of any plant, animal or fallen wood is allowed.
- BABOONS: Platbos is occasionally visited by a troop of baboons when the trees are bearing seed. We are fortunate in that they are still wild and unaccustomed to human food. They are non-aggressive and will run away if they see you. To ensure that the baboons remain this way, there are signs up at the accommodation to remind you to please always pack food away after meals and to close the blinds and doors securely if you leave the camp. We also have baboon monitors who occasionally set off “thunder flashes” to chase the baboons away from human habitation.
- Platbos is also home to wild bees that make their nests in the old tree trunks. There are signs up to alert you of a ‘bee tree’ if it is anywhere nearby the forest trail. Simply walk quickly past the sign.
- Platbos – being a wildlife sanctuary – is unfortunately not pet-friendly and therefore NO dogs or pets are allowed.
Rates & Conditions:
Rate per night: See our Online Booking Calendar.
Please note: A 50% deposit is required to reserve your booking.
Single night stays: By arrangement only; an additional R600.00 surcharge is applicable (the hot tub is very time-consuming and labour-intensive to clean thus the higher surcharge for this). Not optional over weekends / Public Holidays
In Season (16 Dec – 5 Jan): Minimum of a 3-night stay is required.
Arrival Time: Any time after 2pm | Departure Time: 10am (unless otherwise arranged).
* Please note that we do not have a “Reception / Check In Office”. Due to travel time, most of our guests arrive after dark. Please print your directions as well as all pertinent information that you will receive once you have finalized your booking: you will require this to find your way to your accommodation. In addition, it contains the necessary codes for the combination locks on our gate and for the Freezer Hut. If you arrive after dark, please come prepared with a torch / headlamp so that you can orientate yourself around the camp.
Guests staying at the Honey Bee Suite may walk our Forest Trail free of charge (normal fee: R50.00 per person). Please collect a FOREST TRAIL MAP from the “Info Hut” in order to navigate the paths without getting lost. Please note that the TRAIL is ONLY OPEN BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8AM AND 5PM DAILY.
