ABOUT A LITTLE GUESTHOUSE
ENJOY WELL-DESERVED REST
Situated just off the N1, in Groenvlei/Bainsvlei, Bloemfontein, A Little Guesthouse is an accommodation establishment providing a happy marriage between Platteland & city. Whether traveling for work, pleasure, or both, professionals & families enjoy well-deserved rest when visiting us.
Your hosts, the Van der Merwe family, share your love of travel, homeliness & hospitality. They have carefully selected & integrated certain fruits from their family tree, like the Groenewald business culture **. Returning to South Africa, from Germany, during the 1980s, they decided to raise their children in Bloemfontein, acquiring the land in 1985. A sports bursary attracted them to the City of Roses. A passion for business, combined with the Van der Merwe offspring's nest-leaving, brought the idea: create a home away from home for professionals & families.
BE BLESSED BY THE VELD & FIERY BAINSVLEI SUNSETS
Restaurants, pubs, banks, 4 shopping complexes, various garden & lifestyle centres, a hospital, churches, wellness centres & fuel stations with convenience shops, are minutes away. Glide through Bloemfontein to reach the Bram Fischer Airport in less than half an hour, or Tempe airport in 11 minutes, flat.
Same-day laundry services are provided in the area.
A Little Guesthouse's proximity to Nelson Mandela drive provides effortless access to the University of the Free State, the Central University of Technology, schools, the CBD, malls, Naval Hill, hospitals, sports stadia, etcetera.
Guests become family at this 3 Star, ranked guest house.
ABOUT YOUR STAY at A LITTLE GUESTHOUSE
WHERE GUESTS BECOME FAMILY
Enjoy your own access to your self-catering unit, with patio. A Little Guesthouse is situated next to a kopje (hillock), which adds to its rustic atmosphere.
Each unit has an en suite shower room, air-conditioning, gas heater, free WiFi, good quality linen, comfy red blankets, electric blankets, summer fans & towels. Kitchens are equipped with general kitchenware & electric appliances including a fridge, stove, microwave, electric frying pan, toaster & kettle.
NOURISH YOUR CREATIVE SOUL
For your convenience, we have added to the lounge area a dining table/desk and chairs, comfy lounge chairs, a flat-screen TV with 40 selected DSTV channels, including sports channels, KYKNET & movie channels. Self-catering amenities are standard features of all units.
Each unit has secure undercover parking inside the premises & a private patio with braai facilities.
Refer unit-specific descriptions, below, in this respect. Units 1 through 7 pay homage to the ancestral rivers flowing into the Van der Merwes' present-day hospitality & business acumen: Groenewald, Aucamp, Jackson (Seeff) & Van der Merwe.
UNIT 1 – GROENEWALD
Honouring the Groenewald lineage: the importance of family & entrepreneurial spirit.
Sleeps 3 adults, double-bed & 3/4 sleeper couch.
UNIT 2 - AUCAMP
The Aucamp tradition contributed a family focus on the importance of education. They say opposites attract, and the Aucamp – Jackson attraction is no exception. National Party support coloured the Aucamp political and world-view.
Sleeps 3 adults, 2 single beds & 3/4 sleeper couch.
UNIT 3 - JACKSON
The Jacksons, having changed their name from Seeff, remained more liberal in their political outlook and staunch South African Party (SAP) supporters.
Ask the owners about a twist in the Jackson tale:
Round table discussions, emphasising business & family – a Jewish tradition. A Jewish family came to South Africa during the 1910s. They changed their name to Jackson, to avoid labeling and persecution as Jews, in South Africa.
Sleeps 3 adults, 2 single beds & 3/4 sleeper couch.
UNIT 4 – SELMA'S REST
Named after an independent, self-driven individualist in the family. A competitive, unpredictable spirit, combined with surprising fun-filled moments and love for horses.
Sleeps 2 adults, king-sized bed, convertible to 2 singles.
UNIT 5 – VAN DER MERWE
Sport and competition have been passions in the Van der Merwe genealogy for at least four generations, and possibly more.
Sleeps 4 adults, double & 2 single beds. An additional bed, added upon request (the unit then sleeps 5).
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BAINSVLEI
Andrew Hudson Bain was a prominent member of Bloemfontein's small population, in the mid to late 1800s. An Englishman from the West Indian Islands, Bain came to South Africa's dry climate for health reasons. He became a big game hunter in central South Africa, acquiring sixteen properties in the newly founded Bloemfontein. He owned eight farms in the greater Bloemfontein, of which he called one Bainʼs Vley, his homestead from 1849 to 1870. Bainsvlei, today.
