Protea Hotel | Georg Wolvaardt

This 4-star hotel is situated on the Main Street of the beautiful town of Clarens in the Eastern Freestate. The requirement of Protea Hotels to fit at least 70 bedrooms, whilst trying to keep the scale down not to overpower the small-town environment, proved to be quite a challenge. The site, a 2400m² conglomerate of three smaller residential erven, has a downwards slope of 7 meters from south to north. Therefore, the hotel has four storeys on the northern side and three on the southern side, below which the parking area is also situated. In line with the traditional architecture of the Eastern Freestate, locally procured sandstone was employed extensively both inside and outside, with the traditional protruding joints, while the arched shape of the roof reflects the forms of the surrounding hills and mountains. Local labour was used as well. The essential traditional Freestate stoep was incorporated and the open-plan layout of the dining room and kitchen is a reference to the local farmhouses where the sounds of food preparation and washing-up can be heard. An open fireplace in the lounge area provides further atmosphere and warmth during winter. The mature existing trees on the Main Street side of the building also serve to conceal the hotel's height to some degree. As for the threat to existing guest houses and B&B's, Protea Hotels maintain that this hotel caters for a completely different clientèle, namely larger tour groups and conferences, which could previously not be accommodated in Clarens.