If we had read the one-star review below before our visit to Eshowe (and I have not given the rooms at the George a rating because we did not stay in the hotel, though we ate there) we would probably not have visited at all. That would have been a pity - for reasons that have everything to do with the people we met here rather than the smartness or otherwise of the hotel. Service was kind, helpful and charming - and not polished. There are times when warmth counts for more than polish.

For a start, take note that Eshowe is not on the major tourism route; it's on the edge of Zululand and it takes quite a long time to drive there from Durban. It's a 'real', unpretentious place in lovely countryside. It enjoys a certain remoteness and it also has considerable charm, wrapped as it is around a Forest at its centre, and with many traces of a comfortable and elegant past.

The George was once, no doubt, comfortable and elegant too - certainly Chennells, where we... more