A relaxed hillside retreat with an extraordinary outlook over Inanda Dam and the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Simple, welcoming rooms put the landscape centre stage, while the gardens run seamlessly into the neighbouring nature reserve.
Rooms with a View adjoins the Crestholme Nature Reserve and View Site, a stretch of pristine grassland and indigenous forest holding more than three thousand species of plants and trees. Birds, monkeys and long grass come with the address.
The house sits high on the crest of Crestview, so the view belongs to the whole property — the pool terrace, the benches on the lawn, the stoep, the bedrooms. Your host, Jen Gregory, has run it for years as somewhere ordinary people can wake up to an extraordinary view. Pets are welcome.
The view
Inanda Dam lies far below, a long silver reach of water folded into green hills, with the Valley of a Thousand Hills rolling away behind it. Mist gathers in the valley in the early morning and burns off as the day opens — the kind of view most people only see from a lookout, here from the edge of the lawn.
The photographs
The detail
- Sleeps
- Up to 6 across rooms and units
- Setting
- Hilltop, adjoining nature reserve
- Outside
- Pool terrace, lawn, stoep
- Nearest town
- Hillcrest / Kloof, a short drive
- Booking
- Direct with the house
What’s here
- Self-contained rooms and units
- Swimming pool and pool terrace
- Lawn, benches and stoep with the view
- Wi-Fi
- Off-street parking
- Pet friendly
Beyond the viewWhat to do while you’re here
- Crestholme Nature Reserve and View Site (WESSA) — adjoining the property
- Shops, restaurants, supper theatre and concert venues at Kloof and Hillcrest, a short drive
- Durban and King Shaka International Airport within easy reach
When to be here
Every season has its own version of this place.
Spring
23–28°C
The valley greens up
Warm days and the first rains, with cool, easy nights.
Warm days, the first rains, aloes giving way to new growth and birdsong from first light.
Shoulder season · September–November
Summer
26–30°C+
Hot days, warm starry nights
Hot and humid, with dramatic afternoon thunderstorms.
Sunny days by the pool, long afternoons outside and braais under the stars above the Valley of a Thousand Hills.
Green season · December–February
Autumn
22–27°C
The clearest air of the year
Mild, dry and clear, with the year's longest views.
Mild days, long views right down the dam, easy walking in the reserve and comfortable nights.
Shoulder season · March–May
Winter
20–24°C days
Blue skies and cool nights
Dry, bright and still, with cool, clear nights.
Dry, bright and still, with wide unbroken views, warm afternoons outside and fires after dark.
Peak season · June–August
Availability
Rooms with a View takes bookings directly — by email, or straight through the house’s own site.
There is no online calendar here yet. Write to us with your dates and we’ll come straight back with what’s open, current rates and everything worth knowing before you book. You can also book direct on the house’s own site.
Where it is
Crestholme, above Inanda Dam in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, KwaZulu-Natal — about 40 minutes from Durban.
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