AIRBNB REVIEW: Villa Lechlade in Johannesburg, South Africa
I'm fresh off the heels of my trip to South Africa, and wow wow WOW. My friend trip to The Continent was the best two weeks I've had in a long time, and our airbnb in Johannesburg was the perfect welcome. During our stay, I had a number of inquiries about the villa we were staying in, so I wanted to share some photos and link to it so you can book!
Villa Lechlade is located in the Sandton section of Johannesburg, which is considered the more developed, cosmopolitan part of town. The villa is about a 30-minute drive from the airport, and within a three minute drive there is a mall with many shops (including Woolworth's which is the equivalent of Walmart).
Villa Lechlade is palatial, and I feel like the photos don't do it justice. It has four suites, and to be quite honest it felt too big for just the four of us. If I were to stay here again, I would make it a six-person trip at the least. Every room has a queen bed, and suite 2 in particular is massive.
The best part of the villa is the staff. When we stayed, Nancy was our chef and Alice was the housekeeper. They were both incredible women. Nancy was easily accessible via WhatsApp! There is a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you pay at the end of your stay (we had three square meals a day for six days, and only ended up spending about $100 USD). On days where we were going to be out late, Nancy made us dinner and left it in the fridge or on the counter for us to warm up. She even threw in desserts! One of the days was a birthday, and I was able to ask her to prepare something a little special for us. Alice tidied up our quarters throughout the stay, and washed our clothes without us asking. There was also one night (new years eve) where the remote control didn't work for the front gate and Nancy stayed awake past midnight to make sure we made it in safely. They were just wonderful, wonderful women.
Each suite has a private outdoor garden, with suite 2 being the biggest. There's outdoor showers and deep tubs in suites 1, 2 and 3. Suite 4 is connected to the house, but you have to walk outside the house and through the driveway to get to it. It's up near the staff quarters, but is really nice and private. It's the highest point of the house, so you get to see the view of the town.
The outdoor living space is unmatched. There are doors in the living room that open up the space, and an outdoor living room off of suite 1. There is also an outdoor dining table that has a grill that made us some of the best meat we've ever had! The pool was also lovely (note: it isn't temperature controlled and we had to clean it ourselves, but it didn't really bother us too much).
Overall, Villa Lechlade is worth all of the money. If I could give it more than five stars, I would. Hands down recommend!