Forum Homini Hotel Review

Over the weekend, Ryan and I had the pleasure of visiting the Forum Homini hotel in Kromdraai near the Cradle of Humankind for some rest and relaxation.  The Forum Homini hotel houses the award winning Roots restaurant which offers fine dining South African gastronomy to its guests.  The hotel is roughly an hour and a half out of Rosebank in peak Friday afternoon traffic which isn’t very far at all but the two locations seem worlds apart.  At Forum Homini hotel you are definitely at home in the bush having successfully escaped the city and the rush that goes with it.

The Forum Homini hotel is nothing short of exquisitely luxurious.  Our room was really spacious and had double volume ceilings.  We had our own private patio and viewing deck with views of the bush.  Our room also came with a wonderfully large bath as well as a very spacious outdoor shower.  We had our own fireplace with sherry by the fire (how delightful!).  The ceiling lights were housed in stalactites as a truly lovely detail to the ambience of the room in the evening. Our bed was a California king-sized bed with mosquito netting beautifully draped around it (although I am sure as the summer heats up, the mosquito nets will have more than decorative purposes).

A short walk from the room was the Roots restaurant which is where the magic happens.  We had a 6-course dinner with a wine pairing which was spectacular.  The food was incredibly presented and there was no shortage of attention to detail.  The very passionate Roots wine connaisseur explained the wine paired with each course with perfection.  Each wine has been expertly selected to complement each course.  It is quite unbelievable what a great wine pairing can do.  It is as though it awakens the taste palette and invigorates with the senses.  The food is out of this world.  Each plating is perfect and our waitress did a fantastic job at explaining each course.  Prior to our dinner, I had wondered whether we may leave the tasting hungry but we certainly ate our full and had rather large bellies when we waddled back to our room.

In the morning, after appreciating our view of the bush, a wonderful outdoor shower and a lovely cup of tea, we headed back to the Roots restaurant for a 5-course champagne (sparkling wine) breakfast.  It was so good to sit outside on the deck and overlook the water from our breakfast spot.  It’s quite different to sitting in the restaurant at night because, by day, there is an extraordinary view.  We were able to watch the birds in the trees and the catfish in the water.  Our host told us that they have a bale of turtles too but they have not yet come out of hibernation.

I have absolutely no complaint about this Forum Homini hotel or the Roots restaurant.  There were no flaws in the service and no attention to detail missed.  The staff were wonderful.  The room was spectacular.  We did not have the opportunity to go hungry.  The only issue I had was that I didn’t want to leave.  I could quite easily have set up shop on the view point from our room and spent the entire day watching the world go by and reading a great book.  It was so wonderful to put down all technology, go offline and appreciate good food, wine and the wonderful nature that South Africa has to offer.  This hotel comes highly recommended if you’re looking for a quick break from the city, a romantic getaway or a special occasion.  The venue can also be used for weddings so if you’re in the process of looking for the venue for your big day, I would recommend visiting the Forum Homini hotel.