Aziza Guesthouse, George

Updated: 28-03-2019

When you think of the Garden Route, it conjures up images of happy holidays spent in the company of family and friends. Long trips, good music and lots and lots of padkos. Last week was different and I landed up travelling to Mosselbay for business with a colleague who had the forethought to search the web for halaal accommodation in George. Completely unaware of our destination made it even more surprising when after a long drive and even longer meetings that we arrived early evening at Aziza’s Guesthouse.

Finding this little gem made all the difference to this trip. Waheeda the owner was on hand when we arrived and gave us quick tour of the place. The premises has been a guesthouse for some time but has only been fully halaal since she and her husband took over three months ago. The building is well kept with modern fittings and has the feel like it has been done up recently and quite tastefully so. I have spent my fair share of time in guesthouses and this one is right up there with the best.

I usually travel with a little salaah compass which takes the guess work out of trying to find the direction of Qiblah. Old faithful however was not needed this time. Once we checked in, before she left, Waheeda asked me if I needed a musallah and explained that the Qiblah is marked in the rooms on the ceiling. It’s a nice touch and you know you going to be well looked after from that point on.

The room I used was spacious and opened out in front of a small pool with a nice view. The bathroom was spacious, clean and the shower worked and had a decent pressure. There is nothing worse than having spent the whole day in the car and then getting to your destination and the water pressure or the shower fitting itself just doesn’t cut it. There is a self-service coffee or tea tray in the room and with some variety. Hot chocolate, two types of coffee, both up market, none of that chicory nonsense and rooibos and five roses for the tea drinker. The room was spacious and the bedding and bath towels had a nice plush feel.

My colleague and I were discussing the place over breakfast, and she made a few comments with regards to some finer touches she would have liked to see in the room like earbuds and a tissue dispenser, you know the stuff only women would expect or would think to have available. The staff politely told us she would pass the message on to the owner and then proceeded to give us a little history on the place and skillfully informed us that under new ownership things are changing for the better every day. Wahida if you read this, she’s a keeper. Good and loyal staff are hard to come by.

Breakfast had all the usual suspects, fruit, cereal, yoghurt and of course the eggs and fried cold meats was done just how I like it. I think I have found my home away from home in George. As Arnold the “Governator” would say… “I’ll be back”. Not dreading that return trip in November anymore.

Contributed by Zulfikar Umar

Reviewed: 11 October 2018