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St James of Knysna

5.0 star property
5-star luxury country house near Knysna Lagoon

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your current months are December, 2024 and January, 2025.
December 2024
January 2025

Photo gallery for St James of Knysna

Superior Suite, 1 King Bed | Terrace/patio
Boating
Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 5
2 outdoor pools, pool umbrellas, sun loungers
Serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Reviews

9.6 out of 10

Exceptional

Popular amenities

  • Bar
    Bar
  • Breakfast included
    Breakfast included
  • Pool
    Pool
  • Room service
    Room service
  • Housekeeping
    Housekeeping
  • Parking included
    Parking included

Explore the area

Map
The Point, Eastford, Knysna, Western Cape, 6570
  • Knysna Lagoon
    1 min walk
  • Friday Market
    15 min walk
  • Knysna Waterfront
    3 min drive
  • Plettenberg Bay (PBZ)
    35 min drive

Room options

View all photos for Superior Suite, 1 King Bed

Superior Suite, 1 King Bed

Superior Suite, 1 King Bed

  • 43 sq m
  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Suite, 1 King Bed

Deluxe Suite, 1 King Bed

Deluxe Suite, 1 King Bed

  • 60 sq m
  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Junior Double Room

Junior Double Room

Junior Double Room

  • 48 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Double Beds

View all photos for Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 12

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 12

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 12

  • 52 sq m
  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Double Room

Deluxe Double Room

Deluxe Double Room

  • 42 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Double Beds

View all photos for Deluxe Double Room

Deluxe Double Room

Deluxe Double Room

  • 47 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 King Beds

View all photos for Junior Double Room

Junior Double Room

Junior Double Room

  • 55 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Double Beds

View all photos for Double Room

Double Room

Double Room

  • 47 sq m
  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Superior Double Room

Superior Double Room

Superior Double Room

  • 49 sq m
  • Lagoon view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Double Room

Double Room

Double Room

  • 46 sq m
  • Partial lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Double Room

Double Room

Double Room

  • 46 sq m
  • Lagoon view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 6

Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 6

Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 6

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Double Room

Double Room

Double Room

  • 46 sq m
  • Partial lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Standard Double - Garden View

Standard Double - Garden View

Standard Double - Garden View

  • 29 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 4

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 4

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 4

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 7

Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 7

Superior Suite - Lake Facing - 7

  • Lagoon view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 5

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 5

Deluxe Suite - Lake Facing - 5

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Standard Double Room - Garden Facing - 19

Standard Double Room - Garden Facing - 19

Standard Double Room - Garden Facing - 19

  • 30 sq m
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

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About the area

Knysna

On lake.Stay at this Knysna country house and you'll be within half a mile (1 km) of Knysna Lagoon and 2 miles (3 km) of Knysna Waterfront. Simola Golf Course and Knysna Golf Club are also within 6 miles (10 km).
View more Country houses in KnysnaOpens in a new window

What's nearby

  • Knysna Lagoon - 1 min walk - 0.1 km
  • Knysna Waterfront - 3 min drive - 2.9 km
  • Knysna Quays - 3 min drive - 2.9 km
  • Leisure Isle - 12 min drive - 10.2 km
  • Featherbed Nature Reserve - 15 min drive - 13.0 km

Getting around

  • George (GRJ) - 54 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪The Drydock Food Co - ‬5 min drive
  • ‪34 South - ‬5 min drive
  • ‪Anchorage Restaurant - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Chatters - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Falcon Creek Spur - ‬3 min drive

About this property

St James of Knysna

5-star luxury country house near Knysna Lagoon
St James of Knysna offers its guests 2 outdoor swimming pools. You can enjoy a drink at the bar/lounge. Free breakfast is available daily. WiFi is free in public spaces.

A library, a terrace, and tour/ticket assistance are also featured at the luxury St James of Knysna. Free self parking is available.

This Colonial Knysna country house is smoke free.

  • 15 guestrooms or units
  • 2 levels
  • 2 buildings
  • Built in 1991
  • Buffet breakfast (free)
  • Towels for the beach
  • Umbrellas for the beach
  • Poolside lounge chairs
  • Umbrellas for the pool
  • Coffee in lobby
  • Dry cleaning
  • Self-service laundry
  • Front desk (limited hours)
  • Storage area for luggage
  • Front-desk safe
  • Tour and ticket information
  • Concierge
  • Library
  • Terrace
  • Garden
  • Outdoor picnic space
  • Newspapers in lobby (free)
  • No smoking on site
  • Bar or lounge
St James of Knysna offers 15 accommodations with minibars and safes. Each accommodation is individually furnished and decorated. Televisions come with digital channels and Netflix. Refrigerators and coffee/tea makers are provided. Bathrooms include separate bathtubs and showers, bathrobes, slippers, and complimentary toiletries.

Guests can surf the web using the complimentary wireless Internet access. Business-friendly amenities include complimentary newspapers and phones. Additionally, rooms include hair dryers and blackout drapes/curtains. A nightly turndown service is provided and housekeeping is offered daily. Amenities available on request include irons/ironing boards.

Languages

English, French, Xhosa

Property amenities

Family friendly

  • 2 outdoor pools
  • Laundry facilities
  • Refrigerator
  • Soundproofed rooms

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transportation

  • Free secured, uncovered self parking on site
  • Onsite parking includes off-street options

Food and drink

  • Free buffet breakfast available daily 8 AM–10 AM
  • 1 bar
  • 24-hour room service
  • Coffee/tea in common area(s)

Things to do

  • 2 outdoor pools
  • Boat tours
  • Canoe available
  • Designer stores
  • Fishing
  • Kayaking
  • Motorized watercraft
  • Private picnics

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • This property does not have elevators
  • Handrails in stairways
  • Upper floors accessible by stairs only
  • Well-lit path to entrance

Room amenities

Entertainment

  • 43-inch TV
  • Digital channels
  • Netflix
  • Streaming services

Bedroom

  • Air conditioning (climate-controlled)
  • Bed sheets
  • Blackout drapes/curtains

Bathroom

  • Bathrobes
  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer
  • Private bathroom
  • Separate bathtub and shower
  • Towels

Food and drink

  • Champagne service
  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Minibar
  • Refrigerator

More

  • Electrical adapters/chargers
  • Free newspapers
  • Individually decorated
  • Individually furnished
  • Iron/ironing board (on request)
  • Local maps
  • Phone
  • Restaurant dining guide
  • Safe
  • Slippers
  • Soundproofing
  • Turndown service

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: 10:00 PM
Contactless check-in available
Late check-in subject to availability

Check-out

Check-out before 11:00 AM
Contactless check-out available

Special check-in instructions

The front desk is open daily from 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Front desk staffed during limited hours

Access methods

Front desk (limited hours)

Pets

  • No pets allowed, but service animals are welcome

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.
  • Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
  • Cribs (infant beds) are not available.

Property payment types

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards, debit cards, and cash
Cashless transactions are available
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a security system
Charges for extra guests may apply and vary according to property policy.
A credit card for incidental charges and government-issued photo identification may be required upon check-in.
Special requests are subject to availability at the time of check-in. Special requests can't be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.
    This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business, or profession. This property accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, debit cards, and cash. For guests' safety, the property includes a fire extinguisher, a smoke detector, and a security system in each accommodation. Cashless payment methods are available for all transactions.

We should mention

  • This property welcomes guests of all sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQ+ friendly).

National rating

Quality Graded by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) – South Africa's official quality assurance organization.

Property is also known as

Knysna St James
St James House Knysna
St James Knysna
The St James Knysna
The St. James Of Knysna Hotel Knysna
St James Knysna Country House
St James Country House
The St. James Of Knysna Hotel
St James of Knysna Knysna
St James of Knysna Country House
St James of Knysna Country House Knysna

St James of Knysna Reviews

Reviews

9.6

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 141 out of 174 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 25 out of 174 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 5 out of 174 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 174 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 174 reviews" "

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.6/10

Staff & service

9.4/10

Amenities

9.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

David

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A beautiful hotel overlooking an even more beautiful lagoon. We had a large room overlooking the lagoon and there are some huge suites. The staff were all friendly and excellent. Norman was extremely helpful and happy to advise us on how to get the most from the time we had in Knysna, including an excellent restaurant recommendation.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Riccardo

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
We just spent two nights at St James and we loved it. It it right in front lot the Knysna lagoon and offers a great boat ride to all guests, which we enjoyed. We were upgraded on arrival by the very kind staff who man the reception. Knysna is a very interesting destination, we loved the Two Heads excursion to the ocean. We recommend Dt James to all travellers to Knysna and we would like to thank the staff for the very profesional and kind atttitude.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Stayed 2 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice stop on garden route
Excellent stop in Knysna. Very good professional and helpful service. Have shared before and would return
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Ettiene

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Memorable experience
I felt a bit like royalty.... Such a pleasureable experience! And everyone goes out of their way to help you.... And the free boat ride of course was very nice!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Robert, Westhill

Travelled with partner
Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful Hotel in a quiet location. Staff are excellent and trip on the hotel’s own boat is a bonus. Pools are both lovely and our room/suite was lovely with great views of the lagoon.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Colm

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We really enjoyed our stay here, we stayed in the Lady Anne Suite and it was amazing. The views over the lagoon were super and Sandy could not do enough for us. Was very helpful about suggesting activities for us and restaurants to eat in. It's a little bit out of town but they can arrange transfer for you which are quite reasonable. We had a really great relaxing stay here.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Christian

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely hotel right on the lagoon. We had a spectacular view from our room and it was so peaceful waking up to the sightband sound of the still lagoon. Staff were excellent, very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was amazing too.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great staff and property. Large and immaculate rooms. A must stay place.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

George

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Boat trip was awesome, staff amazing, drinks were outstanding, food was perfect. I will come here again, for sure!

10/10 Excellent

DOUGLAS

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The best
This is our favourite place to stay in Knysna. Great staff, wonderful position, great breakfast.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Service, staff and room were excellent but stay was ruined by no restaurant, no bar, no lounge no T V and very few other Guests. Renovation works in progress which we were not told about. Check before you book
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This is a beautiful property. It is not inexpensive however the facility certainly merits the cost. It has a view of the waterfront and the rooms are spacious and extremely well maintained. The restaurant in the hotel has good breakfast and lunch options. Recommend having dinner at one of the many places on the waterfront. Solid 4 star property.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Eusebio

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

10/10 Excellent

DOUGLAS

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Old world elegance
Great place. Very happy. Once the luxury home of the first Miss South Africa
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2019

4/10 Poor

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Very disappointing
Below average. - right in the high way so lots of noise from traffic - slow service - old non maintained/renovated rooms - WiFi not working - more like a 3 star establishment + nice breakfast outside area Overall very disappointing
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Jeremy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Dirk, Germany

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice set up, big suite, older hotel, away from Restaurants
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Felicity, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
St James of Knysna is elegant, well-maintained and in a nice area with quite a few things to do. The staff is very friendly and professional. The rooms are beautiful, spacious and in great condition! We thoroughly enjoyed staying here and would highly recommend it!
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Moira

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Great location, but........
We liked the location of the hotel, at the beginning of Kysna and set on the shoreline of the bay. There is some construction work going on in the hotel currently, and they decided to close the restaurant, probably due to winter and not many guests, but even so, they should have put that on the website.. There was a 3 option sandwich menu available in the evening, rather sad really. Also, the other issue we had was the smell of cooking throughout the hotel at 5pm, which was the staff cooking their food as we were told, so the ventilation must not have been working in the kitchen to have caused this kind of overall spread of cooking smells. We had a suite on the first floor and could smell the food in the hall of the suite, we burnt incense and sprayed deodorant to help rid the smell. Overall the hotel was lovely but these few things didn't sit well with us.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Kathy, Guam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
lovely hotel. Super food
Wonderful spot on the water, or use the pools, comfortable clean rooms, fantastic food. Great fireplaces if the weather is cold, terrific staff.. sorry we could only stay one night
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

10/10 Excellent

Alwyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great facilities and beautiful lagoon edge locatio
Beautiful location at the waters edge with fantastic views . Management team and reception staff exceptionally friendly and welcoming . Breakfast really nice particularly when weather was good enough to dine on the outside patio . Rooms are very spacious and well appointed . There is however need to consider refurbishing the bathroom which is now looking somewhat dated . Would definitely stay here again and especially at the price we paid

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wish we’d stayed longer.
Very pleasing stay with high service levels. Lovely al fresco breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018