• The romance of a private luxury tree-houses.
• The spectacle of the setting and the wild beauty of the surroundings.
• Close to Knysna for local shopping, adventure activities and boat trips.
• A choice of two restaurants offering 6 courses of exquisite food with a fantastic South African wine cellar.
The Whole Story
With a name like Phantom Forest, this is not going to be your average South African hotel. Situated in the heart of the Garden Route, guests are accommodated in tree-suites (which come in Classic, Upper or Moroccan varieties). Meandering boardwalks snake through the forest leading to magical places such as the Body Boma spa, the Eyrie bar lounge with superb views, the award-winning Boma restaurant and the north African inspired Chutzpah.
The inspiration for this 137 hectare nature reserve on the Knysna River is to offer guests a chance to experience the unique biodiversity of the Forest. More importantly drawing inspiration from this unique setting, the ingredients of the camp, from the ragged thatch of forest canopy to wood shingle to freshwater nature pools to the floors, furniture, roofs and boardwalks, were all made in a sustainable way from cleared, alien* vegetation. This lodge is award winning eco friendly with locally sourced organic produce used in the kitchen, enviro-friendly cleaning products and recycling waste water. The saying “touch the earth lightly” is taken very seriously here. This is partly in homage to the 160 plus bird species and various small game that live in the 3 biomes of Afromontane forest, Cape coastal Fynbos and Estuarine wetland of the private nature reserve.
Allegedly discovered by pirates in the early 1600s, the reserve is the quintessential lost lagoon; a vast tidal estuary of the Knysna River hidden behind a narrow and treacherous passageway defined by a thin gap in a headland of formidable cliffs. Pirates, treehouses, natural beauty and luxury is the heady and unusual experience on offer.
* By clearing ALIEN ( i.e. Invasive Australian Blackwood ) vegetation and utilizing it, in the construction and interiors and PROTECTING the ‘local’ (ie indigenous) vegetation, they are restoring the environment back to what it should be, while at the same time employing economical principles.
The Rooms
Guests have an elevated tree-suite, of which there are three different kinds: the Classic tree-suites with views over Knysna Lagoon echo contemporary Xhosa style in detail, the Upper tree camp suites are more intimate and romantic with additional double-ended jetted baths on outdoor decks, and the Moroccan tree-suites are defined by the sensuous oriental signature of their North African-inspired interiors.