The Lab – Franschoek

Holiable's Review of TheLab Franschoek

Getting There

Franschhoek is a small colonial town less than an hour's drive from Cape Town.

If you do not have a car, you can always take a bus from Cape Town to Stellenbosch and arrange with the hotel for a transfer to the final destination.

The Franschhoek campus is ideally located. Twenty-nine restaurants and 16 attractions are within 1 kilometre of the hotel.

The location is peaceful, tucked away at the foot of a mountain, in a residential area and very safe.

Technology to reduce energy consumption

TheLAB offers  a unique experience.

The idea behind this hotel is to use electronics to reduce the energy consumption of the premises.

Through a smart voice-recognition device installed in each room, guests can make a cup of coffee, open the shutters or turn off the air conditioning without moving a finger.

But there is more to it than that.

This system was designed to :

• • Raise customer awareness of the impact of daily gestures on the environment.  Through pre-recorded answers, guests learn what measures  TheLAB initiated to reduce energy consumption throughout the premises; (heating of the sauna and water by solar panels, implementation of a greywater system, zero-waste policy through, in particular, the installation of a self-service water fountain).
  • Limit air conditioning to a temperature of 22°C to avoid energy overuse and automatically switch off the heating at night.
  • Suggest guests to use blue light in the room (which uses the least energy).

Eco-friendly transportation for all tastes

Reducing carbon emissions and therefore, the environmental impact of guests' travel during their stay is a key concern for the hotel.

To make responsible mobility easier in the Franschoek area, guests have three options:

• • Hire bikes
  • Rent e-scooters
  • Rent an electric car and power-up in one of the hotel's three self-service charging stations

Our opinion

We spent more than 24 hours in this connected space, out of time and far from hotel standards.

The experience we had and the memories we have of it are excellent.

The staff is available to inform guests about their energy consumption, the setting is charming, and the electronic device at the heart of the concept of this hotel made our stay at TheLAB unique and memorable.

Recommended for: Wine lovers, Atypical experience, Urban travel

Reviewed by our ambassadors Les Consomm'acteurs