• Jo-Anne Richards and Jo-Anne Hitchens running the Art of the Memoir workshops at the Karoo Art Hotel Barrydale
    The Hotel Blog

How we found the Karoo Art Hotel, Barrydale

Posted on Thu October 21, 2021.

How a chance visit during an offroad motorbike trip lead to a life changing purchase made on a whim

I arrived on a motorbike. Six months ago. I was with a group of friends on adventure bikes out of Capetown . Our focus being the Cederburg and the Tankwa Karoo. But on the way home we’d booked into a hotel I hadn’t heard of in a village I’d never visited; The Karoo Art Hotel, Barrydale. It was a Friday afternoon. As we drew up to the hotel my attention was drawn by a banner on the wall; ‘Hotel auction Wednesday’.

We never attended the auction but called Derek the Chef after it was over to find out what had happened.

"Nothing happened, no body came, no one called" came back the reply. It wasn't long before Sue and I plus Charlie, Zoe and Derek were sitting in the breakfast room. One thing lead to another and we're now the owners of The Karoo Art Hotel, Barrydale

 

Further Reading

We have another icon headed our way - Roger Lucey. 28 November Tue October 7, 2025

HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS. Roger Lucey will be in song and story telling mode in the Belanti in wonderful opportunity to share in the journey of an extraordinary artist on Friday night the 28 November.

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Graham Abbott's Analogue festival - an immersion in retro tech and romance..12 -20 Dec Wed October 1, 2025

The poster is out ! Barrydales arty , hands on celebration of the art of analog photograpy runs from the 19th -20th December.

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Barrydale in Bloom 14-16 Nov Tue September 30, 2025

With this event going from strength to strength this is a brilliant weekend to be in Barrydale. The hotel is fully booked but this is just a heads up re the program

Read This Article