Leaving the Drakensburg, I looked forward to getting to the warm, sea air of Durban. Seeing the sea (though definitely not swimming in it), I was excited to give my cold a chance to bid me farewell. We were spending the first night with my aunt and uncle in Hillcrest, and then were going down to South Beach the following day. However, we hadn’t made any bookings and we had no clue where we were staying. We had narrowed down a list of which beaches to go to, and the next job was finding a hotel. In a parking lot in Ramsgate, I went onto google. Up popped ‘Ocean Gaze’. We found we were at the bottom of the hill and if we looked up, we would have seen it. Driving up and ringing the bell, we didn’t know if they had space. It looked wonderful, but it was so last minute. We had nothing to worry about and Claire, the owner, opened up with welcome arms and didn’t seem in the least bit rustled that we had just rocked up. Luckily, they had space.
About
Ocean Gaze is run by Ken and Claire. It was an old home, which they have turned into a modern and cute, bed and breakfast. It’s a family business and Ken’s family also own the infamous Waffle House, and art gallery by the river. When their interior designer came on board, she wanted to keep it minimalist, but have one ‘show stopper’ in each space. In our room, I would say that dark grey wall, with the ocean picture is the ‘wow’ piece, and the green ladder by the tub is certainly a conversation piece; with no other visible use to it.
Accommodation
Ocean Gaze deserves a 5* rating. http://www.oceangazebnb.com
There are 4, en-suite bedrooms available at the bed and breakfast; two downstairs, one up, with one of the upper levels being the deluxe room. That was our room. The rooms are modern, chic and classy. The room is spacious and contains an incredibly comfortable king size bed with luxury linen, a fridge (which Claire provides milk and water), a variety of tea and coffee, and a TV. It opens up to a shared balcony with the room next door, with an incredible view of the river and the ocean. The sardines were in full force, and that resulted in successful whale watching.
There is a double door that opens up into a dressing room, with plenty of cupboard space and a large bath. Bubble bath provided. That leads into a modern bathroom with a large shower, and two sinks. Shampoo, conditioner and soap provided.
The bed and breakfast is vegetarian, but don’t fret- the food is still delicious. The shared breakfast area was all ours (seeing as we were the only guests there), and the set up was by and large, perfect. A tea and coffee station; with fresh coffee and a variety of teas, a variety of cereals and yogurt with small details down to these gorgeous silver fish spoons in the small bowls, a variety of different breads and spreads, and a glass of juice and a pawpaw at our table. Once settled in, Claire would come and take our breakfast order. Scrambled egg with peppadew and feta, with a side of mushrooms and baby tomatoes. These eggs to date, are the best eggs that I’ve ever eaten.
NOTE: If there had been other guests, we may have enjoyed it slightly less as everything is really close together.
A Kenyan Slice of Life 