Lezard Bleu is a lovely guest house, situated in the exclusive suburb of Oranjezicht in Cape Town, and Travel Butlers have practically taken over this guest house during the period around England’s first game in Cape Town.

The owners, Chris and Nikola, are certainly looking forward to hosting our customers, and having looked around the guest house last week AND spent a very pleasant few hours one evening in Chris’s and Nikola’s company, I am 100% sure that our customers will just love their stay here !

The rooms are great – spacious, comfortable and a bit quirky, especially the Tree House. There is a large pool, though in June I am not quite sure how much swimming or sunbathing will be done !

The main guest area consists of one large, family style table, around which sumptious breakfasts can be enjoyed, and of course there will be a communal TV so that everyone can watch all the other World Cup games being played inbetween sightseeing.

Nikola runs a small curio ‘corner’ too, and all items are locally sourced and made, so sales will benefit local artists and communities.

The family dogs are always around too, there were 4 at the last count !

We walked to the stadium from here on the Saturday afternoon, and it took about an hour – Chris has already mapped out a route that he is going to recommend to everyone, including where to stop for lunch on the way down (‘Fork’ in Long Street … apparently THE best tapas in Cape Town – unfortunately we didn’t quite have time to stop here en-route !!).

After the game, to walk from the stadium back to the Waterfront will take about 5-10 minutes, but we would strongly advise everyone to then take a taxi back to the guest house – please do NOT walk back late at night.

We are absolutely convinced that everyone staying here will have a great time … and we are very envious that we can’t join you … unless someone has a spare ticket ??!!

We stayed at this guest house for 2 nights – the 19th and 20th February 2010.

Floreal House is situated in the extremely pleasant suburb of Oranjezicht, which has a truly relaxed feel about it. Wide tree-lined roads, beautiful large houses (many of them converted into guest houses), and with a backdrop of Table Mountain and views over the city. Quite simply, all these combine successfully to give you a real ‘feel good’ factor about being in Cape Town.

The guest house itself has 9 rooms, and my tip would be to ask for one of the ‘new’ rooms. Some of the rooms have been refurbished recently, and the decor is terrific – stylish and contemporary. The older rooms (which are still awaiting refurbishment) are still extremely comfortable and pleasant, but they lack the ‘wow’ factor that the new styled rooms give.

There is a small pool area, with sun loungers and tables, and offers a perfect setting for relaxing with a bottle of cold wine which can be purchased from the delightful deli on the opposite corner – Carluccio’s.

The breakfasts were modest but enjoyable – a selection of juices, cereals and cold meats and cheese, and fruit and yogurts – and there was a menu from which you could also order hot food from too.

There is space for 4 cars inside the gates, otherwise you can park on the street (which is perfectly safe, but do make sure that you don’t leave anything on show in your car – so don’t leave maps / coats / hats on back seats or on parcel shelves – just to be on the safe side).

It is a 5 minute taxi ride to get you to Kloof Street, with its variety of restaurants and bars, and about a 10 minute taxi ride down to the Waterfront or over the Kloofnek Pass to Camps Bay. We walked down to the Waterfront – it took about an hour – but I would definately not advise walking back late at night – always take a taxi.

Natalie, who is the front of house manager, is a delight to deal with – extremely friendly and efficient.

All in all, a great place to stay – either at the start of your trip or at the end, and also either for first-timers or repeat visitors to Cape Town.