When I wrote some weeks ago about Jauckie Viljoen’s Back Road Safaris (A New Way of Touring),  I complained about the blandness, the sameness of so many of the guest houses I’ve seen…

And, of course, this lead to the inevitable challenge: ‘OK, genius, so what DOES set a guest house apart?’

So let me draw your attention to two places I’ve recently enjoyed – and to a third, which is a nominee in the World Travel Awards.

What got me was the Wendy house.

I’ve often heard the complaint that South African guest houses aren’t particularly child friendly – and they aren’t, are they? Everyone wants to be ‘up-market’ – which seems to equate to ‘child-repellant.’ But everyone seems to forget that the up-market market is – well, not very upwardly mobile when it comes to size. Particularly the size of its guests (hello-o: families are tourists, too…).

Coral Tree Guest House in Port Elizabeth has a Wendy house.

You can’t actually stay in it, not in the adult sense of the word, but it’s a beautifully appointed Wendy house indeed. Wooden, as all good Wendy houses should be, and painted white on the inside and properly stocked with teddies, toys and books. And it stands in its own section of the garden alongside its own jungle gym – and there’s a padlock on the gate between you and the swimming pool to keep you absolutely safe (and heaps of children’s books, videos and DVDs in the self-catering flat alongside where you do your actual sleeping. And a proper double bunk in the kid’s room, too).

If ever I go to PE with my 18-month-old grandson and his parents, guess where I’ll be checking in…

It’s in Conyngham Road, Parson’s Hill, which is close as spitting to Cape Road and the big hospitals – so it’s a good place to be if, like I was, you’re ever in town for medical reasons (Dental. Unspeakable. Don’t ask).

Jambo Guest House in Greenpoint, Cape Town, has stuff.

Barry and Mina Thomas have filled their unusual guest house with an eclectic collection of art – much of which is local (and for sale) – and there are piles of books and collections of things wherever you look. And all the bedrooms are decorated individually (I’d call the one we had ‘Cape Regal’ – two huge beds, an oaken wardrobe, comfortable couch, one of those wonderful showers that massage you brutally…).

And upstairs they have this pub where, they, told us, they often hold poetry evenings and the like. And it was in this comfortable Edwardian-style room that I met an author from Botswana – Bontekanye Botumile (Bonty) – and we hatched an idea for a cross-boarder, cross-cultural publishing collaboration involving one of my children’s stories and lots of her brains. Watch this space.

Jambo is a surprisingly quiet and serene place just metres off Somerset Road and right across the way from the new Greenpoint stadium. For us (we were there for the Cape Town Book Fair) it was close enough to the International Convention Centre to offer a pleasant walk to work in the mornings – although we did indulge in taxis to bring us home at the end of the day.

What made Jambo different?

Note my use of the word ‘home:’ it felt more like staying at home than like staying in the 5-star guest house it is – and whilst that might not appeal to everyone, it appeals to me.

… But that’s just the point, isn’t it?

Barbara-Anne and Malcolm Kinghorn at Coral Tree and Barry and Mina Thomas at Jambo haven’t tried to be all things to all men. Instead (because being all things to all men almost always fails). Instead, they’ve used their talents to create their own personal spaces.

And those, I think, are the two words that answer my question… what sets a guest house apart is whether or not it has its own sense of personal space.

I’m pretty sure it’s that simple.