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For the Marrian George hotel logo, owner Joanne Marrian-Hurst adapted the Marrian family crest, replacing feathers with spekboom and the knight’s helmet with George the English Pointer. -
When selecting wall colours, Joanne discovered “Amsterdam Blue”, inspired by one of her favourite cities. This colour has become known as “Amsterdam Marrian Hall Blue“. The artwork is from her personal Andre van Vuuren collection, and the pure-silk Persian carpet was purchased on a recent trip to India. -
Resting on a steel support structure, the top floor of the hotel is angled to take advantage of the spectacular country views. -
Joanne with her English Pointer – and hotel co-owner – George. -
Just to the right of the veranda is a pool, providing welcome relief in the hot West Coast summers. -
The guest bathroom in the Marrian George Canteen. -
The Marrian George Canteen was originally the cellar where Wildehurst wines were produced. It is dominated by a huge painting – Earthscape by South African expressionist Andre van Vuuren. The furniture has been carefully sourced from Ashbey’s Galleries and Russell Kaplan auctioneers. The chairs have been reupholstered with fabrics used throughout the hotel’s bedrooms. -
Koringberg Hotel -
Leading on from the MG Canteen and opening to the veranda, the Ivy room is inspired by The Ivy Clifton Brasserie in Bristol. On the right, reclaimed antique sash windows have been repurposed as mirrors, enhancing the perspective of the longer room. -
Artworks and prints in the guest bathroom of the MG Canteen – Joanne is a big Tintin fan. -
The wallpaper in the Ivy room is York’s Greenery Mural from Hertex. -
Artworks and prints in the guest bathroom of the MG Canteen – Joanne is a big Tintin fan. -
Another view of Andre van Vuuren’s Earthscape in the Marrian George Canteen. -
The George room features Hertex’s York Stitches Stripe wallpaper, complemented by Elysian Geese fabric in Forest/Fig by Clarke & Clarke. Decorative ducks sourced at auctions represent George’s favourite pursuit. -
The upstairs Avon suite is adorned with Hertex’s Rifle Paper wallpaper in the Eden colourway. Fabrics from English design house Clarke & Clarke have been used throughout the hotel.
WORDS Steve Smith PRODUCTION Mark Sera PHOTOS Jan Ras
A new boutique hotel in a sleepy West Coast village both reflects the life story of its owner and offers real get-away-form-it-all peace and tranquility.
If there was an award for Quaint West Coast Town You’ve Never Heard Of, Koringberg would probably win it. Even Google Maps battles to locate the little hamlet, sending you up towards Koringberg the berg, rather than Koringberg the town. And as fun as those gravel back roads are to navigate, what the online algorithm should tell you is to head up the N7 from Cape Town and, at 112km, look for a “Koringberg” sign that points left.
Someone who turned left more than 20 years ago is Joanne Marrian-Hurst. She grew up in KwaZulu-Natal and has long had a passion for renovating old properties, so when she moved to the Western Cape, it was a tip-off that the local NG Kerk’s old pastorie (rectory) was for sale that saw her quite literally put down roots here.
After planting some vineyards beneath the West Coast sun, she and her late husband Chris started the acclaimed Wildehurst Wines – “Our first Shiraz earned four Platter stars straight out of the box” – and the first iteration of what’s now the Marrian George was where Wildehurst’s barrels were stored. After Chris’s passing, Joanne was ready to retire, and the idea of creating a small hotel as her “memoir” was born. Construction began in 2023 with the renovation of the storage barn and the addition of an angled second storey for three of the hotel’s five bedrooms.
“I’m not a writer, a painter, or any of those things… I’m a decorator, so I thought I’d tell my story with this hotel,” says Joanne. “My husband was English – we also spent a lot of time in England – and my parents were British, so I have that heritage.” Along with that provenance, what Joanne also has in spades is an adventurous spirit that’s reflected in both the colour and the objet that fill the Marrian George, adding another layer to this decorative embodiment of her story. With a restaurant and five rooms, each space represents a chapter in Joanne’s life.
Downstairs, the blue-themed Avon suite is named after the famous river and gorge in Bristol, the UK city where Joanne and Chris spent a lot of time. “It pays respect to my husband and the life that he’d given me in terms of experiencing more of my English heritage.”Next to it is the George room,named after the charming English Pointer that bounds about the property. Purple dominates this duck-themed room, a nod to George’s gun-dog heritage.
A walk up the blue-walled staircase takes you to the Marrian room, dedicated to Joanne’s parents. “My mom was Scottish and my dad was English, so it has tartan, herringbone and very English wallpaper.” The room next to that, with its strelitzias, is the Natal room – an ode to Joanne’s birthplace. “It’s a slightly English take on Natal, and it is the only room with a veranda that looks out over the gorgeous mountains and fields.” The last room is Botanical: “As a youngster, my favourite place to visit was the Durban Botanic Gardens, which I spent loads of time in.”
“I think some decorators would be absolutely appalled because I haven’t stuck to any rules, except the things that I like,” says Joanne. That’s very likely true – but that’s also the magic of this place. The Marrian George is infused with the personality of its owner. It’s playful and quirky, and pays little attention to convention – a recipe that could create a muddled fruit salad if it wasn’t for Joanne’s exceptional eye. Her inclusion of old furniture and objet adds a welcome patina to the new decor: a great love of vintage furniture has seen her collect many pieces over the years, including a garage-full of old windows that had been stored, unused, for a decade, waiting for a project just like this.
Sitting on the Marrian George’s veranda at the foot of the Koringberg, looking out over rolling wheat fields and the distant Groot Winterhoek mountains, 10 years seems unlikely to be a challenging wait for anyone. Koringberg may only be six kilometres away from the national road, but such is its disconnection from the thrum and bustle of the world, it may as well be 600. Turning left is like slipping through a portal to the kind of place where clocks run slower and tranquillity cloaks your shoulders. So flick on your indicator… | marriangeorge.co.za
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