Glasgow Pont Hotel

Glasgow Pont Hotel

Description

Norvals Pont village is located on the Southern bank of the Orange River just where the Northern Cape meets the Eastern Cape, looking across to the Free State on the Northern bank which is reached by means of two historic bridges; one for the railway and one for the road.

The village was founded in the 1840s when Scotsman John Norval began a ferry service across the Orange, naming the ferry, or pont, the "Glasgow" after his home town which, in turn, gave our Hotel its illustrious name. The Glasgow Pont is probably one of the very last of the real old-time Karoo hotels, and while it may seem to lack some of the features of more up-to-date establishments, few other Inns can equal the quality of our hospitality and cuisine or the convenience of our location.

We offer affordable pet friendly and family friendly accommodation, with or without en-suite amenities, through to practical backpacker bunks for the more adventurous traveler.

Our bar and restaurant menus are varied and interesting and we always have delicious Karoo Lamb, our famous regional speciality, as roasts, chops, curries and potjiekos.

As the Hotel incorporates a POST OFFICE, LIQUOR STORE and LOCAL SHOP we think we have most bases covered when it comes to convenience. You can draw cash from our in-house ATM, make an internet connection, buy what you need for your braai or fishing trip and write all your postcards home without putting a foot outside.

Accommodation

All rooms have custom furniture, spring fresh linen and are served by our wonderful artesian spring water that comes heated and pressurized from our 2007 borehole up-grade project.

Extended Family Rooms

 Our extended family room is particularly handy for families with lots of kids. Nominally it sleeps four: mum and dad in the queen size double and two kids in the bunks. At a pinch we can pop another two bunks in (there's loads of room) and the room price stays the same!

The room is nice and big and airy and features a traditional wash basin & lots of hanging space

Just along the corridor are the shared amenities: Separate Ladies' and Gents loos plus a big iron bath and a wet room shower. There are all the makings of tea and coffee in the room, winter heating and secure parking is right outside the door.

We have a strict no smoking policy in all the rooms but we have made a shady spot available for puffers to do their thing outside on a little verandah at the end of the hotel corridor.

The wet room style shower offers higher levels of comfort and convenience for burley and XXXL travelers who demand a bit more space than regular hotel cubicles or stand-in-baths afford.

Keep it cool fridge service offered at no extra charge.

Secure parking.

Family Rooms

Sleeps 4

Handy makings for tea and coffee.

Winter heating and summer fans with lots of hanging space.

Separate mens' and ladies' loos are just alongside the rooms as are the shared bath and wet-room shower

There will always be lashings of hot water for extra deep baths or extra long showers any old time you feel like it!

We have a strict no smoking policy in all the rooms but we have made a shady spot available for puffers to do their thing outside on a little verandah at the end of the hotel corridor.

The wet room style shower offers higher levels of comfort and convenience for burley and XXXL travelers who demand a bit more space than regular hotel cubicles or stand-in-baths afford.

Secure parking.

Bunkhouse

 Sleeps 2 - 4

 An established favourite with budget travelers, road trippers, river-adventurers, students, sailors and fishermen, the Bunk House is in the end part of our old wagoneer's cottage.

Features four comfy bunks in a recently refurbished room with a few basic features like winter heating, hang-it-up shelf rails and a plug for essential cell phone battery charging etc.

Outside is a fine built in braai and picnic table/bench combo and a nice space to brag about the day's adventures or lie about the size of fish caught!

The loo, shower and wash basin all have outside access for extra privacy while to the rear of the cottage is a cold water wash basin and clothes drying line to keep all your togs and kit fine and dandy!

We have a strict no smoking policy in all the rooms but we have made a shady spot available for puffers to do their thing outside on a little verandah at the end of the hotel corridor.

The wet room style shower offers higher levels of comfort and convenience for burley and XXXL travelers who demand a bit more space than regular hotel cubicles or stand-in-baths afford.

Keep it cool fridge service offered at no extra charge.

Secure parking.

Doghouse

Pet and Family friendly, our recently refurbished wagoneer's cottage - now known as the Dog House - features a queen sized bed, double bunks, separate en-suite loo with basin and separate wet-room style shower with basin, all with lashings of hot water.

Extra comforts include wall heater panel, mozzie netting, ceiling fan and all the makings for tea and coffee. The small courtyard has a fine built-in braai and picnic table/bench combo with a further access to our shady gum tree garden; ideal for travel weary pets to stretch their paws and do their own business.

We have a strict no smoking policy in all the rooms but we have made a shady spot available for puffers to do their thing outside on a little verandah at the end of the hotel corridor.

Our wet-room showers are highly regarded by our more burley and XXXL guests as they offer much more space and comfort than regular hotel stand-in-the-bath or shower cubicles.

Secure parking is just outside too.

Attractions

Fly Fishing / Angling

You can imagine that with the Gariep Lake extending some 365 square kilometres and the Orange River being the largest river south of the Zambezi the fishing could be okay round these parts. In fact, according to the Ichthyology Department at Rhodes University, we have the best. In a recent scientific expedition, a senior group of fishy scientists who stayed at our hotel (2007) stated that the river fishing just below the hotel was completely beyond their expectations. We are not going to argue but why not come and see for your self? We�ll point out some of the good spots and if you forget your rod and tackle, we hire out rods by the day. Something that really keeps the kids occupied and, by the way, if you don�t want to keep your catch, give them a kiss and throw �em back! Memories are made of this.

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Gliding / Soaring

Already a world renowned location for Gliding or Soaring, the nearby Gariep airstrip (5kms) plays host annually to a five month long flight feast � September to February - that attracts pilots from the four corners of the globe. We like to keep our feet firmly on the ground but, we can admit, lying on our backs and watching these magnificent men in their gliding machines is a wonderfully relaxing way to pass a warm summer�s day.

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Sailing

Ah, now we�re talking! Imagine 365,000 square hectares of open water almost all to yourself and you�ll get an idea or what sailing the Gariep Lake is all about. For the novice sailor there are sheltered bays and softly sloping beaches to launch your Hobi Cat, Fireball, Expert, Mirror or what-have-you; fickle and capricious breezes fresh from the Kalahari to tease and delight you; even the distant murmur of afternoon thunder beyond the lavender Karoo kopjes all conspire to spice up the experience of sailing in a desert!. And so what if you find yourself becalmed under the African Sun for a while? With fish eagles crying, goliath herons and white breasted shags or Egyptian geese flapping past, glittering fishes leaping alongside, you will quickly fall under the spell of this fresh water marvel. We love it and we�ll be happy to hire you our easy to sail Hobi Cat or Classic Mirror Dinghy for heaps of inshore sailing fun.

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Classic Open Whaler Sail Safari

COMING SOON: EASTER 2008. E-mail for details!

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Water Sports

You can ski it, rubber tube it, wet bike it or just plain skim across it. If your thing is wet and wild the Gariep Dam is extreme with a capital �E�. Like an inland sea, this is a full throttle water wonderland for you and your boat. Launching is easy and inexpensive at our two closest slipways (5km�s from the hotel) with lots of local knowledge and advice to keep you safe, wet and happy.

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Rubber Duck River Adventures

Wet bottoms and big grins guaranteed! Our two hour rubber duck safaris take you to the real riverine margins of the Orange. It�s a self-paddle never to be forgotten experience that will take you from below the mighty dam wall through lazy river stretches and modest bubbly rapids, where the pied kingfisher and fish eagle reign supreme, to a handy riverside game lodge where, by a curious coincidence, you will always arrive at the right time for a cool beer or chilled glass of wine. Great fun for bigger kids and grown ups for a real antidote to �virtual� adventures on a pc: this is the real thing. Don�t forget your bird book and binoculars (and a change of dry undies!!) We took Ouma last year for her 80th birthday and she�s still raving on about it! Ask about our Croc Duck and Fish Duck boat hire too. We�ll show you where it is safe to go solo.

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Appaloosa Horse Trail Rides

We do this in conjunction with a local horse farm as we can�t be expert at everything. We put you into their safe hands and let them take you into a world probably more familiar to old Percy Fitzpatrick when he rode these hills a hundred years back when he wrote about Jock of the Bushveld. It�s a relaxed trail through the virgin riverine bushveld-home of kudu and steenbokkies, giant berg leopard tortoises and liguaan rock monitors. It could change your life. Highly recommended.

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Star Gazing & Sky Watching

Now, we don�t wish to brag, but all things considered we reckon we have just about the best skies anywhere. During the winter daytime (April �September) the Karoo skies can be endlessly, painfully blue and, well, a bit boring. But just wait till sundown and our pollution free, cold clear heaven unveils a spectacle that most city dwellers find hard to believe. And it�s all for free. All you have to do is lie back and let your eyes revel in the majesty of the southern skies at their most regal: Orion, Scorpio and the heart stopping myriad stars of the Milky Way. All of the Universe, all yours, for nothing.

We still get cool clear nights during the summer but the day time skies can be pretty interesting too. Rainy days are far too few for our local farmers liking but we like to think Nature knows what she is doing. So we end up with some great cloud formations from mackerel cirrus to massive cumulus nimbus thunder heads, which incidentally, can frighten the willies out of you with their angry barks and flashes of thunder and lightning, as well as drenching the parched Karoo veld with rain that seems like the end of the world. That�s all free too. And you, driving on that endless strip of tar from Jo�burg to Cape Town, thinking our little world of koppies and bossies is boring. Stop a night and see!

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Game Viewing

We leave this kind of stuff to people who really know their aardvarks from their zebras. Fortunately they are all around us: Three massive reserves all under the control of our National Nature Conservation Department; The Gariep, Oviston and Tussen De Rivieren Reserves cover hundreds of square kilometres (maybe thousands), all round the Gariep Dam, and all making a delightful habitat for the smallest mammals like springhaas and aardwolves (don�t panic, they only eat ants!) to the large ungulates; which is a fancy word for critters like sable, nyala, impala, gemsbok and lots of other interesting kinds of antelope. Great days out for the whole family. Gariep Reserve has a slipway for boats and a nice restaurant.

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Wining & Dining

We think our kitchen is pretty good but we also realize variety really is the spice of life too. Our neighbours across the Orange have a great game lodge and restaurant set up on a deck overlooking the river.Perfect for enjoying a sundowner before sampling their very carefully prepared delights and desserts. It�s called the WASCHBANK and is run by a very friendly couple who work their socks off to maintain a very high standard. We love them to bits and now hope they will give us a link on their website in return for this impressive plug!

Our neighbours to the South have a lovely place called RIVER DESTINY (3km�s away although their drive way is about another 4km�s long) where we like to eat for a change. The restaurant has nice South African fare and river views.

Nearby Gariep Dam village (5 km�s away) has a small pub called Wheels, a rather posh hotel called De Stijl where they are really jacking things up, a little coffee shop called De Lance which we quite like and you might even fancy the Buffet at the Forever Resort alongside the marina/Free State Yacht Club which has great views over the dam and a very enthusiastic management team that is encouraging day visitors to come for a visit.

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Hunting

The jury is still out on this activity as we prefer seeing Bambi jumping around as Nature intended. Nevertheless, we are also quite partial to a nice bit of game or biltong and will, upon request, point interested parties in the direction of the local game farms that provide the sport.

Directions