TURBINE HOTEL & SPA
Hotel in Knysna

The Turbine Boutique Hotel and Spa was an ambitious project which transformed an old power station into a unique 5 star boutique Knysna hotel. The hotel offers guests a choice of seventeen standard rooms, six luxury rooms, a honeymoon suite, and an optional self-catering Lagoon Suite. The 90-seater Island Café restaurant at the Turbine Boutique Hotel and Spa overlooks the stunning canal, and serves up extraordinary dishes from a diverse a la carte menu. The Gastro Pub and Deck, on the other hand, allows guests to enjoy watching the sun go down, whilst sipping on something from the extensive drinks menu, and filling up on an imaginative pub-style variety of snacks. The Turbine Spa is one of the finest on the Garden Route, offering guests a wide variety of relaxing treatments from massages to facials and a Rhassoul Steam Room. Another popular feature is the Turbine Adventure Centre, providing guests with the best Knysna water-based activities, including pontoon cruises, fishing charters, whale watching and kayak hire as well as adventures on land with guided forest tours and bicycle hire. Knysna has a rich history spanning sailing ships, gold discovery and timber extraction to arguably become South Africa’s favorite holiday destination. Knysna’s documented history began in 1804 with the arrival of George Rex, rumored to be the illegitimate son of King George III who subsequently opened shops, established a port and a timber business that exported hardwoods around the world. The Thesen family moved from Norway to Knysna in 1870 and founded numerous business entities in the town, and in 1904 Charles William Thesen bought Paarden Island (now named Thesen Islands) and began processing timber on the Islands in Wood waste from the timber mill was subsequently used to start a power station which generated electricity from turbines and this eventually supplied the towns of Knysna and Plettenberg Bay with electricity until the mid 1970’s. The various structures were relocated around the island, often without documented plans, and were part of the Eskom power grid for many years. A large industrial conglomerate, Barlows, purchased the logging operations on the Island in 1974 but these were decommissioned in early 1980 due to the adverse environment impact they caused. They subsequently sold on their site for re-development and CMAI went on to develop the Islands into the internationally acclaimed marina development it is today, housing the Thesen Harbor Town with its shops, restaurants and hotels, together with 596 residential houses and apartments, 19 interlinked islands and numerous canals. The Turbine Boutique Hotel and Spa comprises 24 rooms, an Amani African Spa, the 90-seater Island Café, the Gastro Pub, together with conference facilities, pool deck, jetty for motorised pontoon cruises and a host of modern facilities, which tastefully complement the refurbished facilities and equipment brought back to life around the property, giving it status as one of the top hotels in Knysna. The original wood boiler, four electricity generators and much of the equipment have been fully restored and blend in with the hotel’s décor themes. Each bedroom has been individually decorated and is themed and named to reflect the rich cultural, historical and geographic diversity of Knysna. The hotel stands out among other hotels in Knysna as it is a living testimony to the past of this unique operation and site. Once again it resumes its place as part of the Thesen Islands and Knysna community, as a heritage site and haven for both locals to drop in and for tourists passing through this extraordinary destination.