The pop-up Fynbos Hotel was formed as a collaboration between the Cape Town Fynbos Experience and Coco-Mat SA. Essentially it’s a huge room (with adjoining toilets) in a building in Buitengracht street, that’s been creatively furnished by Coco-Mat, decorated with all things fynbossy-and-natural, and then filled with fynbos tastings and experiences for you to experiment with. We felt a bit like mad scientists amongst luxury furnishings.

There’s a welcome platter of bread and tomatoes to taste with a huge variety of fynbos salts, infused oils and vinegars. There’s rooibos gin and tonic, fynbos cordials as well as the ingredients to concoct your own natural fynbos tea. You get to make a foot scrub and a face mask, and with all the grinding and mixing and creating it lets you feel a bit like a child again. Finally, before bedtime there’s a buchu brandy and Turkish delight to settle your tum. They’ve kept the ‘bathing’ process a secret so I won’t give the game away here.

Then you spend the night sleeping on a Coco-Mat bed – there’s like a million layers – all made and filled with natural ingredients. Everything is handmade in Greece and the raw materials are all natural – cotton, seaweed, wool, coconut husk. Frans completely fell in love with the mattress and all I want to say is that I have never been so toasty in a bed ever!

We had a fabulous stay and we’re holding thumbs that somehow, one day, they can make their dream of a permanent hotel, a reality. International guests especially, would love it!