There was a time not so long ago when travelling with a dog was treated as a mild inconvenience, something to be managed rather than embraced. The unwritten rule in upscale hotels was simple: refinement inside, pets firmly outside.
It was never stated outright, of course. It didn’t need to be.
But like many old certainties in travel, that thinking is beginning to look rather dated.
Out in South Africa’s Great Karoo, where horizons stretch wide and time moves at its own unhurried pace, the old rules are being quietly retired. In the historic town of Graaff-Reinet, a different approach has taken hold. One that doesn’t ask travellers to choose between comfort and companionship.
At the centre of it sits the Drostdy Hotel, a property that understands something many in the industry have been slow to grasp: if you invite the guest, you may as well welcome the whole household.
And yes, that includes the dog.
Luxury, Reconsidered
The language of luxury has shifted in recent years. Less about polished surfaces, more about ease. Less about rules, more about freedom.
Tebello Polisane-Casper, General Manager of Drostdy Hotel, puts it plainly.
“We are seeing a shift in the way people define ‘luxury,’” she says. “True luxury is the freedom to travel with your whole family, and for many of our guests, their dogs are at the very heart of that. It is no longer about just ‘allowing’ pets it is about integrating them into the sophisticated atmosphere of the hotel without losing any of our heritage charm.”
It’s a sensible observation. Travellers today are not inclined to leave companions behind for the sake of appearances. Nor should they have to.
The Long Way There Still Matters
Getting to the Karoo is part of the appeal, and it’s best not to rush.
The drive inland, whether along the N1 or the quieter regional roads that peel off it, has a way of settling the mind. It’s a landscape that encourages patience. Long, open stretches, punctuated by farm stalls and the occasional weathered signpost, offer ample opportunity to stop, stretch and take stock.
For those travelling with a dog, it’s ideal. No tight schedules. No pressure to hurry. Just space plenty of it for both driver and passenger.
It’s travel as it used to be. And still should be, if one is honest.
Where Heritage and Hospitality Meet
Arriving in Graaff-Reinet feels like stepping into another era, though thankfully one with decent coffee and reliable plumbing.
At Drostdy Hotel, the sense of history is unmistakable. Restored buildings, shaded courtyards, and interiors that favour proportion over excess. It is, in every sense, a place that knows what it is.
What it does not do is fuss.
Dogs are not treated as an add-on or an inconvenience. They simply fit in. A quiet lie-down in the courtyard while their owner enjoys a glass of local wine is not an exception here; it’s the norm.
Polisane-Casper is clear on the point.
“A pet-friendly stay should never feel like an afterthought,” she says. “At Drostdy, we ensure the experience is seamless. From the moment a guest arrives with their dog, they should feel that the sophistication of their surroundings remains entirely intact. It’s about providing a bed that understands a long day’s hike for both the guest and their companion.”
It’s a neat line and, importantly, an accurate one.
A Small Shift with Larger Implications
What’s happening in the Karoo may seem modest, but it reflects a broader change in travel.
The industry has long drawn unnecessary lines between luxury and practicality, between elegance and everyday life. Those lines are softening.
Graaff-Reinet, in its quiet way, is helping redraw the map. It shows that heritage properties need not be rigid, and that good hospitality is, at its core, about understanding how people actually travel.
And increasingly, they travel together.
The Real Luxury
In the end, the appeal is not complicated.
It’s an early morning in the Karoo. Light stretches across an open landscape. No noise, no urgency. Just the day ahead and a dog that is, quite contentedly, exactly where it ought to be.
That, as it turns out, is luxury enough.
For reservations, visit Drostdy.co.za or contact [email protected].
by Michelle Warner – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 4 minutes.
About the Author.
Michelle Warner has always carried stories the way others carry passports lightly, faithfully, and with purpose. She learned her craft in newsrooms, shaping sentences with care, before swapping deadlines for departures as a flight attendant with some of the world’s great airlines. Years aloft sharpened her eye for character and deepened her fondness for the small, dignified rituals of travel, the quiet kindness of strangers, the poetry of arrival, the patience learned between time zones.
Now grounded by choice, Michelle has come home to writing with the same calm authority she once brought to turbulent cabins. Her prose blends an editor’s discipline with a traveller’s wonder, tinged with humour and reverence for the golden age of travel. Each piece feels like a handwritten boarding pass, gracious, observant, and unmistakably alive.
