NEW owner of Knysna's historic Parkes Manor Lodge hotel, Henk van der Berg, has ambitious plans for the hotel which he officially took control of on August 15, after purchasing it for just over R3m at an auction.
"I have appointed my daughter, Chantelle and her fiance, Eugene Knoetze as the management couple and they will run the four-star hotel on my behalf."
Following van der Berg's acquisition of a licence to operate a health centre, building will begin soon on two new wings of the hotel which will contain a health centre presenting the widely acclaimed Sol Vital treatments from Switzerland and a health and beauty spa. Both will be open by January next year.
The new owner also has plans to reopen the restaurant and has started refurbishing the rooms, although the hotel remains operational.
Van der Berg is based in Gauteng but has fruit juice processing plants throughout the country and owns the upmarket Mangweni Game Lodge in the Northern Province.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
