We stayed for the first night of our holiday after a long flight from Sydney.

The location is excellent being just 5 mins drive from the airport. The house retains all it's charm and the rooms are first class. I loved the bathroom in our room.

We were the only guests staying and were looked after like family. The service was excellent.

If your looking for a first night hotel before heading off down the garden route then this is the place. It's way, way better than the rather faulty towers look it has on it's web site :).

I stayed here just to overnight before heading off on a safari with a friend out near Grahamstown. The service is top notch, very friendly and on point. The house itself is a nice old British Colonial house with great old world charm to it. I did notice that it was a bit worn in some areas, not dirty at all but just showing its age. Also I found the bed to be too hard. However if you ask me this is the ONLY place to stay in PE. The food was wonderful and served on a classic silver livery (a nice touch) and they offer a very good selection of wine and spirits. I will admit my standards are very high and they met most of them, truly a lovely private hotel. If I am every back in PE for a safari I will stay there again without hesitation. Oh i should add for the value it is a no brainer.

We stayed in the Hackwood Hill for our last 5 days in South Africa having travelled 1200 miles down the Garden Route from Cape Town. What a fantastic country house hotel, our room, The Madilba was to die for, huge 4 poster bed, claw foot bath and the bathroom was so huge we could have waltzed round it. The staff were very attentive, nothing was too much trouble (as has been said before). The food was amazing and as on a few of our days we were the only guests we were treated like Lord & Lady of the Manor. Parts of the decor are a little "tired" if you look closely but on the whole I thought the whole experience was wonderful. The pool is adequate for the size of the hotel but it is very shaded by the trees and if you are looking to sunbathe you will be moving every 20 minutes to stay in the sun. The gardens are beautiful and well tended by numerous gardeners.

The weather unfortunately whilst we were there was not very good, cloudy, and lots of rain and there is not much to do in Port Elizabeth. There is the pier and The Boardwalk shopping centre. We did visit a lion park nearby which was a great experience and our taxi driver did the tour for us at half the price that the tour companies quote.

Ivan and Dean more or less run the hotel between them and at times were run ragged but that never once interfered with their brilliant service to us - they are both a credit to the owner. We asked if we could have the traditional dish of Bobotie on our last night and even though it wasn't on the menu they did it for us and it was delicious. The pancakes, grilled banana, bacon and maple syrup for breakfast was also divine - don't knock it until you've tried it !!!!.

If we are ever in Port Elizabeth we most certainly stay at Hacklewood Hill - a truly memorable and magical experience.

Joy Peck

We, being my husband and I, returned as we do a few times a year on business. We never stayed often in 2010 due to escalated prices due the World Cup being held in SA.

This year our favourite room was in need of a refurbishment - the carpets where badly stained and the bathroom needed some attention not to mention the buzzing compressor from outside the building - two missing security personel in the morning when trying to leave early made our stay less memorable of a normally remarkable hotel.

We did lodge a complaint in writing and where assured they would attend to the problems we noted as it is a firm favourite of ours when visiting Port Elizabeth - a home from home.