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Katie Goddard Bespoke Travel, Lake Buena Vista, FL (2026)

09/10/2026

Where we stayed in Hermanus: The Thatch House 🐋🇿🇦

Every so often you find a hotel that feels like a true hidden gem, and The Thatch House was definitely one of those.

Tucked away on the banks of the Hermanus Lagoon, it felt like a complete escape. So peaceful and tranquil, with huge lawns running down to the water, mountains in the background and only a handful of suites. It was one of those places where you instantly slow down.

Our suite was HUGE – the website really hadn’t done it justice! We had a massive bedroom and living area, a separate room for the kids, a large bathroom leading through to a dressing room and a private terrace running the whole length of the suite.

They’d also just installed a wood-fired hot tub on our terrace, overlooking the lawn and lagoon, which was the perfect spot to relax with a glass of bubbles!

Despite feeling so calm and secluded, it was brilliant for families. There’s a swimming pool, tennis court, mini golf, climbing frame and lots of board games, plus paddleboards and kayaks you can take straight out onto the lagoon. Plenty for the children to do, without it ever feeling like a big family resort.

And then there was the food! The children were very excited to see flapjacks on the breakfast menu, only to discover that in South Africa that’s what we’d call American pancakes – and they were probably the fluffiest pancakes we’d had in a very long time!

Their chocolate cake at afternoon tea was amazing too. We’d only planned to eat at the hotel on our first night, but dinner was so good that we cancelled our plans and ate there again the following evening. And the cocktails… my Cosmopolitan was genuinely one of the best I’ve ever had!

The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming too, and the whole place just had such a relaxed, unhurried feel.

The Thatch House was a real gem of a find. It was perfect for our two nights in Hermanus, but I could very happily have stayed for much longer – a proper little escape and somewhere we’d absolutely love to return to.

Next up from Hermanus will be our incredible morning whale watching with Marine Dynamics… once I’ve tackled all that footage! 🐋🦈🐧

09/09/2026

Next stop: Hermanus & whale watching 🐋🇿🇦

After three nights in Franschhoek, we headed for the coast and Hermanus, timed for the start of whale watching season.

The Franschhoek Pass is closed for the foreseeable future following landslides, so we took the longer route around. It took about 2.5 hours, but it’s a beautiful drive through the countryside and mountains before you start to hit the coast.

Hermanus itself is a lovely little seaside town. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon to live music and a great atmosphere, wandered around the shops and had quite possibly the best Lotus Biscoff ice cream ever at Gelato Mania!

But we were really here for the whales… 🐋

Hermanus is one of the best places in South Africa for whale watching and we were lucky enough to spot a Southern Right whale and her calf playing in the bay from the shore. We also took an amazing boat trip with Marine Dynamics, seeing whales, sharks, seals and penguins – more on that in another post!

There are plenty of restaurants and beautiful little beaches and coves along this stretch of coastline too. We visited in August and saw lots of surfers enjoying the waves, but in the South African summer I’d definitely want to stay longer and factor in some beach time.

For us, two nights was just right at this time of year – enough time to explore, whale watch and enjoy the area before continuing our road trip.

And a confession… there aren’t many Hermanus photos in this carousel because I’d taken so many on our whale watching trip that morning that my phone battery died! Clearly I need to work on my travel agent content planning 😂

We stayed at the gorgeous Thatch House, a small boutique hotel on the banks of a lagoon and that definitely deserves a post of its own too.

Next up… whale watching with Marine Dynamics 🐋🦈🐧

09/05/2026

Yesterday was National Travel Agent Day and I debated posting anything as it felt a little self indulgent! But it also happens to be almost exactly three years since I started my travel business, so it feels like a good time to reflect on just how far it’s come.

When I started, I was just hopeful that a few clients would trust me with their holiday bookings. Three years later, it’s grown beyond anything I could have imagined. I have the loveliest clients, so many of you have come back to book your second, third (and more!) holidays with me, and I’m still genuinely humbled every time someone recommends me to their friends and family.

Holidays are precious. You save for them, you only get so many weeks away each year, and you want them to be just right. I treat every holiday as though it were my own – probably even more so, given my own holidays are usually at the bottom of my to-do list!

I love getting to know you and your families, working out what will make a holiday perfect for you, researching every inch of a destination and hotel and putting all your plans and paperwork together with care.

And when you’re actually away? I’m on edge, checking flights, keeping an eye on my messages and WhatsApps and hoping everything is going exactly as planned. There really is no better feeling than getting that message when you’re away, or when you come home, telling me you’ve had an incredible time.

Of course I love travel. I love discovering new destinations, exploring places I haven’t been before and keeping an eye on the latest hotel openings. But the relationships I’ve built with my clients are at the heart of why I love this business. There’s nothing quite like an email dropping into my inbox with ideas for your next holiday and knowing you’re placing that trust in me all over again.

There are some exciting changes afoot for the business this year and I can’t wait to see where they take it – or what I’ll be reflecting on this time next year!

But for now, thank you to every single person who has trusted me with their holidays over the past three years. I genuinely love planning them and I can’t wait to see where you all go next. ✈️

09/03/2026

Road trip diaries -First stop: Franschhoek & the Cape W**elands 🇿🇦🍷

After flying overnight to Cape Town, we headed straight out to Franschhoek for the first three nights of our South Africa adventure and it was the perfect place to start.

Franschhoek sits right in the heart of the Cape W**elands, surrounded by mountains, vineyards and some seriously good places to eat. It gave us a few slower days to get into holiday mode before the more adventurous parts of our trip began.

One of our favourite days was spent on the Franschhoek W**e Tram. There are several different routes connecting vineyards around the valley, so you can hop on and off, enjoy the w**e tastings and, most importantly, nobody has to drive! We chose our route specifically because it stopped at Vrede en Lust, where some of the w**e for our wedding came from, so it was really lovely return there for a visit.

We also spent some time exploring Franschhoek itself, pottering around all the little independent shops and picking up a few gifts. We also squeezed in an hour at the Franschhoek Motor Museum, home to a collection of more than 400 cars - something for the car mad boys in our house!

Food is a huge part of a stay here too. We had a great meal at Reuben’s, which has been part of the Franschhoek food scene for years, and an incredible lunch at La Petite Ferme. The food was gorgeous, but the views across the valley and mountains might just have topped it.

And despite being famous for its w**e, Franschhoek definitely isn’t somewhere I’d rule out with children. There’s plenty to do beyond w**e tasting and it worked really well as part of our family itinerary.

Three nights felt just right for us - enough time to explore, eat and drink very well, but also actually relax after the overnight flight.

Next up, where we stayed - because Boschendal W**e Estate deserves a post all of its own… 🍷

08/29/2026

If you followed along on my stories this summer, you’ll have seen lots of our South Africa and Mauritius adventures. We packed so much into our three weeks away that I decided to enjoy it all while we were there and save the grid posts for when I got home!

So, before I start sharing more about each of the places we visited and hotels we stayed in, I thought I’d start with our full three-week itinerary:

🇿🇦 South Africa

🍷 3 nights – Boschendal W**e Estate, Franschhoek
Our first stop after flying overnight to Cape Town.

🐋 2 nights – The Thatch House, Hermanus
Driving part of the Garden Route for some whale watching.

⛰️ 2 nights – Welgelegen House, Cape Town
Taking the dramatic coastal route back to Cape Town.

🦒 4 nights – Lalibela Game Reserve
Flying to Port Elizabeth for four amazing nights on safari.

✈️ 1 night – The Peech Hotel, Johannesburg
A quick overnight stop before flying on to Mauritius.

🇲🇺 Mauritius
🏝️ 8 nights – Sugar Beach
The perfect way to finish the trip - time to unpack, slow down and relax!

For us, it was the perfect itinerary, combining plenty of exploring, activities and adventures with time to properly rest and relax too.

I’ll be sharing more about each stop in the coming weeks, including the hotels, what we did and what I’d recommend!

08/13/2026

Safari 🦒🐘🦁

This post is going to be completely out of sync with the rest of our South African holiday, but this has just been too amazing to squeeze into a couple of stories!

We arrived at Lalibela Game Reserve to be greeted by giraffes right by the entrance, before throwing our bags down, pulling on our jackets and heading straight out on our first evening game drive.

We were incredibly lucky, spotting elephants, buffalo and a couple of cheetahs, along with plenty of zebra, springbok and antelope. Anyone who’s been on safari before will know there’s nothing quite like that first drive and the excitement of spotting your first animals.

After dinner and plenty of w**e, it was an early night ready for the 5.30am alarm! Each morning and evening we head out for a three-hour drive with our brilliant guide AJ, armed with fleece ponchos and hot water bottles to keep us warm. In between, we seem to be constantly fed and given drinks!

The setting here is gorgeous. Our lodge overlooks the watering hole, so even when we’re not out on a drive we can sit and watch for animals wandering past. There are also two pools, although I haven’t been brave enough to try those yet!

We’re now four out of six drives down and have been unbelievably lucky. We’ve seen all of the Big Five several times, including lions on three drives, and so many giraffes, who might just be my favourites.

I’ve been amazed by how close we can get to the animals and how completely unbothered they are by us. Being on a private reserve makes such a difference too, with only a handful of jeeps and no more than two allowed at a sighting at once.

Absolutely loving our time on safari and making some very special memories. The kids were a little apprehensive before we came, but once here they’ve loved spotting the animals and the bumpy rides in the back of the jeep!

07/23/2026

Disneyland Paris Trip Review: Is the reserved nighttime show area worth it? ✨🏰

This was the first time we’d booked the reserved viewing area for the nighttime show at Disneyland Paris and I think it was worth every penny.

Unfortunately, because of the extreme heat there was a fireworks ban in place in Paris. It was originally due to be lifted on the day we had our reserved area booked but, sadly for us, it was extended.

I was so disappointed as the fireworks are one of my absolute favourite parts of any Disney trip!

However, we still got to see the incredible castle projections and drone show – and it was brilliant.

The reserved area puts you right in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and, despite being such a fantastic location, it didn’t feel overcrowded at all. The area is large compared with the number of spaces they sell, so we had plenty of room and only arrived around 30 minutes before the show started.

The view was just perfect.

They do ask everyone to stand for the show, which I’m not quite sure why! One of my favourite things about the reserved viewing area at Disneyland Resort in California is that everyone stays seated, meaning adults and children all get a brilliant view.

Luckily, everyone around us decided to stay seated anyway, so we had an amazing uninterrupted view and got to rest our legs during the 20-minute show – very welcome after another 30,000 step Disney day and before the walk back to the hotel!

If you can build the reserved viewing area into your budget, I’d highly recommend booking it for one night of your stay. For us, having that space and knowing we had a brilliant view without needing to stake out a spot hours beforehand was absolutely worth it.

Katie Goddard Bespoke Travel

09/10/2026

09/09/2026

09/05/2026

09/03/2026

08/29/2026

08/13/2026

07/23/2026

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