Visit The Plettenberg and it’s easy to swoon over the ocean views from the crystal-clear infinity pool or the lawn, so perfectly manicured it could be AstroTurf.
Sit on the terrace at Amelia’s eating tempura prawns or fragrant mussels and imagine seeing this vista every day. The thought crosses my mind: who wouldn’t want a workplace that even comes with complimentary dolphins — and whales in season?
General manager Ainsley Williams is in the driving seat, and the FM caught up with her to find out what actually makes South Africa’s best hotel — as voted by global guests in the 2025 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards — tick.
Keeping everything at this standard, as near as dammit to perfection, is a huge responsibility.
The Plettenberg’s guests have one thing in common, says Williams: they are sophisticated, well-travelled, discerning and uncompromising.
Five-star is the highest level of hospitality, so luxury amenities and seamless service delivered with warmth, humility and consistency are non-negotiable, says Williams. “Attention to detail with unexpected gestures makes the trip memorable — a surprise gift in the room, a small gift on departure.”
With 35 rooms, two villas and up to 96 staff, her responsibilities range from the sublime to the ridiculous, from an impeccable menu to the seagulls that insist on sharing the guests’ pool.
She is passionate about mentoring, encouraging people and building a strong, happy team. “For me, it’s about putting an emphasis on people rather than just the luxury aspects of the hotel,” she says.
It was not the obvious path. Williams holds a BSc Hons in physiology, a diploma in civil & commercial mediation and a business administration degree.
“I thought I would be an academic because I was good at it, but my love for engaging with people was always there,” she says.
She arrived at The Plettenberg nearly two years ago, with 27 years in the trade. Her career started with a post as banqueting manager at Villa Via in Cape Town. She then became food and beverage manager at five-star heavyweights such as the Cape Grace, the InterContinental Table Bay Hotel and The Bay Hotel in Cape Town, and Tsogo Sun’s Palazzo in Joburg. During that period she first joined The Liz McGrath Collection, spending two years as food and beverage manager at The Cellars-Hohenort.
Her first general manager post was at Hartford House in KwaZulu-Natal. She then moved to The Pencil Club in Umhlanga, where she was in charge of operations and new business enterprises, before spending three years as resident hotel manager of Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa in Joburg.
How do her days here roll?
“No two days are ever the same. There are daily tasks and requirements that are non-negotiable, but everything else is in flux throughout the day. Meeting guests, working with the team, checking rooms, walking the property, checking on standards, guiding and mentoring staff — there’s always something to do.”
Guests get a handwritten card and a welcome minibar that runs from a luxury nut selection and biltong to a little tub of Jelly Tots. These touches are all on Williams’s radar.
She oversees every hotel operation, down to the temperature of the swimming pool.
There is a perception, Williams says, that the life of a hotelier is glamorous. “In reality, glamour days are few and far between. It’s a demanding job,” she says. One of the perks is meeting celebrities: in the course of her career, she has met Jude Law, Kofi Annan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood.
People are odd, and working with them day in and day out produces its share of stories. Absolute privacy goes with the turf, so not too many can be told.
But Williams remembers the time a band on tour in South Africa stayed at the hotel; the lead singer smoked weed in his room and point-blank refused to quit. Staff who entered the room came away stoned.
Social media has brought challenges, she says: ever-increasing competition for unique luxury experiences and pressure on what Williams calls “immediate reputation management”.
That poolside selfie can travel around the globe in seconds.
Williams is grateful for an understanding family, given the tough hours of hospitality.
Her greatest extravagance is simply taking time out. “We live in a world that is so rushed and always on. Hospitality in particular demands it, so I appreciate the small moments I have to myself.”
If those moments have a soundtrack, it is Mike Oldfield’s The Songs of Distant Earth, the one album she could play on repeat. Her favourite book is Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values — an analysis of quality, which happens to be her business.
