LEISURE
The Power Station
THAT BECAME A LUXURY HOTEL
ON KNYSNA’ S FAMOUS THESEN ISLAND, A FABULOUSLY QUIRKY HOTEL, THE 5-STAR TURBINE BOUTIQUE HOTEL AND SPA, EMERGED FROM AN OLD POWER STATION – OFFERING STUNNING PANORAMAS, EXCEPTIONAL CUISINE AND LUXE ACCOMMODATION.
There’ s quite a story behind the transformation, in Knysna, of what was once a working power station … Knysna is a small town with a huge history. The area was originally inhabited by the Khoisan. Then the Dutch colonisers arrived in the 17th century, and in the late 1800s, the Thesen family moved from Norway to Knysna and established various businesses there.
Some years later, Charles William Thesen bought Paarden Island, as it was named then, and began processing timber there in 1922. In 1939 a power station, fuelled by the wood waste generated by the Thesens’ saw mills, was built to provide power to Knysna and Plettenberg Bay as well as the Eskom national grid, until it was decommissioned in 2001. By 2007 the island had been declared a Heritage site, and the now derelict power station was purchased by visionary hoteliers Geoff Engel and Dandre Lerm-Engel.
The Engels spent the next three years fulfilling their dream to restore the derelict equipment and buildings to their former glory – and then some. In 2010, the result of their hard work and outstanding creative genius was unveiled. Enter the 5-star boutique Turbine Hotel and Spa – a modern-day masterpiece of architectural ingenuity.
ROOMS WITH A VIEW With both standard and luxury rooms, a Honeymoon suite boasting some of the hotel’ s best views and a balcony overlooking the rim flow pool, as well as two self-contained suites adjacent to the hotel, guests are spoiled for choice! Then there are the facilities, which include the Turbine Spa, one of the finest on the Garden Route, where guests( and day visitors) can recharge with tailor-made and natural treatments from its range of body and beauty treatments.
26 | SUMMER 2025 / 26 • rovesa. co. za