Olive Grove occupies a gentle hill in Klein Windhoek, a leafy residential suburb a short drive from the centre of Windhoek. Its defining draw is an à la carte dining programme, uncommon among guesthouses in the capital. Meals come from an open kitchen, where the culinary team works in full view of the room, over dishes that bring Namibian game meats together with international cooking.
Tiered private gardens wrap the hill, quiet above the city.
It makes a considered first or final stop on a Namibian trip. Tiered private gardens wrap the hill, quiet above the city. The rooms set screed concrete floors, cast-concrete bed bases and brick against cotton linens, cane basket drawers, wrought-iron furniture and Moroccan lampshades. A plunge pool, a fireplace lounge and a shaded veranda complete the residence-like feel.
You might eat al fresco on the shared veranda, beside the pool, in the indoor dining room, or up in the Moroccan-themed alcoves on the upper deck, depending on the hour. Breakfast pairs a buffet with dishes cooked to order. In a city where the kitchen is usually kept out of sight, the open plan lets guests sit at the bar with a drink while the chefs cook.
Weavers, sunbirds and bulbuls come to the aloes at first light.
Windhoek stands at roughly 1,650 metres on the Khomas Highland plateau, and the altitude keeps the air dry and the winter nights cold enough to warrant the lounge fire. Weavers, sunbirds and bulbuls come to the aloes at first light. The sound of water moves through the garden, and by evening the deep-pillowed couches on the upper deck open onto starry skies and the quiet hills of Klein Windhoek beyond.
Windhoek’s boutique guesthouses grew up in the gap between the simplicity of a family home and the standards of a small hotel, and Olive Grove belongs firmly to that tradition. It is a calm, city-based counterpoint to the long gravel roads and dust that mark the start and end of most Namibian journeys. When the mood calls for something different, guests can dine next door at the neighbouring Olive Exclusive, a related property a few steps away, before returning to the quiet of their own veranda.
Eleven rooms keep the place small, a long way from the sprawling floor plans of a conference hotel. Three sit near reception and dining, two more by the pool patio, and five upstairs open onto the terrace. Guests share one veranda instead of disappearing down isolated corridors, and the kitchen team work in view of the dining room, not behind a closed door. The service feel is personal, closer to a private house than to the larger corporate hotels of the capital, and the whole place is run at that human scale.
Gemsbok, mountain zebra and blue wildebeest range the hills west of the city.
The city centre is a short drive away, and a day there fills easily. The Christuskirche, the Tintenpalast and its Parliament Gardens, the Alte Feste and the Independence Memorial Museum all lie within easy reach of one another, and guided half-day historic excursions take in the colonial-era buildings and museums. Katutura community tours, by bicycle or in a vintage VW bus, offer a different read of the capital. For something to carry home, curio shopping centres on the Namibia Craft Centre in the Old Breweries building.
Daan Viljoen Game Reserve occupies the Khomas Hochland hills a short way out of town, closer at hand than a full safari suggests. Gemsbok, mountain zebra and blue wildebeest range the hills west of the city. Springbok and kudu graze among them, and more than 200 bird species have been recorded there. Nearer still, Avis Dam draws local birders to its marshy margins. Back at the guesthouse, the wellness room offers massages and body treatments, and the Hofmeyer Walk gives long views over the city.
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accommodation
Eleven en-suite rooms and suites. Three standard rooms sit near reception and dining, two more in a separate building by the pool patio, and five luxury rooms upstairs open to the terrace. The executive suite adds a separate bedroom with its own lounge and dining area, all dressed with cotton linens and down duvets.
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activities
On-site: massages and body treatments in the wellness room, the outdoor plunge pool, and evenings on the upper terrace. Arranged through reception: guided city and historic tours, Katutura community tours by bicycle or vintage VW bus, the Hofmeyer Walk with long views over the city, and curio shopping at the Namibia Craft Centre.
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conservation
Specific conservation partnerships or community programmes for Olive Grove Guesthouse could not be independently confirmed. The gardens are managed with an eye to Windhoek's dry climate, and the property's position away from the city centre keeps a corridor of aloes and palms that draws weavers, sunbirds and bulbuls year-round.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
Hosea Kutako International, where the long-haul flights land, is about forty-five minutes east of the city by road, and the guesthouse arranges transfers to and from it, which we book as part of the trip. It also runs pick-ups from Eros, the small airfield on the city side of Windhoek where Namibia's light-aircraft safari circuits begin.
That second airfield is the point. If your safari continues by air, on the scheduled circuit or by private charter we arrange, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, you leave from Eros rather than the international airport, so a night here lets you land, sleep properly and start the flying leg fresh the next morning.
One night at each end is the usual pattern. A first night breaks the journey after the long flight, so the safari proper starts rested rather than jet-lagged, and a last night takes the pressure off getting back for an international departure. The guesthouse suits that role well, with free wifi, a laundry service for a mid-trip reset and secure parking for self-drivers.
A second night buys time for the city itself. The guesthouse can arrange guided city tours and township tours, and we can build either into the itinerary, though most guests find one full day in Windhoek enough before the country beyond it calls.
Windhoek sits outside Namibia's malaria zone. The CDC records no malaria transmission in the capital, and the UK's official travel health advice classes this central part of the country as very low risk, with bite avoidance recommended rather than antimalarial tablets. The areas with real risk lie in the country's north and north east, towards the Angolan and Zambian borders.
Most Namibian trips do head north eventually, and if yours takes in Etosha or the Zambezi region the advice changes, particularly during the December to April rains. Tell us your full route, and let a travel clinic or your doctor confirm the current position before you travel.
Windhoek sits at around 1,700 metres, so the climate is milder than a desert country suggests. Summer, from about October to April, brings days around thirty degrees with afternoon thunderstorms in the wetter months from January to March, while winter, May to September, means dry, sunny days around twenty degrees and sharply cold nights that can approach freezing in June and July.
Layers cover it: light clothes and sun protection for the day, and a proper warm layer for winter evenings, when the temperature falls fast once the sun goes. The same packing serves for the rest of the country, since most of Namibia runs hot days and cold nights through the dry season.
Yes, children of all ages are welcome, which is not a given at the safari lodges beyond the capital and is one of the reasons the guesthouse works so well for families in transit. Cots, extra beds and highchairs are available, babysitting can be arranged, and the kitchen keeps children's menus and will flex mealtimes around small appetites.
For a family of four the largest suite is the practical choice, with its own lounge and a separate bathroom. Tell us the ages when we plan, because the lodges further along your route each have their own age rules, and we would rather design the trip around them from the start.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
