Our History

Mike Cromhout the proud owner of The Winston; came from a military and hotel upbringing. In the mid sixties, Mike and his parents moved from Cape Town to Port St Johns; the then Transkei, after his father who was commonly known as “Major” retired from the SADF after 35 years service. Ports St Johns was home to Mike’s Mothers family for many years, starting with his Great Grandfather who was one of the first settlers in the village. The family owned two hotels in the village named The Winston Hotel and The Needles Hotel. The Cromhout family contributed in the running of both hotels and soon become a well known colourful family in Port St Johns.

This family tradition of running hotels continued when Mike Cromhout decided to build a lodge 6 years ago on the Kruger National Park border. The aptly named Needles Lodge was completed in December 2002 and was one of the most successful lodges in the area. During 2007 Mike sold the Needles lodge, and decided to return to his roots in The Cape. Mike bought property in Simons Town and thus, gave birth to The Winston. The establishment of both properties was overseen by the 14 years of industry experience of Mike’s son Theo and daughter Kim’s wise advice.

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