The Concierge Boutique Bungalows & Freedom Café : for sale

The Concierge Boutique Bungalows is both name and concept. It was created in a collaborative effort with Durban's Egg Design team, Greg and Roche Dry, and the Modern Museum Design team headed by Neil Roake.

Eight listed historical homes have been refurbished and moulded together around The Concierge. Inside you’ll discover modern luxury with a distinctive, quirky style. The Concierge is nestled in a cool, leafy courtyard which also houses the equally impressive Freedom Café.

The Greyville area probably holds more listed buildings and valued architecture than most others in Durban. Found in the same avenue as The Concierge, the beautiful Union Period St Mary’s Church is not only a visual gem, but the only authenticated Herbert Baker building in Durban.

The four bungalows each have three rooms, all with a shift in design and identity. Boutique in the true sense of the word, every furniture piece is custom-designed for the space and the intention.

The heart of The Concierge Boutique Bungalows is the award-winning steel shipping container, which holds Freedom Café where guests can breakfast indoors or outdoors. The café has become a cool spot for regulars to hang out for breakfast, lunch or drinks at the bar.

A great deal about The Concierge Boutique Bungalows is the result of personal experience. Neil Roake travels and knows what he likes and what he doesn’t. He’s created a venue, a menu and accommodation for others like him – those who seek solace at the end of a hectic day, but still want the options of interacting with the locals, trying new flavours and chilling in the courtyard or at the bar in Freedom Café.

From inside The Concierge Boutique Bungalows, you can see a little park across the lane – it’s clearly visible through the tennis-court fencing, used in preference to a wall – and The Concierge Boutique Bungalows has become its caretaker: ‘We don’t own it but, a bit like the Japanese concept of “borrowed space”, we look after it.’