When Charl Theron arrived on the property three kilometres outside Franschhoek village on the R45 Main Road, in June 2023, there was no hotel. There was a working craft brewery, Hey Joe Brewing Co., which had been drawing visitors to the site since around 2018, and beyond it, the early stages of a construction project that would eventually become @Franschhoek Hotel. Theron joined as Food and Beverage and Brewery Operations Manager, embedding himself in the Hey Joe operation and learning the site, the brand and the vision from the inside.
Sixteen months later, in October 2024, he was promoted to General Manager of both the brewery and the hotel. What followed was one of the more demanding opening chapters in recent Cape Winelands hospitality: an empty building site transformed into a fully operational hotel in roughly eight weeks, with doors open to guests by December 2024. The brewery was already under his watchful eye. Now he had to build everything else around it.
It is the kind of story that makes more sense when you understand how Theron got here. Unlike many hotel general managers who come up through rooms and front office, his two decades in the industry were built almost entirely in food and beverage. He came through some of the Western Cape’s most demanding luxury properties – Table Bay Hotel, the iconic Mount Nelson Hotel, Radisson Blu Waterfront, Mont Rochelle Wine Estate, The Commodore and The Portswood Hotels – working through increasingly senior F&B roles under leaders whose influence he still draws on. “Discipline, consistency and calm decision-making build trust within a team,” he says. “That trust leads to better guest experiences.”
Those years gave him more than technical knowledge. As Food and Beverage Manager at the Lord Charles Hotel, he oversaw the reopening and full restructuring of one of the Western Cape’s largest banqueting operations. At DeWarenmarkt Restaurant, he took over the general management of a 250-seat high-volume business during a difficult post-pandemic period and led a financial recovery that returned the operation to positive cashflow through tighter cost controls and a redesigned commercial model. By the time he walked onto the Hey Joe site in 2023, he had already run complex operations under pressure and knew what it took to build a team that delivered.
Today, @Franschhoek Hotel and Hey Joe Brewing Co. operate as a single, integrated experience and together form part of The @ Collection, alongside @Sandton Hotel in Johannesburg. The relationship between the two Franschhoek properties is closer than most hotel-restaurant combinations. Hotel guests have breakfast at Hey Joe each morning, meaning the brewery that predates the hotel by several years is now woven into the daily rhythm of every stay. It is an unusual setup, and one that gives the property a character that is difficult to manufacture.
Theron is clear-eyed about what the Franschhoek setting demands of him. “Guests expect high-quality service, authenticity and a genuine sense of place,” he says. “There’s a responsibility to uphold the destination’s reputation, and that guides every decision we make.” Since opening, his focus has been on building a team culture strong enough to deliver on that expectation consistently – refining communication between departments, clarifying accountability and creating conditions where staff feel supported enough to take genuine ownership of the guest experience. “Guest satisfaction comes from small, daily improvements done right, not one big change.”
With the hotel’s first full year of trading behind him, his priorities are to consolidate what has been built, sharpen the commercial strategy and ensure that Hey Joe Brewing Co. continues to sit at the heart of what makes the property distinct rather than simply alongside it. For a GM who spent 16 months learning this site before he ever had a hotel to run, the measure of success is, characteristically, straightforward. “The hotel runs smoothly, the team is confident and accountable, and guests leave with memories worth keeping.”
Charl Theron holds a National Diploma in Hospitality, majoring in Food and Beverage Management, completed Cum Laude at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He holds a WSET Level 2 qualification in Wine and Spirits, has completed a Coaching for Performance programme at Stellenbosch Business School and is fluent in English and Afrikaans.
Reservations:
reservations@franschhoek-hotel.com | +27 21 753 1680
franschhoek-hotel.com | heyjoebrewery.com
About @Franschhoek Hotel
@Franschhoek Hotel is a boutique property set on the R45 Main Road, 3km outside Franschhoek village in the Cape Winelands, South Africa. The hotel shares its grounds with Hey Joe Brewery, which produces Belgian-inspired craft beers and offers guided tours and tastings to guests. @Franschhoek Hotel offers elegant rooms with vineyard and mountain views, premium wellness facilities, an indoor aerobics pool and conferencing spaces suited to corporate retreats. The @ in @Franschhoek Hotel is not a typo – it is the point. It signals a place of connection: to the land, to the people who work it and to guests who choose to travel with care. The hotel is part of The @ Collection, alongside @Sandton Hotel
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