Place to stay · Windhoek
Hotel Heinitzburg
A 16-room hotel inside a 1914 castle on the hill above central Windhoek, family-run since 1993, with a fine-dining restaurant, a garden terrace and a large wine cellar.
Heinitzburg is one of Windhoek’s three hilltop “castles”, a mock-medieval house with towers and battlements built in 1914, and it has been a hotel since the Raith family bought it in 1993. It sits at 22 Heinitzburg Street, about 2 km from the city centre, and the terrace looks straight down over town. If you want a first or last night in Namibia that feels like somewhere rather than anywhere, this is the obvious pick.
What to expect
The architect Wilhelm Sander built the house for himself and sold it in 1916 to Count Hans Bogislav von Schwerin, who named it after Margarethe von Heynitz, the woman he married (hence the old spelling Heynitzburg). The other two castles, Sanderburg and Schwerinsburg, are close by. The hotel part is a newer building in the same castle style beside the original house.
There are 16 rooms, renovated in 2024: four Standard Twin, eight Comfort Twin and four Superior Double. Food is a big part of the place. Leo’s at the Castle is the à la carte restaurant, the Garden Terrace serves food, cakes and coffee through the day and sundowners in the evening, and the cellar under the castle holds over 12,000 bottles, mostly South African. Beate Raith runs the hotel with her son Tibor, a trained chef.
Practical details
- Phone: +264 61 249 597. Email heinitzburg@heinitzburg.com.
- Private transfers from Hosea Kutako International Airport can be pre-booked.
- Parking on site is for hotel guests only and watched around the clock.
- In-room massages by appointment. There is a pool terrace.
Good to know
Leo’s can be booked out for private events of 30 to 55 guests, so ask about dinner availability when you book a room, particularly over weekends.
Last updated 7 October 2026. Sources: Hotel Heinitzburg, history, Hotel Heinitzburg, rooms, Hotel Heinitzburg, services, Hotel Heinitzburg, Leo's at the Castle, Hotel Heinitzburg, Garden Terrace, Hotel Heinitzburg, wine cellar, Hotel Heinitzburg, contact, Wikipedia, Wikipedia (German).
