Best for
Stay Inn is a single self-catering flatlet in a Gonubie back garden, and it knows exactly what it is for: contractors and business travellers working around East London, couples who want a quiet, private, fully equipped base on the coast, and solo travellers who would rather have their own kitchen and veranda than a hotel room. It is semi-detached from the owner’s house with its own entrance, which is the difference between a room in someone’s home and a place of your own. It is not for groups, not for families beyond three at a squeeze, and not for anyone who expects to walk out of the door onto a beach.
Location and setting
The address is 78 10th Avenue in Gonubie, a coastal suburb about twenty kilometres east of central East London inside the Buffalo City metro. Gonubie is residential, low-rise and green, built between the Gonubie River mouth and a long beach with a boardwalk running over the dunes. The street is quiet and the unit looks onto its own small garden. Gonubie Golf Course is within walking distance. The beach is roughly two and a half kilometres away, which is a short drive or a determined walk rather than a stroll. East London’s museum, aquarium and city centre are a further fifteen kilometres or so west.
Rooms and accommodation style
There is one unit. It is a ground-floor, semi-detached, one-bedroom flatlet with a private entrance. The bedroom is made up with two single beds by default; the host will convert them into a king on request, with a mattress topper. A sleeper couch in the lounge takes a third guest, and an extra bed can be added on request for a fee. There is one bathroom, with a shower over the bath. The lounge and kitchen are open-plan, with a dining area and a breakfast bar. Linen, bath towels and cleaning products are provided, and there is a mosquito net. Because there is only one unit, every booking takes the whole place.
Facilities and on-site experience
The kitchen is properly equipped rather than a kitchenette: a stove and oven, a microwave, a bar fridge, a kettle, a toaster and kitchenware, plus ironing facilities and a drying rack. There is a smart television with streaming services and free Wi-Fi. Outside, the unit has a covered veranda with outdoor furniture and an outdoor dining area, a braai area and its own patch of private garden, with free secure, shaded parking on the property. Housekeeping is daily and laundry can be arranged on request. The owner, Jenna, lives on site, which means help is close at hand, but there is no reception, no pool and no communal facility of any kind.
Meals and dining
This is self-catering in the full sense: no breakfast is served and no meals are provided. The kitchen is the point, and it has an oven and a stovetop rather than just a hotplate, so cooking a proper meal is realistic. The braai outside covers the other half of the South African cooking repertoire. Gonubie’s shops, cafés and restaurants are about a kilometre away along the main suburban strip, and East London has the full range if you want to drive in. If you are arriving late, shop before you get here, because the suburb winds down early and there is no on-site food of any kind.
Getting there and getting around
East London Airport is about twenty-four kilometres from the door, which is roughly a half-hour drive, and it is the practical way in for anyone flying. Gonubie sits just off the N2 as it runs east out of East London towards the Wild Coast, so self-drivers coming from Gqeberha or from Mthatha pass close by. There is no public transport that a visitor can sensibly rely on here, and the distances between Gonubie, the beach, the shops and central East London all assume a car. Parking is secure, shaded and on the property. The host asks guests to confirm their arrival time in advance, as check-in runs to an afternoon and early-evening window.
What to do nearby
Gonubie Beach and its boardwalk are the immediate draw, along with the river mouth and the tidal areas at the eastern end. One point worth getting right: Gonubie holds Blue Flag pilot status for the 2025/26 season, alongside Kidd’s Beach, awarded through the national programme as a step towards full accreditation. That is not the same as full Blue Flag status, and Buffalo City has no full-status Blue Flag beach this season, whatever you may read elsewhere. Beyond the beach there is the golf course, Nahoon and the East London beachfront, the East London Museum and aquarium, the German Settlers memorial, and the start of the Wild Coast road running north-east towards Chintsa and beyond.
Trade-offs, honestly
- One unit, and that is the whole property. If your dates are taken there is no second room, and there are no hotel facilities at all — no pool, no restaurant, no reception.
- It is a suburban garden flatlet, not a beach house. The beach is about two and a half kilometres away and you will drive to it more often than you walk.
- The bathroom is a shower over a bath. Guests have specifically valued the grab handle, which tells you it is a step in and out rather than a walk-in shower.
- The bedroom is two singles unless you ask. A couple must request the king conversion in advance; it is not the default setup.
- A third guest sleeps on a sleeper couch in the open-plan lounge, so three adults will have no privacy from one another.
- Guests are sent a rental agreement to sign and return before arrival. It is straightforward, but it is an administrative step that surprises people who booked expecting a simple confirmation.
Before you book
Ask for the king conversion when you book if you are a couple, and confirm it has been noted. Tell the host your arrival time; the check-in window is defined and the property is owner-run. Watch for the rental agreement in your inbox and return it before you travel, because the property expects it signed in advance. If you are travelling with a pet, ask first — pets are considered on request and charges may apply. If a third person is coming, be clear about the sleeper couch and about the extra-bed charge. And if you have a car full of equipment, the shaded, secure parking is one of the practical reasons people book here twice.
How it compares
Gonubie’s accommodation is dominated by B&Bs, guest houses, a resort-style hotel or two and a holiday park, most of them larger than this and several of them closer to the water. Stay Inn competes on privacy and equipment rather than on position or facilities: you get a whole flatlet, a real kitchen, your own garden and veranda and secure parking, and you give up a beachfront outlook, a pool and any kind of communal space. For a contractor on a long stint or a couple who want to cook, that is often the better trade. For a family holiday with children who want to be in the sea all day, a property closer to the beach will serve you better. Our Gonubie accommodation page lists the alternatives.
Explore the area
Gonubie is the eastern edge of the East London metro and the practical launching point for the Wild Coast. Our Eastern Cape destination guide explains how the coast east of East London differs from the Sunshine Coast and the Garden Route, and what the driving days actually look like. To compare this stretch of coast with the rest of the province, browse the Eastern Cape accommodation directory, or use our accommodation finder to filter by town and property type.
Current rates and availability
Because Stay Inn is a single unit, its calendar fills and clears in whole blocks rather than gradually, and the nightly figure differs for one guest and for two. We have not quoted numbers in this guide for that reason. Put your dates into the booking panel on this page and it will show you the property’s own current rate and whether the flatlet is open.
