KwaZulu-Natal · Upper Highway · Town guide
Kloof, Gillitts, Hillcrest, Waterfall, Winston Park and Botha's Hill: cooler air, big gardens and the densest cluster of villages with frail care in KZN.
Why families look here
The Upper Highway is KwaZulu-Natal's answer to the Helderberg. Twenty-five minutes inland from Durban, 400 metres higher and noticeably cooler, Kloof, Gillitts, Hillcrest and Waterfall are full of established retirement villages with care on the property: Le Domaine with its 70-bed care centre, Waterfall Gardens, Kingfisher Crest, Doone Village with the David Beare Care Centre, Rob Roy at Botha's Hill, the five Kloof Retirement Villages around the Winston Park Care Centre, and the Cotswold Downs and Hillcrest Country estates.
Hillcrest Private Hospital and Life Westville Hospital are the local private hospitals, with Life Crompton in Pinetown and the Berea hospitals 20 to 30 minutes down the N3. King Shaka is about 45 minutes.
Prices sit between the Berea and the North Coast: sectional-title units from about R1.2 million at Waterfall Gardens and R1.3 million at Kingfisher Crest, up to R3 million to R7 million in the lifestyle estates. Frail care at Le Domaine is published at about R27,300 a month for a four-bed ward and R36,000 for high care, plus R7,200 for meals. The area suits families who want the green, village feel of the Midlands without giving up the city's hospitals.
The directory
Retirement Villages · Manors, Pinetown, Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Highly rated non-profit village in Pinetown's Manors with cottages and the David Beare Care Centre for frail care, serving the Upper Highway for decades.
Retirement Villages · Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Hillcrest retirement estate from about R1.3 million with a daily clinic and discounted access to the Winston Park Care Centre for residents who later need frail care.
Retirement Villages · Kloof, Hillcrest and Winston Park, Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Five villages across Kloof, Hillcrest and Winston Park dating to 1904, with the Winston Park Care Centre providing assisted living, respite, frail and palliative care.
Retirement Villages · Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Hillcrest lifestyle estate with the Club de Vie clubhouse and the 70-bed Le Domaine Care centre, whose published 2026/27 rates run from R27,347 for a four-bed frail care ward.
Retirement Villages · Botha's Hill, Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Well-regarded retirement village at Botha's Hill on the Valley of a Thousand Hills, with care facilities and views, priced around R1.8 to R3.8 million.
Frail Care · Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Care centre in Hillcrest providing residential and frail care for older residents of the Upper Highway, close to Hillcrest Private Hospital.
Retirement Villages · Waterfall, Hillcrest, Hillcrest, Kloof & the Upper Highway
Sectional-title village in Waterfall with a care centre on the property and units from about R1.2 million, in the green Upper Highway between Hillcrest and Kloof.
Questions families ask
Le Domaine Care in Hillcrest publishes 2026/27 rates of R27,347 a month for a four-bed frail care ward and R35,967 for high care, with catering billed separately at R7,200. Smaller homes and the non-profit Kloof Rest Home charge less.
Le Domaine (Soins de Vie care centre), Waterfall Gardens (care centre on the property), Doone Village (David Beare Care Centre), Kingfisher Crest (daily clinic and discounted access to Winston Park Care Centre), Rob Roy, and the Kloof Retirement Villages, which share the Winston Park Care Centre.
Yes. The Upper Highway sits 400 to 600 metres above sea level, so summers are a few degrees cooler and less humid than the coast, and winter mornings are crisp.