Need to know
Rooms
22 suites.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
More details
Rates usually include all meals and most drinks (excluding premium picks), laundry, activities and transfers from Victoria Falls town and airport.
Also
Food just keeps on coming at regular intervals throughout your stay, including a helpful caffeine drop with your pre-dawn wake-up call: just let a butler know if you’d like tea or coffee (snacks included).
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout and a gym. In rooms: free bottled water; a Nespresso coffee machine tea-making kit; air-conditioning; Bluetooth Bose speakers; iPads on request and Healing Earth bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Each room has a similar classic-safari-lodge look, so it’s more a case of how much space you want or if you’ve got little Smiths in tow: some have two bedrooms. Groups will love the four-bedroom River House, which has its own ranger-led private safari, four-wheel drive, butler, chef and pool, along with plenty of indoor and outdoor living space.
Poolside
Each suite has its own plunge pool, but there’s also a lengthy infinity one running along the banks of the Zambezi.
Spa
The spa is in an outdoor sala, where Africology rituals are carried out to some bush beats (as opposed to the regular whale music); treatments can be in your room, if you prefer.
Packing tips
Serious, sensible packing is necessary: no bright or fluoro colours or loud patterns if you want to successfully ward off the wildlife; stick to standard-issue safari neutrals (but no camo). Binoculars and a decent camera will come in handy as well, obviously.
Also
The communal areas are mostly accessible for wheelchair users, but there is a step to navigate.
Children
All ages are welcome, but a safari is better suited to older kids who will be able to fully appreciate the wondrous wildlife. An extra bed can be added for children under 16. Babysitting is available with a day’s notice; rates start at US$10 an hour.
Sustainability efforts
Run by a local team, this hotel uses locally sourced materials and ingredients throughout including handcrafted furniture from Zimbabwe. The 55,000-hectare reserve has 16 solar-powered boreholes acting as a water supply to the wildlife neighbours to come and drink from, and the hotel are pioneering initiatives to eliminate poaching.