Kingsmead Guesthouse

​This single-storey ranch-style home has a stone-paved entrance and wrap-around porch. It's expertly landscaped with careful flower beds and swathes of picture-perfect grass. Inside is an open-plan lounge with plush sofas next to a large hearth. Pale grays and greens and floral prints create a serene atmosphere, while bright original art add a bit of spice. The breakfast room sits just adjacent from the lounge, with several tables and a small kitchenette that stocks coffee and tea throughout the day.

​The fourteen rooms in the guest house are individually decorated with a base palate of crisp white and variable combinations of greens and blues, reds and pinks. Everything is impeccable - from the soft-but-not-too-soft mattresses to the crisp lines and always appropriately drawn blinds. They have double-doors, which lead onto a private section of furnished veranda or patio. Rooms sleeps two guests, have en suite bathrooms with walk-in showers and separate deep bathtubs.

From the magnificent landscapes of Mana Pools in the north, the awe-inspiring Victoria Falls and big game of Hwange in the east, to the all-around extraordinary off-the-beaten-path experience of Gonarezhou, Zimbabwe burgeons with beautiful, unspoiled wilderness. Chances are you're on your way to one such place and Harare is but a blink on screen of your travels, but even still, Kingsmead provides a necessary and replenishing pit-stop - if simply for a good night's rest and a home-cooked meal.