Best Hotels & Lodges

Perched on an eroded volcanic cone with views that stop conversations mid-sentence, Bisate Reserve takes wilderness luxury to quietly extraordinary heights. This isn't just another gorilla lodge – it's a 176-acre conservation project where reforestation efforts have transformed former farmland back into pristine forest. Eight villa-spheres nestle into the amphitheatre landscape, their thatched domes echoing traditional Rwandan palace architecture while inside, everything whispers understated sophistication. Between gorilla treks, days unfold with guided reforestation walks, meetings with local beekeepers, or simply watching the mist roll across those impossible volcanic peaks from your private deck.

Silverback offers serenity before and after the wilderness calls. Spaces crafted with simplicity, passion and soul — where nature is never shut out, only softened. Each space is warm, considered, and quietly luxurious, with views that reach across the treetops and into the mist. Here, mornings begin with birdsong, evenings settle by firelight, and comfort comes with intention — not excess. You are held, not hidden. This is where you return to yourself.

There are wildlife encounters and then there are the ones that recalibrate something in you permanently. Perched on the northern edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda — home to more than half the world's remaining mountain gorillas — this is a lodge built around one of those experiences. The name translates as "a place where you can see far," and the rolling highland views that sweep away from every suite make good on that promise from the moment you arrive. Opening in 2026, and designed with the surrounding landscape in its bones rather than as an afterthought, the architecture echoes the undulating hills in its layered rooftops and organic lines. Asilia Africa's signature attention to detail and sustainable ethos are present throughout, not least in an ambitious reforestation project on the surrounding land that is creating a new forest buffer zone for local communities, including the Batwa people who can no longer access Bwindi itself. Come for the gorillas, stay for everything else.

The Makokola Retreat is located on the palm fringed southern shore of Lake Malawi, a setting that is beautiful almost beyond belief. Its waters are the habitat of more species of fish than that of any other body of fresh water on the earth.

A tropical haven with a relaxed pace, Malawi is famous for its artistic traditions, including dances, wood sculpture, painting, embroidery and music amongst others.

Mzuzu is the gateway and the focal point of growth in the Malawi’s Northern Region, and Sunbird Mzuzu is the only premier hotel in this region. Nestled in the green surrounds of the Mzuzu Golf Course, it offers the ideal base from which to explore the unspoilt North. The hotel is 100 km from Chintheche beautiful beaches, 120 km from Livingstonia Mission, and 150 km from the Nyika National Park, Malawi’s largest park.