Best Hotels & Lodges

Open-plan luxury tents cleverly designed to magnify the seclusion and expanse of the African bush. A habitat could scarcely be more diverse: open plains of grazing buck yield to dense, bird-plenty thickets, sudden plummets of rocky ravines are carved by the Bushman's River. Conveniently located along the Garden Route, this lodge is an easy-to-access thoroughgoing wilderness with Big Five game viewing and a host of other general and rare wildlife to boot. Shamwari is known for its conservation ethics, offering additional educational activities through its Animal Rehab Centre, Born Free Big Cat Sanctuaries and Ian Player Rhino Awareness Centre.

A hornbill's flight away from the Timbavati River, your oasis awaits amongst the mopane trees in a private corner of the Ngala Reserve. Taking the meaning of 'treehouse' to an entirely new level, this one comes in the form of a four-storey tower with explorer-chic style and a well-stocked bar...we can taste those sundowners now! With no fence separating the reserve from Kruger National Park and access to 36,000 acres of unbroken wilderness, your days will be filled with tracking members of the Big Five on foot and epic game drives - that is, when you can tear yourself from your rooftop perch.

Boasting one of the most picturesque locations of any bush camp in the Luangwa, Mchenja is set high on the banks of the river in a shady grove of mchenja (ebony) trees from which the camp takes its name. This northern section of the park is awash with animals and daily game drives offer wonderful sightings, from the baboons swinging in the trees to the predators stalking across the plains. A stylish tented haven, Mchenja perfectly balances a little bit of luxury with a true wilderness experience.

Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge is located deep in the farmlands of the Ngorongoro Karatu region of northern Tanzania. It's the long-term project of two Dutch doctors who saw the beauty and need of the community, and built a camp to serve both tourists (particularly as a conference venue), and the local children by means of an orphanage and a school. A stay here is a lovely break from the early mornings on safari and it's a good base from which to explore the surrounding area, including the infamous Ngorongoro Crater (which might require an early morning start!). It's a simple but intimate and totally charming lodge, and impressively, 20% of the nightly rate is donated to the children's home and other related projects.

Hotel L’Archipel and its fragrant hillside gardens lie in north-eastern section of Praslin, the second-largest island in the Seychelles. Beneath the lodge is Anse Gouvernement, a secluded beach reserved for the hotel's guests only. Think of all the tropical words you can, and you'll be describing this location, with its wide white sands, rustling palms, loungers for sun-soaking, and turquoise sea that is perfect for swimming, snorkelling and, for an edge-of-your-seat Ernest Hemingway adventure, deep-sea fishing. Meander back to the hotel and your cool room through mature gardens filled with palms, hibiscus, fragrant frangipani and bougainvillea. Heavenly!