43 Best Hotels in Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park, South Africa

For an Out of Africa experience and great game, you can't beat Selati, an intimate, stylish, colonial-style camp that was formerly the private hunting lodge of a famous South African opera singer. The early-1900s atmosphere is created by the use of genuine train memorabilia—old leather suitcases, antique wooden chairs, nameplates, and signals—that recall the old Selati branch train line, which once crossed the reserve in the 1870s. At night the grounds flicker with the lights of the original shunters' oil lamps. Dinner is held in the boma whereas brunch is served in the friendly farmhouse kitchen. Glitterati and European royalty have stayed at the spacious Ivory Presidential Suite, with its Persian rugs and antique furniture.

This lodge, one of South Africa’s loveliest, is set among 14,826 acres of private concession in southwest Kruger—the park's first with game-rich traversing rights as a result—with twelve comfortable, spacious suites, each with a plunge pool and stunning views over the Biyamiti River. Had Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, author of the famous Jock of the Bushveld and his canine superstar still been alive, they would have highly approved of today’s camp, which is authentic and steeped in history. The food, service, and rangers are superb, but the game-viewing is spectacular—think night drives in Kruger. The nearby Fitzpatrick’s Camp is better for families and intergenerational trips.

Ivory Lodge offers the ultimate in luxury, privacy, and relaxation. Suites are really more like villas, as each has its own private entrance, separate sitting room and bedroom joined by a breezeway, and superb views overlooking the Sabie River and Kruger—the spacious deck comes equipped with a telescope and a plunge pool. Suites are decorated in contemporary African-European style with wood-burning fireplaces, a butler's passageway—you'll have a personal butler—and an indoor and outdoor shower, as well as a freestanding tub. For something even more special (if possible), inquire about spending the night at the Chalkley's Treehouse. 

Stone and thatch air-conditioned rondavels with two bathrooms and an outside shower are decorated in creams and browns and luxuriously furnished with natural finishes like copper and wood, colorful handwoven tapestries and rugs, terra-cotta floors, and original artwork. Public areas have a traditional safari feel, with plush couches, animal skins, and African artifacts. Shaded by ancient jackalberry trees, a huge deck overlooks the Sand River and its continuous passing show of animals. Browse in the air-conditioned Monkey Room for books and wildlife videos, sample the magnificent wine cellar, sun yourself by the pool, or stay fit in the well-appointed gym. The food is tasty, wholesome, and varied. Children over four are welcomed with special programs, activities, and goody-filled backpacks; children under four are not allowed on game drives. One guest room is geared toward travelers with disabilities.

This exclusive camp with seven ultra-luxurious suites lies at the southern end of Main Camp and overlooks the Sand River and surrounding bushveld. If it's privacy and exclusivity, or a perfect family or friends getaway you're looking for, then this is the spot. With its own pool, library, and boma, it's smaller and more intimate than Main Camp, but it shares the same magnificent all-around bush and hospitality experience. No children under 12 years old are allowed.

Marula seeds softly falling on the tents seem to be applauding this gorgeous little camp shaded by a canopy of giant trees. You'll feel like a sultan as you lie beneath your billowing, honey-colored canvas roof, which acts as a ceiling for your basket-weave handmade bed and headboard. Polished wooden floors, gauze-screened floor-to-ceiling windows, a roomy dressing area with two stone washbasins, and a fabulous en suite bathroom create a feeling of such roominess and elegance that it's hard to believe you're in a tent. The camp's dining area, lounge, and huge wooden decks almost nudge the very edge of the Timbavati River.

This lovely, reasonably priced lodge offers fine food, superb hospitality, and all the facilities you'd expect at a top lodge. Whitewashed walls, thatch roofs, delightful gardens, and panoramic views over the rolling Sabie River valley make for a country-house atmosphere, and—a special bonus—all rooms have verandahs. However, the spacious garden suites are worth the extra expense. Not surprisingly, the inn gets lots of repeat visitors. Meals are served in the restaurant or on the patio overlooking the pool. For breakfast choose Continental or the Full Monty, a full English feast. For tasty snacks, try the à la carte menu; for dinner, check out the local and vegetarian specialities. The lodge will also book excursions, supplemented with a tasty picnic basket.

Overlooking the beautiful Sand River, Singita Boulders Lodge intermingles the wildness of its setting among boulders with traditional Africa decor at its most luxurious. Terracotta polished stone floors blend with cow-skin rugs, hide-covered armchairs, hand-carved tables, and carefully chosen artifacts. From every side there are stunning bushveld views. Luxuriate in a sumptuous suite with leather and wicker armchairs, a zebra-skin ottoman, and desks and tables fashioned from organic wood shapes. A herd of impalas could easily fit into the bathroom, with its claw-foot tub, his-and-her basins, and an indoor and outdoor shower. All doors lead out onto a big wooden deck with an infinity pool, sun loungers, and bushveld views. Request Room 11 or 12, which overlook a waterhole. Children over the age of 10 are welcome.

Tanda Tula has a well-deserved reputation as one of the best bush camps in Mpumalanga. When lions roar nearby, the noise sounds like it's coming from under the bed. The reason is simple: you sleep in a large safari tent with huge window flaps that roll up, leaving you gazing at the bush only through mosquito netting. Each comfortable thatch tent has electricity, a freestanding fan, a private bathroom with a Victorian-style tub and outdoor shower, and a private wooden deck overlooking the Nhlaralumi River. First-class rangers give you a very thorough understanding of the environment, local history, and animals without concentrating solely on the Big Five. True adventurers might enjoy getting a taste of safaris of a bygone time at Tanda Tula's non-permanent field camp (open April through to October); after bush walking or driving all day, you set up camp in the bush; there's no electricity and limited cell phone coverage, but you'll be wined and dined at the elegant mess tent.

The first Relais & Chateaux game lodge in the world, this gorgeous camp (think leopards, lanterns, leadwoods, and leopard orchids) is tucked into the riverbank overlooking indigenous forest. The lodge is themed in chocolate and white, with exquisite leopard photos on the walls, airy and stylish interiors, and elegant yet simple furnishings. Huge bedrooms, en suite bathrooms, and plunge pools continue the elegance, simplicity, and sophistication. From your spacious deck you look out onto a world of cool-green forest dominated by ancient African ebony and marula trees. Treat yourself to a bottle of bubbly from the Champagne Library and then dine with others while swapping bush stories or sip it alone in your private sala.

You'll feel as if you've stepped back in time at this camp because rooms are strategically clustered around the original 1920s homestead, which, with its colonial furniture, historic memorabilia, and wraparound verandah, makes you feel like a family guest the moment you arrive. The lodge was named after renowned cattle farmer turned conservationist, Harry Kirkman, who first lived here one hundred years ago, and who can be seen in the old photographs found about the lodge. Interiors have crafted out light and airy communal spaces for guests to mingle. Seek out a cocktail Paul's Pub (and slide your sightings into the tally board) or settle down with a glass of sherry in front of a blazing log fire. There's game galore in Sabi Sand (the size of New Jersey), which has the highest density of leopards in the world. Kirkman's is ideal for families and family reunions.

If you want to make the most of the viewpoints along the Panorama Route (and get the best photographs), this old-school holiday resort with campsites, self-catering chalets, and a restaurant, is your best bet. Don't expect oodles of personality, you're here for the location---epic views all to yourself (ask for directions to World's End). There are also horse rides and mini-golf. 

Expect a warm, sincere welcome at this owner-run guesthouse situated on spacious grounds with verdant lawns shaded by indigenous trees. The German-speaking Böhm family have been dispensing good old-fashioned hospitality since 1975. Chalets are perfect for groups and come fully equipped, with bathrooms, tea/coffeemaker, a heater, air-conditioning, and hair dryers. Take time to sit on your private verandah and gaze at the spectacular view of the Sabie River Valley and the prolific birdlife, order a picnic lunch, or walk the steep 4-km (2½-km) walking trail down to the river. A three-course dinner (R300) could include Sabie trout, succulent Karoo lamb, ostrich and venison, and local mushrooms served with fresh herbs and vegetables from the lodge's own garden. Book your first night's dinner in advance.

This delightfully unpretentious lodge, one of the oldest in Sabi Sands, is set among huge trees on the banks of an attractive dam that is a magnet for game—particularly elephants. The lodge has private concession traversing rights over 21,004 acres, so only two vehicles at a time are game-viewing, and what game-viewing! You're almost guaranteed the Big Five, with daily leopard sightings. Eight comfortable thatch chalets, each with a small viewing deck, overlook the bush, food is plentiful and good, and the service is friendly and attentive. The public areas are bright and cheerful, and you can sit on the big viewing deck all day and watch the passing show if you prefer.

One of Sabi Sand's oldest lodges, Dulini River Lodge scores 10 out of 10 for its gorgeous location—one of the best in the whole reserve—with lush green lawns sweeping down to the Sand River. Game-viewing is so superb that you'd be unlucky not to spot the Big Five. The experienced rangers and staff, some of whom have been at the lodge for years, will look after you in a friendly, unfussy way. Children from 8 years and older are welcome and this is the best family option in the Dulini Collection. Your roomy air-conditioned suite (try to sleep with the windows open so you don't miss that lion roaring or hyena whooping) is decorated in soft earth colors and has its own heated plunge pool. The South African wine list is very impressive and showcases some more boutique offerings.  

This inviting camp has 10 stone-and-thatch suites in individual chalets set amid thick riverine bush; some chalets are linked by interconnecting skywalks, which is great for families or groups traveling together (children six years and older are welcome). Decorated in warm, comforting earth tones, each chalet has its own wooden viewing deck and plunge pool. Old family photographs decorate the walls and tables in this camp, reminding you of Londolozi's decades-old history. Relax on the huge thatch dining and viewing deck that juts out over a quiet backwater of the Sand River, and watch the mammals and birds go by. Or join a group yoga class under the African sky.

This delightful, value-priced camp owned and operated by Honeyguide is situated on both sides of a riverbed within Manyeleti Private Game Reserve. Simply designed and built of corrugated iron and wood, the large public areas overlook green lawns leading to the pool and outside bar. There's a private space in front of each of the 12 platform tents (all with modern conveniences and en suite bathrooms) to chill out and take in the sights and sounds of the surrounding bush. As part of the Children's Safari activities, kids can make clay footprints, learn about the little bugs and critters they see on their guided walks, play soccer, swim, relax in the playroom, and then dig into a special kids' menu.

This tented camp, built on wooden platforms, minimalist but with surprising luxury touches (owned and operated by Honeyguide within Manyeleti Private Game Reserve), gives you the total bush experience at half the price of some of the more upscale lodges. Designed to reflect Hemingway's Africa, it sits in a tamboti grove overlooking a dry riverbed. You'll feel very close to the bush (but quite safe and secure) in your large, comfortable tent with its leather couch and en suite bathroom with concrete bath, double shower, and separate toilet. Tea or coffee is served in your tent at dawn, and meals are served communal style in a big safari tent around a long wooden table in an intimate, relaxed atmosphere. Spot game as you lounge on the swimming pool deck, or browse in the temperature-controlled wine cellar. No children under 12, but children are allowed at its sister camp, Khoka Moya.

Renowned for its relaxed and informal atmosphere, Leopard Hills is one of the premier game lodges in the Sabi Sands area. Set on a rocky outcrop with panoramic views of the surrounding bushveld, this small lodge offers privacy and luxury. Its main draw is its spectacular game-viewing; during a two-night stay you're almost guaranteed to see the Big Five at close quarters. Rangers are eager to share their knowledge and quick to rush guests off to see big game. The decor has an authentic bush theme, which gels well with the surroundings. Each double room has its own private pool (in addition to the main pool) and deck overlooking the bushveld. Bathrooms have his-and-her showers both indoors and out. 

Set on one of the longest and best stretches of river frontage in Sabi Sand, you can watch the passing animal and bird show from your deck or from the huge, tree-shaded, wooden viewing area that juts out over the riverbank facing Kruger National Park. The guest rooms are comfortable and attractively Africa-themed, with honey-colored stone floors with pebble inlays, cream wooden furniture, embroidered white bed linens, and lamps and tables of dark indigenous wood. The food is imaginative and tasty, the staff enthusiastic, and the rangers highly qualified. After an exhilarating game drive, take a bush walk, go fishing, or relax with a beauty treatment at Lalamuka Spa (lalamuka means "unwind" in Shangaan). There's a resident senior ecologist, plus a classy and interesting curio shop.

The breathtakingly beautiful Rattray's Camp merges original bushveld style with contemporary African luxury. Stay in one of eight opulent villas with spacious double bathrooms, dressing rooms, and private heated plunge pools. The entrance hall, with art by distinguished African wildlife artists such as Keith Joubert, leads to a huge bedroom with a wooden four-poster bed, lounge with comfy furniture, writing desks (for crucial nightly journal entries), antique Persian rugs, and a dining nook. Floor-to-ceiling windows with insect-proof sliding doors face the Sand River and open out onto your own game-viewing deck. Public areas include viewing and dining decks, an infinity pool, lounge areas, a library, a bar and an impressive wine cellar.

If you’re looking for a truly exclusive experience, this lovely camp set high on stilts overlooking the Sand River at the southern end of the main MalaMala Camp fits the bill. Perfect for couples or a family or friends gathering, enjoy total privacy in your spacious air-conditioned suite or sit out on your big wooden viewing deck and enjoy the passing parade of game. There’s a great Out of Africa feel to the comfortable accommodation which echoes the colors of the surrounding bushveld, but Karen Blixen could never have imagined this present-day luxury.

Guests return again and again to this classic safari lodge with its timeless Out of Africa ambience. A massive, double-sided fireplace dominates the lodge, opening onto a lounge filled with elegant comfy sofas and chairs on one side and a dining room on the other. Dinner at Ngala is quite formal (kids on their best behavior, please!); it's served in a reed-enclosed boma or a tree-filled courtyard lighted by lanterns with crystal and silver. Comfortably furnished air-conditioned guest cottages, in mopane shrubveld with no views, comprise two rooms, each with its own thatch verandah. However, you can easily make up for the lack of room view with an overnight stay at the luxurious andBeyond Ngala Treehouse (can be added on to any stay at andBeyond Ngala Safari Lodge or andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp). The remote off-the-grid sanctuary soars 39 feet into the air offering sublime birds-eye scenery. There's a full bathroom with an outdoor shower and two sleeping areas—one covered and weatherproofed, the other an open-sky sleep-out platform for the outstanding star-gazing.

In the center of Kruger, Olifants has the best setting of all the camps: high atop cliffs on a rocky ridge with panoramic views of the distant hills and the Olifants River below. A lovely thatch-sheltered terrace allows you to sit for hours with binoculars and pick out the animals below. Lions often make kills in the river valley, and elephants, buffalo, giraffes, kudu, and other game come to drink and bathe. Try to book one of the thatch rondavels overlooking the river. It's a charming old camp, graced with wonderful indigenous trees. The only drawback, particularly in summer, is there's no pool.

Don't dismiss this tiny, underappreciated rest camp on Kruger's western border in the center of the park because of its proximity to the Orpen Gate. It may not be the most attractive camp—the rooms, arranged in a rough semicircle around a large lawn, look out toward the perimeter fence, about 150 feet away—but there's a permanent waterhole where animals come to drink, and plenty of game is in the vicinity, including cheetahs, lions, and rhinos. The two-bedroom huts are a bit sparse, without bathrooms or cooking facilities (although there are good communal ones), but there are three comfortable family cottages with bathrooms and kitchenettes. And it's a blissfully quiet camp, as there are so few accommodations.

The most secluded of all of Londolozi's camps, Pioneer's three private suites overlook the river and are perfect for getting away from others. It can also be adapted into a temporary family homestead for if you want to rent the whole place (children over the age of six are welcome). Suites have a modern Ralph Lauren feel, and your floor-to-ceiling glass sliding panels offer great wilderness views. Super-elegant bathrooms and classy bedrooms meld contemporary chic and classic African styles; clean, uncluttered furnishings blend perfectly with faded sepia photographs, old hunting prints, and scuffed safari treasures. The black-and-white outside showers come straight from a modern lifestyle magazine. In winter sink deeply into your comfortable armchair in front of your own blazing fireplace; in summer sit outside in your outdoor dining room and listen to Africa's night noises. There are inside and outside dining areas, viewing decks, and a gorgeous S-shape pool nestling in the surrounding bush.

This large, nostalgically old-fashioned camp, close to the Numbi Gate in southwest Kruger, makes a good overnight stop or touring base. The rocky kopjes and steep ridges that characterize the surrounding landscape provide ideal habitat for mountain reedbuck and klipspringers—antelope not always easily seen elsewhere in the park. The area's sourveld—so named because its vegetation is less sweet and attractive to herbivores than other kinds of vegetation—also attracts browsers like giraffes and kudu, as well as white rhinos, lions, and wild dogs. There's not a lot of privacy in the camp—accommodations (rondavels, bungalows, cottages, and guesthouses) tend to overlook each other—but there is some shade, plus a great swimming pool set into the rock. Some great-value accommodation in the huts if you're willing to share communal bathrooms and outdoor kitchen facilities.

Book all three private suites or just hide yourself away from the rest of the world like the celebrities and royals who favor this gorgeous getaway. Here, it's all about location, location, location. Huge, flat granite rocks in the riverbed, where elephants chill out and bathe, stretch almost to the horizon in front of your floor-to-ceiling picture windows, and the elephant prints and furnishings done in velvets and silvers, grays, and browns echo the shifting colors and textures of the mighty pachyderms. Bathe in your own rock pool. At night, when your suite is lit by scores of flickering candles, you may truly feel that you're in wonderland.

Established in 1873, this hotel dates from the very beginning of the gold rush in Pilgrim's Rest—you'll see its corrugated-iron facade in sepia photos all over town. The hotel is spread out over a number of quaint wood-and-tin buildings, and the 50 rooms have brass four-poster beds, wood ceiling fans, Victorian baths, and marble-and-oak washstands. The Church Bar was formerly a chapel in a Cape Town girls' school, which was dismantled, shipped to Mozambique, and transported to Pilgrim's Rest by ox wagon. The wood-paneled walls, old wooden bar counter, antique cash register, and a fascinating display of photographs depicting early life in the village all add to the convivial gold-rush atmosphere of the bar.

Bush Lodge overlooks a busy waterhole (lions are frequent visitors) and the dry course of the Msuthlu River. The thatch, open-sided dining area, observation deck, and pool all have magnificent views of game at the waterhole. Thatch suites are connected by walkways that weave between manicured lawns and beneath enormous shade trees where owls and fruit bats call at night. All have a deck overlooking the dry river course (where you may well see an elephant padding along) and outdoor and indoor showers. Roomy, comfortable chalets are Africa-themed, each with a personal wooden deck.