7 Best Hotels in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

It's almost surreal to step from the surrounding bushveld into the meticulously composed rooms of this small boutique hotel, which is set on a 6,000-acre private game reserve. Public rooms are luxuriously furnished in colonial style with some spectacular antiques and verandas that overlook a waterhole where elephants and other animals come to drink. The suites, two of which are interconnecting, are large and lavish with Victorian flourishes, dark wood furnishings, heavy drapes, and an expensive chocolate on your pillow at night. The bathrooms are a calming study in white tile, green marble, and gold trim. Service is slightly more casual than the decor would lead you to expect. The rate includes breakfast and the use of the three scheduled daily transfers into town.

From the deck of your luxurious tented suite within Victoria Falls National Park, you gaze out across the bush and down to the Batoka Gorge and the "smoke" rising up from the Falls, just 10 km (6 miles) away. Each suite has an indoor and outdoor shower, a big bath, and an intimate lounge with a minibar so you can enjoy a drink while you admire the view. Dinner is served in the main lodge's dining room with the other guests; it's a fairly relaxed affair with delicious food. Don't be surprised if you're asked to be the guinea pigs for a mouthwatering new dish the chef is trying out. Breakfast and lunch are taken out on the elevated main deck, which overlooks a section of the park popular with buck and elephants. The beauty of Elephant Camp is its simplicity, the wonderful attention to detail, and the staff who work there.

About 40 km (25 miles) upstream from Victoria Falls, this family-owned camp lies in the center of Matetsi Game Reserve, one of Zimbabwe's largest private game reserves. The capacious luxury suites, all of which have plunge pools, have access to about 13 km (8 miles) of the Zambezi River waterfront. The lodge employs local people and works with them on an ongoing project to catalog the traditional use of plants. Guided bush walks and game drives offer exclusive access to elephants and buffalos galore, as well as kudu, sable antelope, and even the endangered wild dog. You can also have a special dinner under the stars in the bush. The fact that there are no fences between Matetsi and bordering Botswana's Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta means that wildlife can roam freely across borders, which creates a rich sanctuary here for all manner of creatures.

The lodge's location is atop a natural plateau that perfectly frames the African sunset against a private waterhole frequented by various game throughout the entire year. It features elegant, luxurious and award-winning architecture and every imaginable convenience while succeeding in instilling a sense of respect and care for wildlife and the environment in every guest. This hotel has been winning awards for environmental consciousness and social responsibility since its inception in 1993. The lodge maintains a strict natural vegetation policy—95% of all plants are indigenous species and new trees are planted annually—and electricity and water are conserved aggressively through use of gray water for plants. The lodge also takes responsibility for keeping Victoria Falls clean and helped set up the Vic Falls Anti-Poaching Unit which it continues to support administratively and financially. The Boma (part of the complex) is one of the premier ethnic restaurants in Africa.

The lodge's elegant interior design is tempered with thatch roofs, giving it a graceful African look, while guest rooms are decorated with African paintings and tapestries, delicately caned chairs and tables, and teak dressers made from old railroad sleepers. Dining outside under the night sky at the award-winning Cassia Restaurant, with the Falls thundering 300 feet away, is a particularly enticing way to while away a Zimbabwean evening; the restaurant also serves a great terrace lunch overlooking the bush. French doors open onto a narrow strip of lawn backed by thick bush. Unlike most hotels in town, Ilala Lodge has no fence around it, so at night it's not uncommon to find elephants browsing outside your window or buffalo grazing on the lawn or at the pool.

Hotels come and go, but this landmark built in 1904 has retained its former glory as a distant, stylish outpost in empire days, while pandering to today's modern tastes, needs, and wants. Such grandeur can be a little overwhelming, and especially surprising if you've just been on safari in the bush. The hotel's manicured lawns have sweeping views of the bridge and gorge, and soothing sounds permeate the gardens (and the rooms if you leave the windows open, although watch out for vervet monkeys). Cool cream walls form the backdrop for elegant mahogany and wicker furniture. In the bathroom, an old-fashioned drench shower will wash away the most stubborn African dust. Halls are filled with sepia-tone photos from throughout the hotel's history and animal trophies so old they are going bald. You can dress up for dinner and even a spot of dancing at the elegant Livingstone Room. Two less formal restaurants include Stanley's Terrace, with an à la carte menu, daily high tea, and a beautiful view of the bridge; and Jungle Junction, which has a huge barbecue buffet and traditional dancers.

This exclusive tented lodge is a relative newcomer to the area, having opened its doors in late 2012, but it has established itself as one of the most reputed luxury accommodations on this side of the river. With suites dotted along the riverbank, it's also one of the only private concessions within Zambezi National Park, just four miles upstream from the Falls---close enough to see the spray from your spacious private deck. There's good game viewing to be had both on the river and in the park's hinterland, and the open-air "starbed" treehouse suites are a particularly special way to enjoy the Zambezi nights.