Handpicked safari lodges & camps across Africa

Nairobi

Nairobi Serena Hotel stands on Kenyatta Avenue beside Central Park, about five minutes from the city's business district. It has 196 remodelled rooms and suites, with interiors that draw on Ethiopian, North African, West African and East African design. Restaurants include Mandhari for fine dining, Herbs & Spices for South-East Asian food and Cafe Maghreb for all-day buffets, with the Aksum Bar alongside. The Maisha Spa & Health Club has a gym, sauna, steam room and heated pool, and resident guests are offered free cultural heritage tours.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Zanzibar

Dhow Palace Hotel occupies a restored 19th-century merchant's house in Shangani, in the old quarter of Stone Town, Zanzibar. Its 30 rooms, including a presidential suite, are arranged around two inner courtyards with carved doors, wooden balconies and Zanzibari antiques. One courtyard holds a swimming pool with a snack bar, and a rooftop restaurant looks out over Stone Town. The hotel serves no alcohol and is run by the owners of the nearby Tembo House Hotel. It is a walkable base for the Stone Town heritage sites at the start or end of a safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Kigali

Kigali Serena Hotel is a large city hotel on KN 3 Avenue in central Kigali, about five minutes from the business district and 20 minutes from Kigali International Airport. Rooms and suites range up to a presidential suite. Dining is at the poolside Sokoni restaurant and the Milima restaurant overlooking the courtyard pool, with an executive lounge for some guests. The Maisha Spa and health club has a gym, sauna and steam room, and the hotel has a ballroom and auditorium for conferences.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

Hemingways Nairobi is an all-suite boutique hotel in Karen, the leafy suburb between Nairobi National Park and the Ngong Hills. Opened in 2013, it has 45 suites, each with a terrace or balcony facing the Ngong Hills, and offers butler service, a brasserie, a bar and a spa. It stands in about ten acres of gardens, roughly 30 minutes from Wilson Airport and 40 minutes from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The Karen Blixen Museum, the Giraffe Centre and Nairobi National Park are all close by, so it works well as a quiet first or last night on a safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Arusha National Park

Kibo Palace Hotel is a city hotel on Nyerere Road in central Arusha, about a ten-minute walk from the Clock Tower and the business district. It has 77 rooms and suites, an outdoor swimming pool with sun beds, and a health and fitness centre with a sauna, steam room and massage. Meals are served in the Kilimanjaro Restaurant, which overlooks the pool, with a lounge bar and pool bar alongside. Several air-conditioned conference rooms make it popular with business travellers, and Kilimanjaro International Airport is roughly 45 minutes away by road.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Arusha National Park

SG Premium Resort, listed here as SG Resort, is a hotel in the Sakina area of Arusha, beside the main road at the foot of Mount Meru. Its 69 rooms, from standard rooms to deluxe and executive suites, have air conditioning and satellite TV, and the decor follows a modern African theme. Facilities include a restaurant serving local and international dishes, a bar, an outdoor swimming pool with a children's section and two conference halls, the larger seating up to 200. Arusha Airport is about 8 km away, and the hotel is used by safari travellers, Mount Meru trekkers and business visitors.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Serengeti National Park, Central Serengeti

One Nature Nyaruswiga is a luxury tented lodge in the central Serengeti, about 25 minutes by road from Seronera airstrip. Accommodation is in large tents: one-bedroom tents of 91 square metres and two-bedroom family tents of 178 square metres, with bathtubs and indoor and outdoor showers. Shared areas include an infinity pool and jacuzzi, a lounge and bar, a spa, and an astral observatory for night-sky viewing. A trading post rents professional camera equipment, which suits photographers on game drives in the Seronera and Banagi area.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Zanzibar, Stone Town

Park Hyatt Zanzibar is a beachfront hotel in Shangani, Stone Town, built around Mambo Msiige, a historic Swahili mansion with Omani-style arches, joined to the newer Zamani Residence. It has 67 rooms and suites, many with sea views and balconies, and the larger suites run from 100 to 450 square metres. Facilities include an 18-metre oceanfront infinity pool, a spa, a 24-hour gym and several dining rooms, with a pool lounge serving local seafood. Its position on the Stone Town waterfront puts the old town's lanes and sunset dhow trips within walking distance.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Zanzibar

Tembo Hotel is a premier hotel in the heart of Africa's most spectacular wildlife regions. A well-appointed hotel providing modern amenities, restaurant, and leisure facilities. Ideal as a base for city stays, airport transfers, or pre/post-safari comfort.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Kampala

Mestil Hotel is a premier hotel in the heart of Africa's most spectacular wildlife regions. A well-appointed hotel providing modern amenities, restaurant, and leisure facilities. Ideal as a base for city stays, airport transfers, or pre/post-safari comfort.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Zanzibar

A boutique hotel on Nungwi beach at the northern tip of Zanzibar, open since 2010. Contemporary interiors meet Zanzibari detail, in a tropical garden that runs down to the sand; its sister property, The Z2, stands just behind.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

The Norfolk Hotel, now Fairmont The Norfolk, opened in 1904 on what is now Harry Thuku Road in central Nairobi, built by Major C.G.R. Ringer and R. Aylmer Winearls. It began with 40 rooms, a billiard room and a French chef, and grew over the following decades. Today its rooms and suites look onto tropical courtyard gardens. Facilities include a heated outdoor pool with a poolside restaurant, a health club and spa, the Tatu restaurant, the Cin Cin wine bar and the Lord Delamere Terrace.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Zanzibar

Melia Zanzibar is a large beach resort on the north-east coast of Zanzibar, about 4 km north of Kiwengwa village and an hour from the airport. Set in clifftop gardens above the Indian Ocean, it has around 124 rooms, villas and pavilions, some with private pools, linked by golf carts, plus a private beach and a jetty with a restaurant. Facilities include several restaurants and bars, large pools, a spa with saunas and steam rooms, a kids' club, a tennis court and a watersports and diving centre. It suits families and couples winding down after a mainland safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Kruger National Park

Royal Hotel is a premier hotel in the heart of Africa's most spectacular wildlife regions. A well-appointed hotel providing modern amenities, restaurant, and leisure facilities. Ideal as a base for city stays, airport transfers, or pre/post-safari comfort.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

Villa Rosa Kempinski is a large hotel on Chiromo Road in Nairobi's Westlands area, with 200 rooms and suites over ten floors and a presidential suite at the top. Places to eat and drink include Lucca, Tambourin, the Balcony Bar, K Lounge and Cafe Villa Rosa. Kempinski The Spa and fitness centre, an outdoor pool, a grand ballroom and private meeting rooms complete the facilities. It is a full-service city base for travellers combining business in Nairobi with a safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Lake Kivu

Lake Kivu Serena Hotel is a beach hotel on the shore of Lake Kivu at Gisenyi (Rubavu) in western Rwanda. It has 66 rooms and suites, including family rooms and an accessible room, many with balconies facing the lake. Guests have a private sandy beach, an 18-metre pool, tennis courts, a gym and spa treatments, plus jet skis, kayaks and boat trips on the lake. Restaurants include the lakefront Kiyaga. The Virunga volcanoes rise behind the town, and the hotel can arrange excursions to Volcanoes National Park.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Kigali

Hôtel des Mille Collines is a city hotel in central Kigali, opened in 1973 as Rwanda's first grand hotel. During the 1994 genocide more than 1,200 people sheltered inside, a story later told in the film Hotel Rwanda. Today it has standard rooms and suites, a large swimming pool set in gardens, a restaurant and bar, a spa and meeting and event spaces. Its location within walking distance of the city centre makes it a convenient first or last night in Kigali.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Arusha National Park

Mount Meru Hotel is a large city hotel in Arusha, set in landscaped gardens beside the Arusha golf course and a short drive from the Arusha International Conference Centre. It has 178 rooms and suites, many with views of Mount Meru, along with restaurants and bars, 24-hour in-room dining, an outdoor swimming pool and a gym. With more than 1,500 square metres of meeting and banquet space, it hosts many conferences and events. The Clock Tower, the German Boma and the Maasai Market are close by, and Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 45 minutes away.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi