If you can imagine yourself in a fine countryside manor house overlooking orchards and then at the same time imagine you are in an urban chic, modern hotel, then you could see yourself at The Weinberg Windhoek for sure. Cape Town meets Stellenbosch in central residential Windhoek.
Previously named, Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel, this elegant 42-room hotel is built around a heritage building. It offers contemporary amenities with a touch of class and sophistication without being presumptuous. They've perfected the balance between lavish and homely, unpretentious, yet certainly gives you a feeling of being in the presence of the elite.
From colours, textures and materials used, the well thought out décor makes you feel right at home, if the home is that of your wealthy, but down to earth aunt and uncle perhaps. Nothing is out of place and be assured every fine detail has been thought out to ensure a top class stay.
Colonial meets modern, fine country living and 21st century all in one, in harmony. Add great service, multiple dining options, roof–top terrace and world class spa and you find yourself in one of the best up and coming places to stay in Windhoek, without actually feeling as though you are in the capital city at all.
1 Night
Bed and Breakfast
5 Star
Hotel
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English, German, Spanish
No. Rooms: 41
Special Interests: Gourmet, Leisure, Relaxation, Wine
The main lodge appears to have been carved out of the desert rather than built atop it so natural are the materials and so sensitive the architecture. At the base of a rocky mountain, Namib Outpost looks out across what must be one of the most spellbinding views on Earth: an uninterrupted panorama so vast it beggars belief, no hint of human habitation and an ever-shifting spectrum of blondes, browns, yellows and reds framed by a mountain range of Martian hues topped with a deep blue sky only the world’s oldest desert can produce.
The rooms are huge stone-walled, thatch-roofed suites that line the mountain base, spaced far apart and angled just right for you to enjoy the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows or your large shaded balcony. The décor is luxurious and elegant, the en suite bathroom is huge with a double-volume shower and twin basins. You have your own lounge area and outside loungers to relax in the heat of the day or watch the night sky. With zero light pollution it does its level best to top the daytime viewing.
The main lodge serves a set menu dinner under those same stars, or indoors beside a towering chiminea on wintry desert nights. Two swimming pools, bar, viewing deck and cool lounge offering whiskey and cigars, cover all the de-stressing bases.
Despite the arid conditions, you will likely see oryx - the national animal of Namibia - ostrich, mountain zebra and springbok dotting the plains below. Keep a pair of binoculars at hand and you might be lucky enough to see cheetah or leopard - a good excuse for another cold drink thank you very much. High above the lodge is an unmissable sunset viewing deck and the Outpost has a well-marked 10km running trail. Another activity you should seriously consider is an overnight horse riding trail, where you spend a night at an open-air camp beneath the stars. Sister lodge, the Desert Homestead is most famous for its desert rides either short outrides or multi-day treks - could there be a better way to experience this magnificent place? A hot-air balloon at sunrise might come close. And did we mention a day trip to Sossusvlei? Don’t forget about Sossusvlei.
2 Nights
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
4 Star
Lodge
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English
No. Rooms: 12
Special Interests: Hiking, Leisure, Nature, Star Gazing
Occupying most of the breakwater responsible for the calm bay, the Strand Hotel is inches from the roaring Atlantic. Rooms, spotless and tasteful, come in a variety of sizes and configurations, most of them sea-facing, and are equipped with the modern hotel's in-house conveniences like wi-fi, flat-screen telly, international plug points, air conditioning and, to be on the safe side you've got a mini-bar and room service. You get the impression they really want you to eat, drink and sleep well at the Strand Hotel. And so you shall.
The Strand includes three dining options not to mention room service.
The Brewer & Butcher is clearly building on the Brauhaus and Kucki's success stories. A lively place to enjoy traditional Namibian food which is, by turn, influenced by German food so expect jolly portions of Eisbein sidestepping trays of cascading bierkröge held aloft. The Farmhouse Deli is where the buffet breakfast is served offers a more informal cafe feel. The Ocean Cellar is The Strand's signature restaurant and presents an exciting and much-needed quality seafood restaurant to balance out Swakopmund's meat-heavy palate. The sushi is excellent as are the oysters and, like all the eating options, you can see, hear, smell and even taste the sea. Or you can turn and face the show kitchen and enjoy that oh-so-soothing experience of watching a team of experts at work.
2 Nights
Bed and Breakfast
4 Star
Hotel
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English, German
No. Rooms: 125
Special Interests: Adventure, Beach / Coastal, Birding, Cycling, Fishing, Flora, Golf, Gourmet, Hiking, History & Culture, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Shopping, Sports, Watersports, Wildlife
Mowani Mountain Camp offers luxury accommodation, a relaxed atmosphere and what could be one of the best views in Namibia. The vast landscape of true Damaraland as far as the eye can see.
Just short of 20 kilometres from the sights that make the area of Twyfelfontein famous, on an outcrop, above the desert landscape below, you'll find Mowani Mountain Camp built on wooden platforms, hidden amongst granite boulders.
The camp's 12 tented rooms (4 Superior View, 3 View and 5 Standard), are fit for a queen with plush beds, luxurious en suite bathrooms with an exhilarating roofless section, and a private balcony with superb views of the Abu Huab River valley and Damaraland all around. If you're upping the ante and staying in the Luxury Room, Mini Suite or Mountain Suite, enjoy that view from your very own splash pool.
A refined mix of luxury and comfort, chic modern accents with touches of Africa and a stillness that brings inner peace. The perfect place to unwind and take in all the "nothingness" that surrounds you.
The private suite stops at nothing in the luxury department with a sublime setting high on a granite outcrop. A private butler will tend to your every need and the lounge, bedroom and open-air bathroom all share the same fantastic view.
1 Night
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
Lodge
Ongava Game Lodge has a rustic overcoat that fails to conceal its underbelly of luxury and elegance. The 14 enormous thatched chalets each have an en suite bathroom - with a view - and a large verandah looking out over the reserve.
You are perched on top of a hill here, so the views out from the main deck are well grand but this also means it's a trundle down to your room and back up again. The main lodge is open-sided under a canopy of timber and thatch and has a split-level living area, a dining room and a bar. The swimming pool looks out over a floodlit waterhole. There's a hide at the waterhole too. Splendid.
Ongava is a 30,000ha private game reserve on the southern edge of Etosha. There are three other lodges in the reserve - Little Ongava Lodge and Anderssons @ Ongava, for complete luxury and Ongava Tented Camp for an elegant sufficiency. The reserve has all of Namibia's wildlife and is the biggest custodian of black rhinos in Namibia. A highlight of the private reserve is a walking safari in which you track both black and white rhino or you can do white rhino approaching- with an armed ranger of course.
1 Night
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
Safari Lodge
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English
No. Rooms: 14
Special Interests: Birding, Flora, Hiking, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Wildlife
Sophisticated and elegant, Mushara Outpost is a luxury addition to the Mushara collection of lodges on the eastern side of Etosha National Park.
Accommodation at Mushara Outpost is paired down luxury with eight chalets built on elevated decks with canvas roofing, floor-to-ceiling glass doors, en suite bathrooms with enclosed toilet and an open-plan shower with a cheeky private view of the Namibian bush.
The main living area is a charming farmstead house with a massive wrap-around verandah providing cool shade from the blazing sun and cooling the airy interior even further.
A large swimming pool invites an afternoon doze and the evening campfire, wine cellar and fancy food complete the picture of delightful relaxation.
The lodge is in a private game reserve with several small antelope and hundreds of birds setting the stage for your safari proper into Etosha, which is just 10km from your piece of paradise.
2 Nights
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
Lodge
Spoken Languages: English
No. Rooms: 8
Special Interests: Adventure, Nature, Wildlife
The little paradise which is the Divava Okavango Lodge & Spa sits right on the banks of Okavango River, sheltered by tall trees, surrounded by indigenous bush and frequented by abundant wildlife, right on your doorstep.
20 spacious and luxurious air-conditioned chalets, each with a private deck, en-suite bathroom with indoor shower and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the river give you ample bird and game viewing opportunities, without the need to get out of bed.
Meals are served in the restaurant or on the deck with full views of the river, twittering birdlife and hopefully a few sightings of resident hippos and crocodiles lurking in the water.
A day in the bushveld in the scouring heat can leave you exhausted, neck muscles tight, feeling hot and bothered, so unwind and pamper yourself at the spa with a sauna or steam overlooking the river, a soothing massage or cool dip in the nearby pool.
With plenty of activities to keep you busy, you can pick and choose things like a private island lunch or a romantic candlelit dinner cruising down the river. Big 5 game viewing is 14 km away, pampering spa treatments, a choice of daily activities and luxurious chalet accommodation, Divava Okavango Lodge & Spa is a great base from which to explore the wonders of Africa.
2 Nights
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
Lodge
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English
No. Rooms: 20
Special Interests: Adventure, Big 5, Birding, Fishing, Flora, History & Culture, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Wildlife, Wine
The treehouse beyond your wildest childhood dreams, Nambwa Tented Lodge floats like a fairytale Elven village built in and around the canopy of a riverine forest deep in the Caprivi and surrounded by the fingering channels of the Kwando River system.
Raised walkways wind through the trees to connect palatial tented suites with the mothership - an enormous open-air living space looking far out over the vast floodplain.
The reasons for such lofty living quarters, apart from the excitement and romance of an elevated existence and an exquisite sunset, are mostly practical.
The Kwando floodplain, like the rest of the Kalahari basin, is flatter than the Flat Earth Society could ever conceive and they’d do well to camp out in this endless wilderness for some serious data-gathering. Trouble is, they’d come away with the firm belief that our planet is actually a giant shrub.
Unless they checked into the Nambwa Tented Lodge that is.
From up here you can see Earth’s extent in all its uncurved natural glory. Elephants, joined by a parade of plains game, pass beneath you en route to their favourite drinking spot just in front of the main lodge and campfire-charmed viewing deck. A glass of wine wouldn’t go amiss in this scene and nor would a comfortable chair, a pair of binos and a smiling someone to refill your glass.
If all that sounds too energetic, you can take a guided bush walk for that strange sensation of being connected to the ground or, another must, a river safari (also elevated) and of course the good old game drive in an open-sided vehicle. A cultural detour to the Lozi village reveals the beauty of a world free of cars, fast food, daytime TV and, shudder, alarm clocks. Bush breakfasts, starlit dinners and sundowners by the river are the stuff of lasting memories, especially if a herd of ellies or a bunch of buffaloes pop in to say howzit.
And on the topic of animals, the Bwabwata National Park is part of the five-country Peace Park known as the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. Whichever catchy moniker you pick, you’re in one of the world’s largest nature sanctuaries and the wildlife experience in the drier months is exceptional; the wetter, greener season is all about the birding, the calving and the lush scenery.
1 Night
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast
5 Star
Safari Lodge
Spoken Languages: Afrikaans, English, German
No. Rooms: 10
Special Interests: Adventure, Big 5, Birding, Fishing, Flora, Gourmet, Hiking, History & Culture, Indigenous Culture / Art, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Wildlife
Chobe Game Lodge is a rough-clad vaulted maze of courtyards, passages and verandahs that face the Chobe River and its great flood plain.
The 44 rooms have barrel-vaulted ceilings and high archways that frame a delightful view of the river. All rooms have air conditioning, ceiling fans, complimentary mini bars and private terraces with river views.
Dining is either a high table bonanza on the river-facing terrace or a sumptuous buffet on the lawn beneath an ancient mahogany tree. The food is a Westerner's introduction to local ingredients and the wine list features some of South Africa's regular offerings.
One of the only lodges inside the Chobe National Park, you are on your game drive or boat cruise long before anyone else. In fact, by the time anyone else has ventured where you've already been, you are back at the lodge relaxing and enjoying a spa treatment.
As if you need any further selling on this superb safari lodge, most of the game drive vehicles and all of the boats are electric, which, apart from the obvious environmental benefit, means minimal noise so your sightings are a true bush experience. Something else for the win, the staff and all guides are female, which makes for a different experience compared to most safari lodges.
2 Nights
Fully Inclusive - Bed, All Meals, Fees and Activities
All Drinks (excl Premium Brands) Included
5 Star
Lodge
Spoken Languages: English
No. Rooms: 44
Special Interests: Adventure, Birding, Flora, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Wildlife
With a long history of five-star excellence, the Victoria Falls Hotel is an icon of elegant sophistication in southern Africa.
Still going strong after 105 years, the Victoria Falls Hotel is an oasis of calm in the turmoil of Victoria Falls and the maelstrom of Zimbabwe's downward spiral.
Maintaining its five-star standards, a feat near as wondrous as the Victoria Falls themselves, Victoria Falls Hotel is a luxurious hotel of grand proportions - all arches, marbled verandas and immaculate presentation.
Rooms are Edwardian in style, modern in amenities and the rich history of Victoria Falls is reflected in every corner of this magnificent hotel.
Situated on the edge of Victoria Falls National Park, the falls viewing area is a 10-minute walk along a private pathway within view of the spray, the Batoka Gorge and the beautiful Victoria Falls Bridge, from which there is usually some clown dangling at the end of an elasticated rope.
1 Night
Bed and Breakfast
5 Star
Hotel
Spoken Languages: English
No. Rooms: 149
Special Interests: Adventure, Birding, Gourmet, History & Culture, Leisure, Nature, Relaxation, Shopping, Wildlife
