The Victoria Falls Hotel

The British Empire is long gone, but not without a trace. Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Hotel, an Edwardian-style grand hotel dating back to 1904, is the country’s oldest and most opulent hotel by a considerable distance, and is one of Africa’s most famous hotels. And while this probably isn’t the venue for a debate about the legacy of colonialism, the world would certainly be poorer in at least one respect without the Victoria Falls. As you may have gathered from the name, there’s a certain natural wonder quite close at hand — the mile-wide wall of water, with its hundred-meter drop, is locally known as “the smoke that thunders,” and it’s no ordinary waterfall.

So it’s only fitting that the Victoria Falls is no ordinary hotel. Its 161 rooms and suites are still thoroughly Edwardian in style, having been updated with modern technology but thankfully without any update to the aesthetics. Standard rooms are more than comfortable enough, suites begin to border on the lavish, and the Royal and Presidential suites are worthy of the name. And as a classic old-style grand hotel, the Victoria Falls comes with all the fixings, including thre restaurants, two bars, a pool, a spa, a hair salon, and all manner of meeting and conference rooms. To put it simply, there’s no place on earth quite like Victoria Falls itself — and they just don’t make hotels like the Victoria Falls Hotel anymore.