- A 16-suite colonial-style boutique hotel set inside the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve, a protected Big Five reserve a short drive from the Falls and town.
- Operated under the Anantara brand (part of Minor Hotels), with explorer-themed suites — leather travelling trunks, wooden shutters and lanterns — named for the two men the hotel honours.
- Game drives in the private reserve, with elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo, and a reserve run as an intensive protection zone for rhino, so sightings are a genuine draw.
- The 1871 Restaurant looks over a waterhole, with an Anantara Spa, a pool and a gym, and a children's programme that makes the hotel workable for families.
- Complimentary shuttles run to Victoria Falls town and the airport, so guests can pair the reserve with the Falls, cruises and flights without arranging their own transport.
Why the Stanley & Livingstone
Nearly every well-known address at Victoria Falls sits in one of three places: in the town itself, on the banks of the Zambezi upstream, or above a floodlit waterhole on the edge of the national park. The Stanley & Livingstone takes a different line. It stands inside its own private game reserve of several thousand hectares, a short drive from the Falls, which means the stay is built around game drives and wildlife on the doorstep rather than the river or the town. For travellers who want a Big Five reserve as the heart of a Victoria Falls trip, it is close to one of a kind.
Where the riverside properties — Chundu Island, Old Drift Lodge and Thorntree River Lodge — trade on the Zambezi and its cruises, and the estate hotels such as the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge trade on a waterhole view near the park, the Stanley & Livingstone trades on land, drives and rhino. It is also a world away in scale from the grand in-town landmark of The Victoria Falls Hotel or the larger riverside Palm River Hotel — just sixteen suites, run as an intimate boutique house. If you want the Falls and a private reserve in a single base, this is the one to weigh up.
The Suites
The hotel has sixteen suites, which keeps the place intimate and quiet. Each is air-conditioned, with a canopied king-size bed that can be split into two three-quarter beds, an en-suite bathroom with a slipper bath and a walk-in shower, a sitting area with a television and a private terrace. The decor leans into the hotel's name and era — leather travelling trunks, wooden shutters, writing desks and lanterns — a colonial style that reads as considered rather than heavy-handed.
Two sets of suites inter-lead, configured to take families of up to five, and select suites come with their own private heated plunge pool for guests who want a little more space and privacy. Because there are so few rooms, service is close and personal, and the common areas rarely feel busy. It is a boutique house in the true sense: small, uniform in quality and run with the attention that number of rooms allows.
Life at the Hotel
The social heart of the hotel is the 1871 Restaurant, named for the year Henry Morton Stanley found David Livingstone. It runs a seasonal, farm-to-table kitchen and looks over a waterhole where elephant, antelope and other game come to drink, so a meal often doubles as a game sighting. There is indoor and outdoor seating, and the kitchen handles private and bush dining on request.
Beyond the table, the hotel has a swimming pool set above the waterhole, a gym, and an Anantara Spa offering treatments in-suite or in the open air. The grounds are quiet and green, with birdlife through the day and game wandering past the deck, and the small scale means the pool and the lounge are calm places to sit out the heat of the afternoon between drives. For all the polish, this is a hotel in genuine wildlife country, and it never lets you forget it.
Game Drives, Rhino & the Falls
What sets the Stanley & Livingstone apart is the reserve around it. Guided game drives run morning and afternoon across the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve, which holds elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo, and the reserve is managed as an intensive protection zone for rhino. That last point matters: tracking and seeing rhino here is a real part of the stay, not a long-odds hope, and the anti-poaching work behind it is something guests can see first-hand. It is the only property at the Falls that offers Big Five drives on its own doorstep in this way.
The Falls themselves are a short drive away — roughly fifteen minutes to the Rainforest and about ten to the town — and the hotel runs complimentary scheduled shuttles to town and to Victoria Falls Airport. From that base guests can add the full Falls menu: a sunset Zambezi cruise, a helicopter flight over the gorges, white-water rafting and the Rainforest walk. The combination — private-reserve drives by day and the Falls close at hand — is the hotel's whole appeal.
Family & Who It Suits
The hotel is more family-friendly than its boutique size suggests. Two sets of inter-leading suites take families of up to five, and the Mack & Madi Kids' Adventure Explorers programme keeps younger guests busy with reserve-based activities while parents are on a drive or at the spa. The waterhole, the pool and the short, drivable distances make it an easy reserve for a first safari with children.
It suits travellers who want a Big Five reserve and the Falls in one stay, couples after a quiet, personal boutique house, and families who want game drives without a remote fly-in camp. Those whose priority is the river — sundowner cruises, fishing, a room on the Zambezi — will be happier at a riverside property; and anyone who wants the grand set-piece of a historic in-town hotel should look at The Victoria Falls Hotel. For the reserve-and-Falls combination, the Stanley & Livingstone is the standout choice.
Getting There
Victoria Falls Airport is the regional gateway, with scheduled flights linking Johannesburg, Harare, Nairobi and other hubs, and the hotel is a short road transfer from the airport. Because the property sits inside its own reserve rather than in town or on the river, the complimentary shuttles are the key piece of the logistics — they carry guests to the Rainforest, the markets and the restaurants of Victoria Falls without the need to hire a car or negotiate taxis.
The hotel also makes a natural hinge in a wider itinerary. From Victoria Falls it is an easy hop to Hwange National Park for big-game drives, across the border to Chobe in Botswana for the elephant herds, or onward into the Zambezi valley and Mana Pools. We build the transfers and internal flights around the stay so the journey runs end to end without gaps.
Best Time to Visit
The hotel is open year-round, and the Victoria Falls region turns with the seasons. The dry months of May to October bring warm days, cool nights and the easiest game viewing, as wildlife concentrates on the reserve's water — the best window for drives and rhino tracking. February to May is peak flow, when the Falls are at their most powerful and the spray is heaviest, spectacular though the mist can obscure the view on the biggest days. The green season from November to March is lush and quiet, with dramatic skies, strong birding, newborn game and softer rates. For a first visit that pairs good wildlife with comfortable weather, the dry season from July to October is hard to beat; travellers who can go in the green months are well rewarded on both price and birdlife.
Rates & How to Book
| Location | Inside the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve, a short drive from Victoria Falls town and the Falls, Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| Rooms | 16 air-conditioned luxury suites, incl. inter-leading family suites & suites with private plunge pools |
| Children | Family-friendly — inter-leading family suites & the Mack & Madi kids' programme |
| Facilities | 1871 Restaurant, Anantara Spa, pool & gym over a waterhole, game drives, rhino tracking, shuttles |
| Best for | Couples & families wanting a Big Five private reserve with the Falls close by |
The Stanley & Livingstone is usually sold on an all-inclusive basis, covering meals, beverages, scheduled transfers from Victoria Falls Airport, daily shuttles into town and two activities per night of the stay — typically a mix of game drives and reserve activities. Published 2026 rates run to roughly US$1,860 per person sharing per night in the May–October green-and-dry window and about US$1,090 per person sharing in the November–January shoulder season, with children aged 0–5 free and 6–15 at half the adult sharing rate; the Falls activities — cruises, helicopter flights, rafting and park entry — are charged separately as they vary by residency. We hold current nett rates and tailor each stay, pairing the Stanley & Livingstone with Hwange, Chobe or Mana Pools for the complete Zimbabwe journey. Contact us for live pricing and availability.
Planning your own Victoria Falls stay? Talk to a Beyond Africa Safaris specialist, browse our tailor-made Zimbabwe packages, read our guide to Zimbabwe's best lodges, or message us on WhatsApp for private, custom pricing.
