Sign in with Facebook
Hotel Class: 
3.5 Stars - 8 Reviews and 263 Opinions
Mosi Oa Tunya Road, Livingstone, Zambia
Check Rates and Availability
of people enjoy staying here
271 Opinions
Kid-A
User Rating
Helpfulness
Part of the Sun International chain of hotels, the Zambezi Sun is a great place to stay for a few days. It is of course one of the more expensive hotels in the area, but its location within the national park is one of its major benefits. It's a 3-minute walk to Victoria Falls.
Unfortunately, it's a 5-minute drive to Livingstone. But a taxi cost us $10 each way for 2 people. I can put up with that once in a while. Plus, if you engage the driver in some conversation, you get quite a bit of info on the area.
One piece of advice. It's difficult to get a hold of anyone at the hotel by phone. It was frustrating trying to book this hotel because you can't do it online. Call the South African Sun Internation headquarters and you'll get someone on the phone who can make your reservation. Call +27 011 780 7878.
Unique Quality: There are animals all over the hotel grounds, which makes the experience even more cool! We had zebras and monkeys all over the place. My colleague went for a run one morning and came across giraffes.
Zambezi Sun
4 more images
DAO
User Rating
Helpfulness
Unique Quality:
Because you are actually in the National Park they have a sign warning you that you may meet wild animals in the dark. And not to mess with them! Really. Take a look, I have a picture of that sign. This is the only luxury hotel right on the falls – on either side of the border.
Zambezi Sun Photo: THE GRAND POOL
4 more images
chikidee
User Rating
Helpfulness
This family friendly hotel lies directly at the Chobe River. The falls are only about a 2 minute walk away.
The rooms are not big but very colourful and are in a two storie building.
The atmosphere is very casual.
Zambezi Sun Photo: Zambesi Sun
glabah
User Rating
Helpfulness
I must admit: when the van taking me from the airport to the hotel arrived at the Zambezi Sun, my first reaction was "You have GOT to be joking!!!". To my unpracticed eyes, the place looked like it was made to be an imitation of an Aztec (Mexico!) adobe city. This perception was not helped at all during my first evening there, when a Mexican mariachi band played music for all to hear from the stage at the center of the complex.
The hotel is not just a building, but a many-building complex of 2 storey buildings. This short height means that they do not stick up very far above the tree line, and therefore do not detract much from the natural area surrounding them (unlike, say, the famous white hotel at the Foz do Iguaçu in Argentina). All of the sidewalks are well maintained concrete, and the grass is a beautiful green.
We piled my things into a golf cart and headed off to the building that had my room. Upon arrival at the staircase, the driver had to chase several zebras out of the way in order to get through.
I think I probably got the best room in the place. While on the far side of the hotel, it pointed directly at the falls. I could not see the falls, but I could see the mist rising from them and hear them quite clearly. Furthermore, this seemed to be a popular corner of the facility for the local zebra population, which really enjoys the lush green grass provided by the hotel. Also, this location is reasonably close (not the closest room, but not the furthest either) from the entrance gate to the falls).
The location is about 15 minutes from the town of Livingstone itself. While this is good for some things (great access to the falls!) it means you need a taxi to get into town. Consequently, I did not go into town but went through several times.
Unique Quality: By far the most interesting and unique part of the hotel, and by far the most useful for me, is that the hotel has its own gate to the Victoria Falls. Hotel guests may enter and exit Victoria Falls on their own just by signing in and out of the park, WITHOUT PAYING A FEE for each entrance.
This allowed me to have multiple entries into the park. When I saw the sun going down with some really nice cloud formations, I quickly made my way over to the park entrance, and visited for only 20 minutes (closing time is 6:30pm) to get photos of the special light with the falls.
The hotel is in the middle of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya Game Reserve. Wildlife, particularly zebras, baboons and monkeys, regularly visit the grounds. Giraffe and impala have also been known to visit and a pond on the grounds has crocodile. This wildlife can be a good and a bad thing. It is interesting to see them, but they can be troublesome. The zebras kicked one woman during my stay as she got too close to them. Leaving the balcony door your room open means that baboons and moneys will get into the room and cause horrific damage.
The huge grounds offers opportunity to walk considerable distances (ie, get exercise) without leaving the safety of the hotel grounds. Pathways run along the river (watch for dangerous animals!).
A sculpture garden, including a Huge Stone Butt, provides an interesting diversion.
Evening live music would have been more fun with some dancing lessons and a female partner. Maybe one day.....
(That the music was Mexican and not African added a bizarre element)
Probably because of the cost, most of the people staying here seem to be of the "retired luxury" class. I seemed to be the youngest guest in the place.
The day center, accessible by hotel guests and by the general public from a different gate, that is a general departure point and organization spot for various tours and activities, such as rafting trips, air tours, etc. You can walk from the hotel, but to get there from a hotel in town you have to drive or take a taxi.
Zambezi Sun Photo: Zambezi Sun Hotel: Large, well maintained grounds
4 more images
punkpin
User Rating
Helpfulness
The Zambezi Sun is a nice hotel with an even nicer sister hotel that you can connect to via shuttle.
mpanizza
User Rating
Helpfulness
Very nice place to stay and only a 10 minute walk to the Falls. The Zambezi Sun and the Royal Livingstone (much more expensive) are both situated within the game park, so it is common to see herds of Zebra, and the occasional baboon meandering through the grounds of the hotel. I even saw a giraffe peeking over the hedges on a walk behind the hotel. You can organize a lot of activities through the hotel's helpful staff.
Zambezi Sun Photo: Zebra saying hi right outside my hotel room
mvtouring
User Rating
Helpfulness
This mighty waterfall forms a spectacular backdrop to the hotels along the mighty Zambezi river. This is the place for the active adventure-lover and overs something for everyone. It is unpretentious, warm, fun and welcoming. The architecture has been inspired by Zambian tradition. It has 212 en-suite guestrooms that are open and airy.
Zambezi Sun Photo: Welcoming team
1 more images
MikeAtSea
User Rating
Helpfulness
This hotel is the closest to the Victoria Falls and on the same property as the Royal Livingstone. A comfortable, modern and well designed three star property that offers every amenity!
Unique Quality: The hotel is brand new - here you find all you require to be comfortable and pampered!
Zambezi Sun Photo: The Zambezi Sun
Sort by: Most recent | Most helpful
1 - 8 of 8
The Zambezi Sun is a 212-room hotel appealing primarily to families and conference delegates. The guest rooms acknowledge their African roots in the deep rich red earth colour of the rounded planes of its walls. In the early evening the dark outline of the hotel is set against iridescent curls of smoky vapour that dance above its roofline. The resort is situated in the 46-hectare Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Wildlife Park, which fringes the Zambezi River
One of the most luxurious places we stayed in Africa, the Zambezi sun tried to offer a unique style, and the rooms were interesting, but it had too much of the hotel feel. The large pool outside the open-air buffet dining room was nice, as was the buffet, but it lacked the authenticity for which we looked. We didn't want luxury, we wanted unique. That having been said, a very nice hotel, the Zambezi Sun was a pleasant place to stay.
Nearby is the Royal Livingstone, five-star counterpart to the Zambeze Sun.
They may add service charges onto things for you, even the buffet, so keep that in mind. I especially enjoyed their extensive buffet, but it's expensive.
Zambezi Sun: Zebras on the Grounds at the hotel
Zambezi Sun Sculptures:don't leave rearend exposed
Hi
We are staying at Zambezi sun resort and have read on some other sites any other "plastic"other than Visa is not acceptable! Does anyone have any experience of this...we have US dollars we will be taking but will have our cards too...if I offered to pay by for example Mastercard, is there a possibility this will be refused?
Any help would be appreciated.
I would recommend bringing Visa if you can. I do not know about the Zambezi Sun but it is quite common in Zambia for Visa to be accepted and Mastercard not to be accepted, not sure why but this has happened to me on a number of occassions. Why not email Zambezi Sun and ask them if they accept Mastercard.
Zambia is wonderful!
The hotel is brand new - here you find all you require to be comfortable and pampered!
3 members live in Livingstone
Sponsored Links
Near Zambezi Sun
Step Up from Zambezi Sun
Q: Rainbow over Vic falls "I took a taxi from Livingstone to Vic Falls reserve and walked to all veiw point on that side [did not from Zim] and saw rainbow..."
A: "The only way I can imagine that happening is via a reflection. I've see the effect a few times when you get a very strong primary rainbow, bright enough to generate a..."
Sponsored Links
Latest Livingstone hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:
Address: Mosi Oa Tunya Road, Livingstone, Zambia
Check Rates and Availability (from our partners)
