I am a massive fan of Conde Nast Traveller magazine and its website. I could spend hours browsing through ‘top lists’ from ‘The Most Beautiful Towns in America’ to ‘Best Spas in the World’. Despite the fact I know that in many cases it will just a pipe-dream, I start making lists of the top hotels, spas and destinations globally to add to my ‘bucket list’.
I noticed something interesting recently, while going through Conde Nast’s ‘Gold List 2016: Our Favorite Hotels in the World’. I was surprised to find that there were no hotels in Dubai or the UAE featured, but representing this part of the world (vs the usual suspect locations in the Europe and the USA) were some excellent properties in Africa, as per the below:
Jack’s Camp, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana; Camp Nomade, Zakouma National Park, Chad; Richard’s River Camp, Mara North Conservancy; Segera Retreat, Laikipia Plateau; Sirikoi Lodge, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya; Dar Ahlam, Ouarzazate; La Mamounia, Marrakech; Riad El Fenn, Marrakech, Morocco; Alila Jabal Akhdar, Nizwa, Oman; Babylonstoren, Western Cape; Singita Boulders Lodge, Sabi Sand, South Africa; Dorobo Safaris, Arusha; Greystoke Mahale, Lake Tanganyika; Mwiba Lodge, Mwiba, Tanzania.
In the ‘Top 100 Hotels & Resorts in the World – Readers’ Choice Awards 2015’ the UAE is represented through Dubai hotels: #11 – One&Only, The Palm & #72 Jumeirah Mina A’Salam. Meanwhile, again Africa shows strong numbers with 12 hotels making the grade (8 located in South Africa, and 4 including the #1 ranked hotel – the SINGITA GRUMETI – based in Tanzania).
Just something to think about – Africa is next on my list of ‘places to go’ and there are plenty of excellent hotels to try out.
talkabouthospitality 