Inside the revival of The Victoria Falls Hotel

When people speak of The Victoria Falls Hotel, they inevitably conjure the image of an ageing but regal woman. Truthfully, it’s a hard metaphor not to lean on, because, well, it just seems so poetically accurate.

There she sits in her vast cream coat, with coiled metal Juliet balconies, and a wide petticoat of polished red concrete flooring, arms wrapping around an emerald-green lawn. Every morning for the last 120 years she has woken to the sun rising over the Victoria Falls in the gorge below. Every night she watches it set – you hope, with a gin and tonic in hand.

At some times she’s needed a stiff drink more than at others. After all, the old duck has seen a lot, and she’s hosted everyone from the Queen of England in 1947 to the king of pop in 1988.

But it’s not all been smooth sailing. Sometimes there’s been no water in her town, sometimes no electricity (or “zesa”, as the local call it). Politicians have come and gone, currencies too. But one must always keep a stiff upper lip, and so she’s carried on regardless.

On the up

I was last in her company 15 years ago, and she was looking a little jaded then.

But now things, I’m pleased to report, are on the up. When I visited in late 2025, The Victoria Falls Hotel had undeniably taken a turn for the better. Interiors are being spruced up, service is sharp and there’s a renewed air of magic about. I suspect you have to give new(ish) general manager Roddy Meiring and his team credit for her much improved state.

It must be a bloody hard job, but watching him moving between tables and spaces, checking on guests and staff, you get a sense that he’s really getting to grips with the challenge.

Having run luxury properties including the Victoria Falls River Lodge and the MORE Collection’s Livingstone and Stanley Boutique Hotel, Meiring knows both the area and the calibre of property. His father Roy was a career hotel man, and CEO of Meikles for well over a decade, so Meiring junior literally grew up in hotels. It’s something that must certainly help when you’re tasked with running a property with 149 rooms and suites, and a large team.

It’s all in the details

It’s immediately evident that Meiring has an eye for details, and he tells me how one of the first things he did on joining was to procure two robotic lawn mowers to get the expansive front lawns under control. We pause our chat to watch them painstakingly zigzag back and forth. They are strangely mesmerizing, gliding over the meticulous green grass.

He also introduced a gammon to the breakfast buffet. Turns out it’s a Meiring family hospitality family must-have, and one I admit having immediately spotted and thought, “How fabulous!”

In fact, breakfast has me behaving a little foolishly. The offering is impressive and detailed. Beyond the Bloody Mary station (and the gammon), the baby pains au chocolat are heavenly. Arguably the best I’ve had outside France.

I mention that my mum, in Joburg, would love them, and in a matter of moments, the staff pack up a fresh batch for her, to be transported as hand luggage. Later that same day they are enjoyed with tea in the City of Gold. Fussy Buitendach senior pronounces them excellent. 

A bit of sleuthing

The previous afternoon, I’d taken a quick peek through the thick glass windowpanes into the dining hall. The week before my visit, the new cream dining chairs were delivered. Now the room, with its high ceilings, Art Deco screens and chinoiserie wallpaper insets, looks poised to host a stately dinner.

Not that I am there for one. Rather I take to my suite for a room-service club sandwich and Coke, enjoyed in my pyjamas. But before that moment of unadulterated hedonism, I continue my stalk around the property.

I have access to the Bulawayo Room (their VIP lounge) and so make a point of briefly collapsing on a couch there to take advantage of the aircon, a snifter of port and a salmon sandwich. I could well have been in an Edwardian BBC period drama, were it not for the portrait of the last king of the Ndebele, Lobengula Khumalo, keeping a steady eye over tea.

When I put my head into the Stanley Bar afterwards, a handful of tourists in khaki flak jackets are enjoying cocktails. They looked positively thrilled with life. Who could blame them? Likewise, I was not surprised to see a bunch of visitors walk onto the terrace, see the Vic Falls gorge beyond, and, as if on cue, immediately break into big smiles.

However you spin it, this is undoubtedly one of the great hotels of the world, and you feel special even being there for a nanosecond.

Makeover!

Her equivalents like the Raffles in Singapore and the Belmond Mount Nelson in Cape Town, have, in recent years, all had big cash injections (it does help being owned by luxury group LVMH, as is the case with the latter) and now they come complete with designer rooms, globally renowned chefs and pool cabanas.

But The Victoria Falls Hotel is also in the process of some sprucing up. They’re rolling out room refurbs soon and are just finishing off a complete upgrade to the Jungle Junction, their outdoor dining area.

The property is owned by Emerging Railways Properties, a joint venture between the National Railways of Zimbabwe and Zambia Railways, so fittingly, if you’re travelling by Rovos Rail, the journey begins (or ends) right here.

That said, operations are led by a partnership of the African Sun and Meikles Africa groups, and I get a strong sense that the companies are putting the focus on the taking the old-school charisma and luxury up several notches.

Other good signs include a globally renowned Patrick Mavros jewellery boutique at the entrance, but there is also something appealing about the fact that this place is not all glitz and high concept. Its heart is warm and bones are old, and that’s what makes it perennially appealing.

The top spot

It also helps that it’s in the best position in the whole town. Not just for the falls themselves, but also because you leave the gate by foot and are immediately in the thick of shops and restaurants and markets.

Dinner and a bit of jazz at GOAT, a tasting at the River Brewing Co, a couple of fine leopard stone carvings from at African Trophy Dealers in the lovely Elephant Walk centre – you pop in, then saunter back to the hotel for a rock shandy and snooze. Easy as that.

It’s not a cheap trip on rands (you’re looking at around R11,000 per night in off season for a standard room, and R22,000 per night for a premium one), but it’s well worth it.

There are many places to stay in this western Zimbabwean city, but The Victoria Falls Hotel is bucket-list stuff, and visiting now means you get to see the lovely lady looking rather rosy from a continued and very much well-earned dose of love and attention.

In the mood for classic hotels? Read about Ellerman House next.

Currency’s travel content is produced in partnership with Discovery.

_{Top image: Supplied}