Places to stay Explore our selections for wildlife.
Kruger Shalati
HotelAfrica, South Africa
From $1,000
Kruger Shalati is a hotel set in a restored train, permanently parked on the Selati Bridge above the Sabie River at Skukuza, in South Africa's Kruger National Park. It revives a century-old tradition: in the 1920s, visitors to the park would spend the night in a train on this same bridge. Today, 24 carriages have been turned into suites with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river, and seven more suites sit in a garden on the riverbank. The pool hangs over the side of the bridge, so guests can swim while elephants, hippos and crocodiles pass in the water below. Days follow the rhythm of a safari, with two game drives, all meals and afternoon tea included, and walking safaris and in-room spa treatments can be added.
Shipwreck Lodge
VillaAfrica
From $1,850
Shipwreck Lodge is the only lodge inside Namibia's Skeleton Coast National Park, the least visited of the country's parks, set among the dunes between the Hoanib and Hoarusib river mouths. Its ten cabins were designed by architect Nina Maritz to look like the wrecked ships scattered along this coastline, and they run on solar power. The coast is cool and often foggy, shaped by the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic. Days include drives along the shore to the wrecks of the Suiderkus and Karimona, game drives into the dry riverbeds to track desert-adapted elephants, and walks and sundowners on the beach. Despite the harsh landscape, the area is home to oryx, springbok, giraffe, Cape fur seals and, occasionally, lions.
Kokomo Private Island
HotelOceania, Fiji
From $2,000
Kokomo Private Island sits within the Great Astrolabe Reef in Fiji's Kadavu region, a 45-minute seaplane or helicopter flight south of the mainland. Its beachfront villas and hilltop residences are spread along white sand beaches, each with a private pool on a wide deck, open-air bathrooms and gardens leading down to the sand. Most of what is served at the island's restaurants comes from its own 5.5-acre organic farm, which also has a beehive, a henhouse and a vanilla plantation. The reef around the island is one of the best places in the world for diving and snorkelling, and the resort supports manta ray conservation and coral restoration. Days can also include deep-sea fishing, a hike to a waterfall on a nearby island, or a treatment at the Yaukuve Spa Sanctuary.
Aman-i-Khás
HotelAsia, India
From $1,980
Aman-i-Khás is a ten-tent wilderness camp on the edge of Ranthambore National Park, created around the rhythms of safari rather than the conventions of a resort. Each soaring canvas tent has separate sleeping, bathing and lounging areas, while the camp itself stays deliberately intimate, with a stepwell-inspired pool, spa tent, communal fire and meals served beneath the trees. The real reason to come is the wildlife: early-morning and afternoon drives head into tiger country with Aman naturalists, turning the stay into one of the most refined ways to experience Ranthambore.
Amanpulo
HotelAsia, Philippines
From $1,500
Set on its own private island in the Palawan archipelago, Amanpulo is one of the Philippines’ most secluded escapes. Reached by private plane from Manila, the resort pairs powder-white beaches and exceptionally clear waters with understated casitas and private villas scattered between the shoreline and tropical hillside.
Mashpi Lodge
HotelSouth America
From $1,500
Mashpi Lodge emerges from 3,200 hectares of Chocó cloud forest like a glass observatory dropped into one of the most biodiverse landscapes on Earth. The contemporary lodge hosts only 47 guests, with floor-to-ceiling windows turning bedrooms, baths and communal spaces into front-row seats to mist, giant ferns, hummingbirds and an extraordinary concentration of wildlife — more than 400 bird species have been recorded in the reserve alone. Exploration is a serious part of staying here: naturalist-led trails descend to waterfalls, the Dragonfly gondola glides above the canopy, a Sky Bike crosses the forest and the on-site research team gives unusual access to the conservation work happening beyond the hotel.
Wild Coast Tented Lodge
HotelAsia, Sri Lanka
From $735
On Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast, Wild Coast Tented Lodge brings together safari, wildlife and the beach in a setting that remains unusually rare. Bordering Yala National Park and the Indian Ocean, the lodge is made up of cocoon-shaped tents and pavilions that together trace the outline of a leopard’s paw, a reference to the park’s most iconic resident. The suites combine canvas shells, four-poster beds, freestanding copper bathtubs and jungle-facing glazing, while the setting places coastal vegetation, wild shoreline and one of Sri Lanka’s richest wildlife areas within the same stay.
LABA Fanjove Private Island
HotelAfrica, Tanzania
From $900
LABA Fanjove occupies a tiny private island in Tanzania’s Songo Songo Archipelago, surrounded by white sand, coconut palms and an 11-kilometre coral reef. Its ocean-facing villas are built from local coral stone, makuti thatch, teak and woven palm, with open-air showers and terraces facing the Indian Ocean. A 19th-century lighthouse now forms part of the island’s social spaces, while the surrounding waters are home to dolphins, turtles, migratory whales and extensive coral gardens.
Tierra Patagonia
HotelSouth America, Chile
From $1,770
Tierra Patagonia stretches almost horizontally along the shore of Lake Sarmiento, with the Torres del Paine massif filling the horizon beyond it. The architecture follows the natural curve of the land and uses local lenga wood extensively, allowing a 40-room hotel to remain surprisingly discreet within such a monumental landscape. Days revolve around guided hikes, horseback riding and excursions across Patagonia, followed by long views of the mountains from almost everywhere inside.
