Reviews of Avani Victoria Falls
(85%) From 206 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Zambezi Sun is perfect for the Falls
A great hotel if all you want to see is the Falls - which we did. We spent our evenings at The Royal Livingstone as it had a more gentle feel to it.
The staff at the Zambezi Sun are really good and the buffet breakfast is great. Being only a few minutes walk from the Falls was the best thing though.
Zambezi Sun review
The location is great. The hotel is an average hotel with average services. After staying at the lodges it's rather impersonal.
Certain activities are very expensive. Like the lunar rainbow walk. 50$ per person. One could do it easily on it's own.
Convenient for the Falls
A very good position for walking to the Falls. Spacious grounds with token animals. Brightly decorated room but a little tired and in need of a good clean.
Good breakfast selection, buffet dinner variable. Pool-side menu looked good for lunch.
Zambezi Sun review
breakfast enjoyable, beautifull garden, walking to the Falls as often as you wish.
we preferred to have dinner at the Royal Livingstone
A two night stay solely to view the Falls
Food and drink were a bit expensive. The hotel's restaurant offered only a fixed price 3 course buffet dinner. We only wanted a main course dinner. On our second night we found another restaurant which appeared to be on the hotel's premises - I think it was called Styles - which had an excellent and reasonably priced menu. Our meals there were very good.
Read more about the whole tripZambezi Sun review
A good place for a short stay with easy access to the falls. twinned with the Livingstone a short walk away with the same owner if we visited again we would stay there.
Read more about the whole tripZambezi Sun
Very convenient to Vic Falls. Good reasonably priced dinner; Greet breakfast buffet. Decent sized rooms with good air conditioner. Great shower with plenty of hot water. We received an invitation to the high tea at the Livingstone Hotel and it was very upscale with excellent finger food and a great "Safari" tea. We went on the Livingston Express dinner train - a great experience with a sundowner when we stopped half way on the bridge looking over Vic Falls - excellent 5 course diner.
The next morning there was a lot of confusion as to when we should leave for the Kasane airport - the afternoon before some said 10AM, then it was 11:30AM and finally we were told at 7:30 AM on the day we should leave that it was at 8AM!!! Fortunately we had breakfast at 7AM so we hurried up and packed quickly. The transfer is quite complicated: you are driven for about 1 hour to the crossing point on the Zambezi river. As you approach the river there are huge lines of trucks - about 200 of them lined up against the road awaiting crossing the river. The driver then escorted us to Zambia customs where our passports were stamped.
Then we went to the river bank and awaited the "launch" - an aluminum boat about 30 ft long powered by an outboard. The launch was full of safari travelers and came to a halt at the shore in between the loading docks of the truck ferries. Passengers and bags scrabbled out of the launch and we went on board. The bus driver gave the launch a push and off we went for the short 10 minute crossing. On the Botswana side there was an actual dock where we tied up unloaded bags. We were escorted though Botswana customs and then boarded a safari jeep for the 20 minute ride to the airport. As on the Zambia side there was a long line of about 200 trucks awaiting crossing the river. The driver informed us that it was customary for the truck drivers to wait for 7 to 10 days to cross the river.
The entire process of getting from the hotel to the Kasane airport was a very interesting 2 hour experience!
Expert Africa comments
We followed up with the transfer company regarding the confusion over the departure time from the Zambezi Sun Hotel to Kasane Airport for these guests. We understand that this occurred because the flight transfer company who were to fly the guests from Kasane Airport to their first safari camp changed their schedule twice the day beforehand. This is an unusual occurrence - once the schedule is set by the flight transfer company it usually remains unchanged. In this instance, the schedule was changed and the latest information only passed on to the guests at the last minute. The transfer company apologised for the inconvenience caused by this.
Zambezi Sun review
We loved the location of the hotel and the grounds were well tended but from the beginning the place had the feel of a huge family resort. Hallways were narrow and rooms were a bit small. Staff was helpful.
We walked to the Royal Livingstone Hotel next door and what a difference. We loved the ambiance and the grounds and saw one room from the outside. We ate dinner here and the food was well prepared and served with good wine selections.
Victoria Falls--Zambezi Sun
We really enjoyed the Zambezi Sun. The staff were attentive without being overbearing. On short notice we were able to arrange an elephant safari for the family, a local green market tour, and a sunset river boat cruise.
The access to Victoria Falls National Park is what really made for a great stay. The park entrance was practically at our door step. This made visiting the park with children really easy. We were able to enter and leave as often as we wanted, which we did a total of 3 times during our stay. The variety of food served at the breakfast and dinner buffets was great. We also really enjoyed the close encounters with zebra and baboons that were wandering the property. In addition the free Wi-Fi was a plus.
The only things that would have made our stay better would be the ability to have dinner by the pool. This would allow the children to play at the pool while the adults eat a leisurly dinner. Also it would have been nice if the WiFi access extended into the hotel rooms rather than being limited to the public areas of the resort.
