Reviews of Avani Victoria Falls
(84%) From 186 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Great helicopter ride
Great location. Very slow service (specially at the front desk and laundry facilities).
With Max having trouble walking around the grounds, we were not offer a ride from the lobby to our room on the day we arrived. Considering the trip from Madrid to Zambezi Sun took over 24 hours, we would have appreciated that extra help. Again, the front desk people were not very helpful in trying to help us move around in their golf cart; we had to "befriend" one of the cart drivers and bypass management.
Check in and check out processes were painfully slow. Breakfast buffet service was not very "visible"; it would take forever to find someone with a coffee jug.
However, the location is great; you could easily walk (or be driven in a golf cart) to the entrance of the Vic Falls Park. We heard from people who went to Zimbabwe had to pay for entering the park every time, and we did not. We also could take advantage of the other hotel in the property and got dinner there one night, experiencing the different ambiance and extraordinary view of the Falls from afar.
The helicopter ride is a must to recommend; exciting, well organized. The only thing to complain about it is that the video that they tried to sell to you after the ride is quite expensive ($140), specially when you think that it was not taped during your flight except for the camera inside the cabin...
Our third stay in less than a year!
It says much for our satisfaction with the Zambezi Sun that this was our third stay there in less than a year (and fourth in all) and there is little if anything we can usefully add to the feedback from our previous two visits.
Read more about the whole tripGood reasonable priced place to stay
Rooms were very nice as is the pool area. Dining options are not great. We eat in the hotel restaurant the first night at the buffet but we found the quality of the food very poor for the price charged. The other 2 nights we eat in a different restaurant located at the conference centre.
The food was much better here and not as expensive
Location, Location, Location!
We had 3 nights at the Zambezi Sun at the start of our holiday in Zambia and we really enjoyed it.
The hotel itself is big and brash but we knew that before we chose it. There are loads of facilities on site including a pool, activity centre, ATM, and a few restaurants. The rooms are air conditioned with nice bathrooms and excellent showers. We ate at the buffet restaurant on the night we arrived as we were tired and wanted something quick. The quality was ok but it was a bit pricey. The following two nights we went to Squires Steakhouse (also on site) which did great steak and was much more reasonably priced. The grounds of the hotel are extensive and definitely worth exploring. There are zebras, impalas, giraffes, baboons and vervet monkeys in the grounds as well as a variety of birds.
The best feature of this hotel is it's location. You walk out the back gate of the grounds and you are at the Victoria falls. We explored the Zambia side of the falls twice - once in the morning and once in the afternoon - which is definitely worth doing. Not only are the views great but we saw some nice birds as well. We also spent an afternoon crossing over to Zimbabwe to see the falls from there as well. We were there in October and the view from Zimbabwe was considerably better as there was a lot more water flowing over the Zimbabwe side of the falls. If you want to do a day trip to Zimbabwe first you need to exit Zambia and get your passport stamped (the border is only 3 minutes walk from the exit gate of the Zambezi Sun). Then you need to cross over the bridge to the entrance to Zimbabwe. This sounds quick but it would probably take you an hour if you walked so we got a taxi for US$5. You then need to buy a visa to enter Zimbabwe (US$55 for British passports or $30 for Australian). It is then a few minutes walk to the entrance of the national park, which costs $30 each to get into. So it isn't a cheap afternoon out but we thought it was definitely worthwhile. If you want to cross into Zimbabwe make sure you get a double entry visa when you arrive in Zambia, so you can get back in without buying another visa.
We also did a number of other activities while we were there. These included Horse riding (good horses and a nice ride but we didn't see any wildlife apart from some distant birds), Walking safari to see the rhinos (excellent - we got really close to the rhinos. The walk itself is very short which was good as it was very hot, but is followed by a long game drive which was considerably better than I had expected), Livingstone Island/Devils Pool (this was brilliant fun - the views are spectacular and we really enjoyed it), and we also did walking lions and cheetahs and an elephant ride at Makuni Big 5 safaris. I was a bit dubious about the ethics of this but they explained how their conservation programme worked and it all seemed fairly sensible. The animals were all very well cared for and seemed content. Our favourite bit was the cheetahs who started purring as soon as we got close to them. They seemed to love the attention and when you started patting them they would lick you back to say thank you. I could have spent hours with them and it still wouldn't have been enough!
For anyone who wants to pick up some cheap souvenirs there is also a craft market just outside the back entrance of the hotel where the quality is good and the prices are reasonable (although you still need to bargain a bit).
Excellent hotel, especially the zebras!
The Zambezi Sun was the first stop on our holiday and it was perfect for this. It was relaxing and enabled us to chill out after the long journey, but had plenty of facilities and activities when we did want to do something. Its proximity to the Falls was also a huge bonus.
The Zambezi Sun is beautifully appointed but not in an intimidating way which made it ideal for our party (2 adult women plus 12 year old girl). Our room was a little cramped with 3 beds in it but as we weren't in it much it didn't really matter. We made a lot of use of the pool, which is excellent, and only ate in the hotel. Food was good quality and plentiful.
The hotel felt safe enough to allow Kirsty (the 12 year old) to wander around the main hotel complex without us being worried for her safety, and all the staff were great with her (especially when she discovered how to charge things to the room!!)
We went on a sunset cruise of the Zambezi (arranged by the hotel) which we loved and would highly recommend.
Our preferred Livingstone accommodation!
This was our second stay at the Zambezi Sun this year and third in the past 18 months or so. As before we greatly enjoyed our time there - it is comfortable, very convenient for what we want to do and the staff were, as always, extremely helpful. We also strongly recommend poking around the gardens where there is excellent bird life (eg Schalow's Turaco).
Read more about the whole tripZambezi Sun review
Very enjoyable with lovely airy room (3333). Glad that shampoo etc was provided so reducing need to bring from UK. Great free access to Vic Falls which was unlimited a great plus as we went 3 times!
Food generous and plentiful and really enjoyed tha peaceful atmosphere, esp the "nauture trail" where we were enthralled by the weaver birds buuilding their nests. Went on a "River Safari" a bit pricey - $80 each_ b ut a great time. We were offerd a free afternnon tea at Royal Livingstone for our 40th Wedding Anniversary.
As elsewhere in Africa we were treated with cheerful kindness everywhere.
Zambezi Sun review
After problems with entering our room, because of flooding due to a airco malfunctioning, the hotel manager solved it and did an extraordinary job to make us positively feel at home. The breakfast buffet was excellent. Also the walk to the Vic Falls was only 10 minutes. Negative is that the hotel gate to the falls closes at 6 pm, which is before sunset. We recommend to close this gate 15 min. after sunset.
Read more about the whole trip
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
