Palm River Hotel: Our full report

Opened in 2021, Palm River Hotel has an enviable location on the banks of the Zambezi, upstream of Victoria Falls.

Often known simply as the Palm, it’s a modern, fairly large luxury hotel set in expansive gardens just 5km from the waterfall’s park entrance. As such, it is neither a town-based hotel nor an out-of-town safari lodge, but something in between.

The Palm is a relatively new addition to the options in Victoria Falls but is quickly gaining a positive reputation. This is no surprise to us as the team behind the hotel also runs the excellent Ilala Lodge in town.

With 60 rooms, 5 suites and a villa, the Palm is a fairly large hotel, but with the rooms split into different buildings and surrounded by lush riverside gardens, it feels smaller than it really is.

60 deluxe rooms include several interconnecting rooms, which are perfect for families. Inside, king-size or twin beds take centre stage, with other furniture including a writing desk and chair, a luggage rack, and a cabinet containing a minibar, along with glassware and a tea and coffee station. Above the headboard, bold African-themed wallpaper adds a dash of colour to the room's otherwise muted tones. Sliding doors open onto a patio or balcony, depending on the room’s floor.

The remaining accommodation is made up of:

Two honeymoon suites with semi-outdoor showers and day beds on a private veranda. The en-suite bathroom for these suites also boasts a luxurious, gold, free-standing bathtub for some extra pampering and relaxation.
Two deluxe suites, each consisting of two en-suite bedrooms connected by a shared lounge and a private veranda.
Three executive suites, each with an en-suite bedroom, lounge, separate “visitor’s” toilet and private river-facing balcony.
The presidential suite with a king-sized en-suite bedroom, two lounges, a “visitor’s” toilet and two river-facing balconies, including a day bed. Bookings for the presidential suite include a complimentary massage.
The three-bedroom Palm Villa. This private residence within the hotel is set away from the other rooms on the banks of the Zambezi and is made up of an executive suite, a honeymoon suite and a deluxe room. The Villa also has its own kitchen, dining area, and lounge and outside is a private pool, allowing families or small groups to have their own private space.

All the suites and the villa include complimentary daily minibar restocking.

The main area at The Palm is in a separate building from the rooms. Here you’ll find the 24/7 hotel reception and activities desk, where guests can book many of the area's activities and restaurants. There is also a spacious and airy lounge and a small curio shop, but the main focus is undoubtedly the Cassia Restaurant.

Here, the indoor dining area spills out onto a terrace through floor-to-ceiling bifold doors. Down a few steps is an almost sunken outdoor bar which overlooks the hotel's lush gardens to a 34m infinity pool and the Zambezi beyond.

For those looking to relax and unwind with some pre- or post-safari pampering the hotel's spa will undoubtedly be a hit. Enjoy treatments from manicures to Swedish massage or aromatherapy in the dedicated treatment room with views of the Zambezi.

As the hotel is out of town, they offer a shuttle service to the waterfall park entrance and into Victoria Falls town itself. In busy periods these depart hourly; at quieter times they are run on a more ad hoc basis. On our visit in December 2022, we booked the shuttle with the reception team and arranged our return time and pick-up location with the driver directly.

Although the Palm River’s gardens are tranquil and relaxing, it is worth noting that this part of the river is popular with river cruises, including the excellent Ra-Ikane, and can get quite busy. This is most noticeable in the evenings with boats from both Zimbabwe and Zambia using this stretch of the Zambezi for their sundowner cruises.

Our view

The Palm River Hotel is a modern hotel with a unique design in the ever-popular Victoria Falls area. As the number of accommodation options in Victoria Falls town continues to grow, The Palm’s out-of-town location offers travellers something a little different: a more relaxed, riverside location. We enjoyed excellent service, great food and comfortable rooms, and we were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get into town to visit the Falls using the hotel’s shuttle service. We can see the Palm River Hotel becoming a firm favourite for our team and our travellers.

Chris McIntyre

Zimbabwe expert

Geographics

Location: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Ideal length of stay: If you only plan to see the Victoria Falls, then a two-night stay gives you a full day to do this. If you are keen to do more activities in the area, we suggest you spend at least three nights here.
Directions: Guests usually arrive at either Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) or Livingstone (Zambia) by air and then transfer to the hotel by road. They may also be transferred to the hotel by road from one of the other major destinations in the area, such as Chobe, Hwange or Matobo Hills national parks.
Accessible by: Fly-and-Transfer

Food & drink

Usual board basis: Bed & Breakfast
Food quality: When we stayed at Palm River Hotel in December 2022, the food was excellent and extremely varied. With advance notice the team at the hotel can cater for most dietary requirements.

Breakfast consists of an extensive buffet of freshly baked breads, muffins, fresh fruit, yoghurt, cheeses and cold meats. A hot breakfast may then be ordered à la carte and incudes the usual sausage, bacon and eggs as well as fresh pancakes, shakshuka and eggs benedict.

We didn’t have time to enjoy lunch during our short stay. However, we understand that the lunch menu offers relatively light meals with a selection of salads, pasta dishes, burgers and more. Desserts might include such options as marula nut tart with poached pears, espresso affogato or a selection of sorbets.

High tea, available to all guests, is served around 2.00pm. On our visit we were offered pesto and fresh tomato bruschetta, chocolate cupcakes and mini lemon meringue pies. These were accompanied by a selection of teas and coffees and iced tea.

The dinner menu at the Palm’s Cassia Restaurant is updated regularly with varied and imaginative options. On our visit, crispy pork wontons, homemade mushroom fagottini, and homemade soups were among the starters.

For their main course, guests could choose from a wide-ranging menu that included pan-roasted ostrich fillet, butter chicken curry, butternut gnocchi, pan-fried trout or, for something lighter, one of a number of pasta dishes.

Desserts ranged from the likes of an eclair, baobab crémeux or strawberry and vanilla cheesecake. Everything we ate during our stay was well presented and delicious.

As if there wasn’t enough choice from the extensive dinner menu, the Palm River Hotel also offers a BBQ dinner on request. If you choose to book this, please give 24 hours’ notice.

Note that the Cassia Restaurant is open to the public and can get booked in advance. As such, if you know you want to eat here in the evenings, it is worth making a reservation to secure your table.
Dining style: Individual Tables
Dining locations: Indoor and Outdoor Dining
Further dining info, including room service: Room service is available. When we stayed in December 2022 there was a US$5 tray fee on top of the cost of the meal.
Private dining options are also available on request.
Drinks included: Drinking water and drinks in the initial stock in your room’s minibar are complimentary, but refills (including bottled water) are charged to your room (unless you are in one of the suites).

Children

Attitude towards children: Palm River Hotel accepts children of all ages.
Property’s age restrictions: None
Special activities & services: Childminding services are available on request. Please note that the childminders are usually senior members of the housekeeping team who, while they often have their own children, are not formally trained childminders.
Equipment: Cots and highchairs are available for infants on request.
Generally recommended for children: The Palm River Hotel is a great choice for families travelling with children of any age.
Notes: The hotel has an unfenced, unguarded pool and direct access to the Zambezi riverbank, so children need adult supervision at all times.

Our travellers’ wildlife sightings from Palm River

Since mid-2018, many of our travellers who stayed at Palm River Hotel have kindly recorded their wildlife sightings and shared them with us. The results are below. Click an animal to see more, and here to see more on our methodology.

Hippo

67% success

Elephant

56% success

Buffalo

0% success

Leopard

0% success

Zebra

0% success

Communications

Power supply notes: There is a back-up generator for use in the event of a power failure.
Communications: There is Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.
TV & radio: There is a TV in each room receiving satellite channels from South Africa (DSTV).
Water supply: Mains
Water supply notes: Hot water at the hotel is heated by solar panels with a gas back-up system.
Each room has a fully plumbed en-suite bathroom.

Health & safety

Malarial protection recommended: Yes
Medical care: The nearest hospital is in Victoria Falls town. In the event of serious injury or illness, guests would be transferred by air to Harare or Johannesburg if necessary.
Dangerous animals: Moderate Risk
Security measures: The property is surrounded by an electric fence to keep larger wildlife such as hippo and elephants out. There is roving security on site 24/7. Note, however, that at the time of our visit there were no secure facilities for left luggage.
Fire safety: There are extinguishers and hoses throughout the hotel.

Activities

4WD Safari
Birdwatching
Boat trip
Cultural excursion
Elephant encounter
Helicopter
Microlight
White-water rafting

Extras

Disabled access: On Request
Laundry facilities: The Palm River Hotel offers a laundry service at additional cost, with potentially a four-hour turnround.
Money: There is a small digital safe in each room. No currency exchange is offered here.
Accepted payment on location: Cash payments are accepted in US dollars only. Card payments will be charged in US dollars and can be made using Visa and Mastercard.