Accommodation

INTRODUCTION (or, skip Introduction, and proceed directly to Accommodation Menu)

Unfortunately it is simply not possible for me to go into much detail here. This is not a commercial site, and I am not at this stage able to list hundreds of establishments by name. I hope, as time goes by, to be able to add names and contact details for specific establishments. Just a handful have been named so far (and especially in the section entitled Location, location and location)

What follows, therefore, is an overview of the types of accommodation that are on offer, along with suburbs or areas to choose (or possibly avoid).

If you visit Useful web sites you will find web addresses for a number of hotels (both chains and independent), guest houses, game reserves and lodges.

You will also find specific establishments recommended in many guide books, which are available both locally and overseas.

In all the countries discussed here, public transportation systems are either non-existent or not suitable for tourists. Within our cities, you cannot simply take a bus or a train the way you can in London, Paris or New York. (There are a few exceptions - see Transportation)

Nor do our cities lend themselves to walking. Visitors have to depend on taxis to get around, unless they have hired cars.

What this means is that IF you decide to hire a car, you may select accommodation in the suburbs. This opens up to you many delightful guesthouses and bed and breakfast establishments that are simply not practical for those who rely on taxis and walking. O

If you do NOT intend to hire a car, you should choose more central accommodation. "Central" does NOT necessarily mean "downtown". The hotels most suited to tourists tend to cluster in the better, safer areas, which are served by modern shopping malls, and from which tour operators run local tours, and from which transport to and from the airport is easily arranged.

So, if you are going to hire a car, think guesthouses as well as hotels. If you are not going to hire a car, think mainly of hotels, and do not consider a guesthouse unless you have an assurance that it is conveniently located for guests who do not have their own transport.

South Africa offers a wide range of accommodation, from hotels that pride themselves on being equal to the best in the world, down to backpacker lodges that pride themselves on being the cheapest in their neighbourhoods.

In between, we have all manner of lodgings - hotels, motels, guest houses, government run camps and resorts, municipal chalets, caravan and camping sites, and youth hostels.

The big chains dominate the industry. Biggest of all is the Southern Sun Corporation, which also owns the Holiday Inn and Formule 1 franchises in South Africa. This means that they are able to offer anything from cheap functional accommodation for a budget conscious businessman, through to luxury resorts and five star aluminium and glass towers.

Most popular for the regular tourist is the Holiday Inn Garden Court group. These are limited service hotels - functional yet very comfortable. "Limited service" means that you pay extra for porterage, there's no room service, and many of them serve only breakfast, and will direct you to a nearby restaurant or pub for your other meals. No great hardship.

The rooms, however, are of a very good standard, with full facilities, including air conditioner/heaters.

These hotels will offer ice machines, a bar (which may only be open from late afternoon onwards), swimming pools (most, but not all, so make sure that you check), and there will usually be a franchised restaurant on site so you won't have to leave the premises if you want lunch or dinner.

The other large chain is the Protea Group. Protea doesn't own its hotels - it manages hotels for other owners, so there is a much wider variety and you don't feel that you are staying in the same place each night. Protea have everything from 2 to 5 star properties in their stable. Most of these are full service hotels, offering all the traditional facilities, while others, like the Holiday Inn Garden Courts, are limited service establishments, where you will enjoy less pampering, and pay less accordingly.

One of the smaller chains that concentrates on the top end of the market is the Mövenpick/Karos Group, which has some excellent resort hotels in good locations.

In addition, there are the mini-chains - just a few hotels under the same management - and the independents, and these should not be overlooked. Some of our most delightful hotels are independents.

A recent development has been the emergence of hundreds of guest houses throughout South Africa. These offer a more personal alternative to hotels, and many visitors prefer them - if they manage to choose the right ones, that is!

Guest houses vary greatly in character, from top notch operations run by talented professionals, to shoddy downmarket joints mismanaged by people who should not really be in the business, but who are either greedy or desperate enough to try to jump on the tourism bandwagon.

Guesthouses may apply for grading by the the S A Tourism Board, but this is not compulsory. You have been warned!

Nevertheless, if you select the right type of guesthouse, you will be very glad you chose that route, and your bank manager will doubtless agree with your choice, as guesthouses do not have the overhead expenses of hotels, and can offer better value for money.

The term "rest camp" may cover anything from the sublime to the 'gor blimey. The original South African "rest camps" were the overnight camps developed in the Kruger National Park by the National Parks Board. They were pretty rustic, consisting of a round, single-roomed, thatched hut with acouple of beds with bedding, a towel and a piece of National Parks soap for each person, and a wash-basin with cold water. When in need, you took your towel, soap and toiletry kit to the ablutions block.

Nowadays, things are a bit more modern, but not much. You can get a hut with its own shower, toilet, hot and cold water, refrigerator, and even a nice little terrace with some outdoor furniture so you can enjoy your sundowners outside. There are barbeque places aplenty, or you can stroll to the camp's restaurant (if it has one). The camps have shops (mostly), so you can get everything you need, including booze, for a comfortable night in the wilds. Highly recommended, unless you are one of those insufferably fussy travellers who comes to Africa to complain that it's - well, African.

Other authorities, and even private individuals, have built rest camp type accommodation in many places. Sometimes they have caravan and camping parks attached. Most will have swimming pools. Nowadays they all have electricity, although there are still some remote places where the generator is switched off late in the evening, and you resort to lanterns and candles if you are not tucked up in bed by then. O

Nowadays some rest camps border on the frankly luxurious, but still retain the charm of having your own chalet in pleasant surroundings, instead of being just another guest in a big hotel building.

If you go to Useful web sites, you will find the links to the National Parks site, for restcamps in our game reserves, and also to Aventura, which is a para-statal company running some excellent rest camps in some of our lesser known nature reserves and beauty spots.

Rest camps are good places to meet South Africans, and you will find that they are sociable folk who enjoy meeting visitors.

Poor old Johannesburg! What used to be the city of gold has become the city of grime and crime. You will not go looking for a central hotel in Johannesburg. End of story!

However, there's Johannesburg and Johannesburg, and even Nelson Mandela has a house there. So, if Johannesburg is on your itinerary, you should consider staying in the area known as Rosebank, where there are a couple of good hotels.

Most visitors today, however, don't stay in Johannesburg proper. Sandton, just to the north, is the place to be. The Sandton City complex offers some of the finest shopping in Africa, and is surrounded by good hotels. It's the place to be.

Sandton is a city on it's own, and has many delightful suburbs, such as Bryanston, Morningside, River Club, and more.

Pretoria, like Johannesburg, also ain't what it used to be. The downtown area is pervaded by a rather rowdy element who patronise the hotel lobbies and bars, so the fact of being central is no longer an advantage.

The Holiday Inn Group has a couple of hotels that are slightly out of the centre. Otherwise, the neighbouring city of Centurion is becoming to Pretoria what Sandton is to Johannesburg.

If you are looking for guest houses, the suburbs to go for are Brooklyn, Arcadia and Waterkloof.

If your itinerary permits, you may be able to avoid staying in either of the cities, and instead head directly for this area via the N4 National Road. Two hours or so will bring you within range of many delightful hotels and guest houses.

A visit to this area presents two very different touring opportunities. Firstly, one tours the magnificent scenery of the mountains; secondly, one visits the Kruger National Park for its wildlife.

You may decide to choose a base for your scenic touring, and then move on to the Kruger Park, or a place nearby. I recommend this, as it cuts down on the driving. Alternatively, you may choose a place that is convenient for both the mountain scenery and the Kruger Park.

En route from Johannesburg or Pretoria, Dullstroom is a convenient gateway to the area. The towns of Sabie, Pilgrim's Rest and Graskop are ideally situated. Consider also White River, and places along the road from White River to Hazyview, and Hazyview to Sabie.

If travelling in the summer, NEVER choose a place without ensuring that it has a swimming pool, unless you are determined non-swimmer.

Choosing a base for touring both the scenic areas and the Kruger National Park:

Hazyview, or as close to it as possible, is the answer here. There are a number of hotels and guest farms, and Hazyview is midway between Sabie - for the scenic routes, and Paul Kruger Gate, for entry to the Kruger National Park.

There are international standard "lodge" type hotels right at Paul Kruger Gate, half an hour from Hazyview, and at Malelane Gate, in the extreme south of the Park.

The National Park restcamps are not nearly as luxurious as the hotels, but I recommend that you swallow your pride and rough it for a night or two. It really won't hurt you. Comfort is not lacking - it's just not fancy, that's all!.

Facilities vary considerably from camp to camp. Some offer accommodation only, with no restaurant, and minimal shopping. These are only for the dedicated outdoor types. It is recommended that you go for the larger camps with full facilities - then you can make a last minute decision about whether you wish to patronise the restaurant, or do as the locals do and indulge in a bit of adventurous self-catering.

Note that only Pretorius Kop has a swimming pool, and there are no sporting facilities. The National Parks Board believes that you are there to relax and enjoy nature. Do it! O

When booking, you should ensure that you are getting air-conditioning, refrigerator and shower/toilet en suite. Some of the older, primitive accommodation may still be available - it's very cheap, but you may not enjoy it. You may also be offered something altogether more luxurious. Take it if you wish, but the standard unit is all that is really needed.

Skukuza,	Letaba
Lower Sabie	Olifants
Bergendal	Satara

If you visit Useful web sites, you will find the link to the official website of the South African National Parks Board, with details of these camps, and more.

Some folk prefer - and can afford - the exclusivity offered by the private game reserves. Most of the best ones are in the area adjacent to the Kruger National Park, and offer the same game viewing, as there is no fence between them and the Park, so the game moves freely from government land to private land.

Beware of game ranches that do not adjoin the park, but nevertheless imply in their advertising that they offer the Big 5. The elephant or lion on the brochure may turn out to be in a cage, a paddock, or even on a day trip into Kruger Park proper.

The private reserves are generally luxurious, with bigger chalets, better appointed and decorated than the "rondavels" of the National Park. They will have swimming pools, and open air restaurants and terraces where you may relax with your fellow guests. They take only limited numbers, so there is an air of exclusivity, and you may have to put up with the odd prince or movie star. O

Beware - there are some that may seem cheaper than the rest, and this could be because they eschew luxury and concentrate on the bushveld experience alone. Don't hesitate to ask what facilities are available before booking.

The real advantage of these establishments, however, has nothing to do with the accommodations at all. Many visitors have read too much Hemingway, and insist that Africa can only be experienced properly if you travel through the bush in an open jeep with a great white hunter at the wheel, a rifle on the bonnet, and a faithful but illiterate black tracker clinging to the rear bumper calling everybody Bwana. And, of course, you must go out at night as well.

This kind of lark is not permitted in the Kruger Park, where the number of ordinary folk who visit makes it necessary to have some basic rules: stay in your car, stay on the road, you must be back in camp by sunset, and don't expect to be called Bwana by anyone.

The private game reserve experience is definitely more atmospheric. My personal opinion is that if you can afford it, it's worth the money. The final choice is up to you.

The private game reserve option will cost you a lot more in tips, too, but hey, you only live once!

Properly known as KwaZulu, this area is visited for both its game reserves and its insight into the culture of South Africa's most famous tribal people, the Zulu.

The major game reserve is Hluhluwe. This offers Hilltop Camp, a large, comfortable modern establishment which sprawls across a hilltop in the reserve.

In the nearby town of Hluhluwe is the Hluhluwe Inn, an owner run hotel which does not feature the African style of the game lodges, but is comfortable and tourist friendly (some people have an aversion to things that fly and crawl, and others don't like to live in a chalet seperated from the main building by a few hundred metres of darkness.)

Elswhere in the region are a number of game lodge style hotels, which are more atmospheric (and some of which are actually a little too atmospheric, but I won't mention any names).

The best way to meet the Zulu is to visit one of the cultural villages. Dumazulu, very close to Hluhluwe offers accommodation as well. My favourite, however, is much further south, at Nkwalini, where you will find Shakaland.

Shakaland was the village used for the filming of the TV epic Shaka Zulu. After the filming, they installed electricity, water and bathroom facilities in the Zulu huts and turned it into accommodation for visitors. It has been put under the management of the Protea Hotels Group.

However, Durban has been working hard to clean up its act, and you may regard the beachfront area as safe during daylight hours. The hotels stretch along what is known as the Golden Mile, overlooking the beaches, but not right on the beaches. You have to cross the roadway and walk down through some landscaped gardens and amusement areas.

Not everyone wants to go swimming in the sea, and Durban has some very pleasant areas away from the beaches. If you are looking for a guesthouse, consider the suburbs of Berea, Durban North, and La Lucia.

The Berea is the ridge running just back from the downtown area. It's an olde worlde respectable area - gracious might be an apt way to describe it. Being elevated, it enjoys the slightly cooler breezes that make it rather more habitable than the muggy heat downtown.

It is minutes away from downtown, and hardly far from the beachfront. The delightful Botanical Gardens (a must-see for Durban) are really close. The Musgrave Shopping Centre, one of Durban's best, caters for every need of the Bereans, so you don't even have to go to town.

Durban North, Glenashley and La Lucia are newer, modern, suburbs, closer to the sea, but quieter than the Golden Mile. Just as classy as the Berea, but new money instead of old. O

You might also consider not staying in Durban proper, but going just out of town to neighbouring Umhlanga Rocks, which is now to Durban what Fort Lauderdale is to Miami, only much closer (20 km, or 12 miles). Here the hotels are right on the beach, and you escape the gauntlet of beggars and hawkers who have become an unfortunate feature of Durban's beachfront.

Another lovely area within reach of the independent self-drive traveller is the area just inland of Durban - places like Kloof and Westville, or even further out, like Hillcrest. All have a number of guesthouses of good quality. You may never want to leave!

The Natal Drakensberg can be divided into three regions, known as the Northern Berg, the Central Berg, and the Southern Berg. All are delightful, and the decision as to which part you visit depends really only on where you are coming from, and where you are headed for after your stay.

For those coming from Johannesburg and Pretoria, the Northern and Central Berg areas are easiest to reach. This includes the Royal Natal National Park, which has both a hotel and a super restcamp (which, please note, is self-catering, so be prepared to cook. Everything is provided, except your provisions.)

The Central Berg is reached easily from either Johannesburg and Pretoria, or from Durban.

The Southern Berg is reached easily from Durban, but is a long haul for those coming from the interior. O

There are a number of towns - Bergville, Winterton, Underberg and Himeville. However, the nature of a mountain holiday is such that you should rather choose establishments that lie beyond the towns and closer to the mountains.

There are many resort hotels, ranging from luxurious to simple but comfortable. The best ones are close in to the foothills, so you can park your car and forget about it, with all the walks on your doorstep. Cheaper but pleasant places are to be found on the plains, but then you need to drive for a while if you want to take a mountain walk.

Hotels fall into two categories - traditional and modern. The traditional hotel tends to operate on an all-inclusive basis, serving three meals a day, plus morning and afternoon teas. And not all the meals are buffet style. Endless buffets are the curse of the modern hotel industry.

The Garden Route has a number of good hotels of varying levels. Some are excellently located in pleasant surroundings outside the main towns, while others are in built up areas and are perhaps more suited to those travelling on business.

The Garden Route also has probably the greatest assortment of non-hotel accommodation, with countless folk hanging out shingles advertising guest houses or bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

With so much accommodation available, the independent traveller hardly needs to book in advance, unless you are crazy enough to be touring during the December/January school holidays, and even then you are sure to find a bed somewhere.

Each centre along the Garden Route has its tourism office, and knows what is available in its area, so the info office should always be the first place you head for.

George, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay are the sizeable towns along the route. Knysna are commercial centres, so is a commercial centre,

George is a commercial city and away from the coast, though it is a great place for golfers. O

Knysna is a also a commercial town, and on a lagoon, rather than on the sea, but it has some very pleasant guest houses in the residential areas.

Plettenberg Bay has two prime establishments, one of them on the sea, and the other one overlooking it from the nearby hill. However, the other hotels are either in town, or close to the National Road which runs inland around the back of town. Convenient overnights, but not ideal for any length of time.

Wilderness is a delightful village, on the sea, with a variety of accommodation.

Sedgefield is not on the sea, but just one great dune back of it. It is a convenient base.

Hoekwil is one that you would never hear about if you hadn't accessed this site. It is an old forestry village on the heights above Wilderness. Relaxed - even sleepy - with some charming guesthouses. A good base, even if it's just a little out of the way. O

Mossel Bay is a commercial centre. It should definitely be visited, but for accommodation, something more central along the Garden Route should be recommended.

Oudtshoorn is not strictly part of the Garden Route, being inland over the Outeniqua Mountains. However, as the ostrich capital of the world, and home to the famous Cango Caves, it is usually a feature of any visit to the area. There are a number of hotels and plenty of guesthouses.

Tsitsikkamma Coastal National Park is a rugged stretch of coastline at the mouth of the Storm's River. There is a good hotel nearby, in Storms River Village, and the National Parks Board have a superbly located restcamp at the Mouth itself.

You do not want to stay in downtown Cape Town. The city goes home around 5.30 pm, and leaves you alone with the less-desirable elements of the populace.

The place to be is the Waterfront, which has become the premier place for both Capetonians and visitors alike. If you stay anywhere else, you will forever be taking taxis to get to the Waterfront, so you might as well bite the bullet and move in. There are some excellent hotels at the Waterfront, and a number very close by. (Warning - once you are in the Waterfront, it is a very safe area. But even the short walk from the gateway hotels is dangerous. Use the hotel's shuttle bus if you are not staying in the Watefront proper.)

If you have your own transport, you may choose a hotel or guesthouse in one of Cape Town's charming suburbs.

For those who prefer to gaze at the ocean, the Atlantic Suburbs are Greenpoint, Sea Point, Bantry Bay, Clifton and Camps Bay. O

For those who like the more peaceful atmosphere that prevails in the green suburbs behind the mountain, follow the example set by Nelson Mandela and Ron McGregor. Choose the Southern Suburbs. Among the best are Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, and Constantia.

Cape Town is not a beachy place, but Fish Hoek, which is on the False Bay coastline, has excellent, safe, bathing. A long way from town, though.

The Winelands are an ever-popular attraction, and you might consider not basing yourself in Cape Town at all. The capital of the Winelands is the charming University town of Stellenbosch (60km, 35 miles), which has two excellent hotels and numerous guesthouses. There are also many guesthouses on farms around the town. It is as easy to tour the area from here as from Cape Town.

Visitors to Zimbabwe have a choice of hotels, game lodges, restcamps, guesthouses and farm accommodation.

The accommodation market is dominated by hotels and their upmarket cousins, the game lodges. The government operates a number of restcamps in the national parks. Guesthouses are not nearly as numerous as in South Africa, and you will probably really only find this option in Harare, the capital.

Along the main routes you will find that a number of farmers have built some extra accommodation and take in paying guests. This is usually of a good standard.

The Zimbabwe Sun Hotel Corporation is the big daddy of the hotel chains. Amongst others, they own the gateway lodge at Hwange Game Reserve, and some of the best places at Vic Falls and Kariba. They also own the lovely Troutbeck Inn in the Inyanga Mountains of the Eastern Highlands, and the Great Zimbabwe Hotel at Great Zimbabwe.

They also have a nasty multi-tiered pricing system, whereby you, as a foreigner, are charged a higher price than the locals. O

There are many good, independent hotels, which may not be as excellently located, but which in my opinion offer better value. At Vic Falls, however, I recommend that, if you can afford it, bite the bullet, and pay the price, to stay in one of the world's really great hotels.

Game Lodges very often go together with the game area where they are situated, which means that the price will be high, but will include the game viewing activities as well. There are many of these, some of which are owned by Zimbabwe Sun, and others which are independent.

Reports about the restcamps vary greatly. There is a restcamp operated by the municipality at Vic Falls. I recommend it for those on a really tight budget, and suggest that if you can afford a hotel, take it.

The national park restcamps are charming, but the quality of the service rests with the management of the day. They are, of course, much cheaper than hotels.

Most people visiting Zimbabwe will do so on a pre-arranged tour which will have all accommodation included, so it really only the self-drive visitors who will have to contemplate these possibilities and make their choices.

Victoria Falls deserves special mention, being one of the great tourist destinations of the world, and here I will name some names:

Firstly, for the backpacker or budget traveller, is the Municipal Restcamp. It is a bustling place in the very centre of town, within walking distance of everything, and alive with young people from all over the world. It has fixed accommodation, as well as a camp and caravan site. I make no claims about the quality of the place one way or another, but it serves a purpose.

Then we get the three hotels that I consider to be the "value for money" properties. These are the Sprayview Motel, the Rainbow Hotel, and the A'Zambezi River Lodge.

The Sprayview has built up a solid reputation for comfort and service at reasonable rates. It's the number one choice for South Africans and Zimbabweans who drive all the way to the Falls.

The Rainbow is on the edge of town. A pleasant hotel, which offers a shuttle-bus transfer to the centre and to the Falls. O

A'Zambezi River Lodge is the Rainbow's sister hotel. Some miles out of town, the location is nicer, on the banks of the river itself. Interesting thatched architecture, nice pool, everything that you need without being fancy. And a shuttle bus service to take you to town or the Falls.

Moving upmarket now, we have Elephant Hills Intercontinental, an impressive monstrosity dominating a hill overlooking the river. Like the A'Zam, this is upriver, out of town, but also offers a shuttle bus service. The views are great (from the inside looking out) and it has an excellent golf course. It is also the departure point for the helicopter flights over the Falls. Not cheap, but for what you get, not badly priced either. By the way, it also has a casino, so you could either win back the price of your accommodation, or land up paying a lot more. Depends on your luck and your judgement.

Over the road is one of the newer additions to the accommodation scene - the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Very luxurious - I haven't stayed there, but I have only ever heard good reports about it. Expect to pay for its growing reputation. And, of course, they provide a shuttle service.

The two finest sites in the town are owned by the Zimbabwe Sun Group. On one is the new Kingdom Hotel, opened March 1999. Just a few hundred yards from the Falls themselves, you can't better the location. It's brash, however. Like an African Caesar's Palace, with the casino as its central feature.

Next door is the truly classic Victoria Falls Hotel. The food isn't as great as it used to be in the colonial days, but in every other respect this is one of the world's great hotels. If you can afford it, DO it. The others are all hotels which happen to be at Victoria Falls. But Victoria Falls Hotel isn't just AT the Falls, it's part of the whole experience.

Swaziland is a small country, and visitors generally stay for just a night or two, usually as they make their way from Zululand to the Kruger National Park.

Most hotels are situated in the Ezulwini Valley, between the principal towns of Mbabane and Manzini.

Best known are the three establishments run by the Sun International Group (not to be confused with the Southern Sun Group).

Centrepiece, and jolly nice too, is the Royal Swazi Spa Hotel and Casino, which is a lovely property overlooking the valley. It has an excellent golf course, and is a favourite weekend haunt for South Africans at play, as well as a favourite congress destination for those who pretend to be at work. They're actually there for the golf, the scenery, the atmosphere, and maybe a flutter in the casino.

Adjacent are two former Holiday Inns, now also owned by Sun International. Both eminently acceptable, with the good, old fashioned, HUGE bedrooms for which Holidays Inns used to be famous.

Elsewhere in Swaziland we might mention the spectacularly located Protea Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino, at Piggs Peak, and the truly delightful Forester's Arms Hotel at Mhlambanyati.

For those who like to rough it it chalets, in order to enjoy a delightfully unspoilt atmosphere, at an insanely low price, you may stay in the restcamp at Mlilwane Game Reserve.

The attraction in Botswana is the game viewing. In the northern part of the country the Okavango River forms an inland delta, which provides a feast of game viewing quite unlike anything anywhere else. Adjacent is the game rich Chobe area.

Game lodges abound, both on waterways and away from them. These are inevitably booked as package deals, and will include your flights in and out, as well as your game drives.

Some of the places are accessible by road from Victoria Falls, just across the border in neighbouring Zimbabwe. Even so, packages are still the order of the day.

Botswana is a wilderness, and you do not simply take a car, drive along, and then choose a convenient place to stop over. Not unless you have four-wheel drive, camping equipment, provisions, and the know-how to use them all.

Lesotho is the cinderella of Southern African tourism. Poor and undeveloped, it has simply not established any kind of prominence as a destination.

It has great possibilities for the adventurous tourist. Some small, but very nice, lodges have been built in the mountains. The regular tourist, however, does not have the right kind of vehicle, or pony trekking experience, to get into these remote areas.

The average visitor, therefore, is likely to confine his Lesotho visit to driving the stretch between Ficksburg Bridge and Maseru, with overnight in the single good hotel in Maseru.

Windhoek, the capital, and Swkopmund, the seaside resort, both offer a number of good hotels, and also a number of very nice guesthouses. This was once a German colony, and there is still a sizeable German community, so the "gasthaus" ethic is well-established, and you may happily choose a "Pension A" or a "Haus B" if you don't fancy a regular hotel.

Elsewhere, each town usually has a single hotel, the standard of which may vary from surprisingly good to indescribably bad. Usually the best way to find out is to telephone and chat to the manager. If he sounds okay, then the hotel is probably okay too. If the manager sounds like he can't run a hotel, he probably can't. (You must be subtle, of course. Don't ask him if he knows how to run a hotel - he is sure to answer "yes." Ask him to give you a run down of the attractions of the area, and then judge him on his lucidity.)

In the remote areas, guest farms provide accommodation, and once again the standard can vary. However the choices are limited. If you find a bed, take it. There may not be another one for a couple of hundred miles.

The national parks offer restcamp accommodation. These were amongst the best-managed restcamps in Southern Africa, but in many cases standards have slipped since independence. But, once again, there are not many choices in such a vast, sparsely populated country, so you may have to accept what you get.

There are also a number of "game farms" which offer excellent accommodation, combined with game viewing and the whole African experience.

My pet gripe is "the Hollywood Twin." This is a sneaky trick whereby hotels confirm to you a twin-bedded room that isn't a proper twin room. When you arrive, you find that there are two beds, but they are pushed together, and often cannot be separated.

That's fine if you are travelling with your wife, or don't mind sleeping in very close proximity to your sister. However, many people simply don't like breathing the air that others breathe. So, if booking a twin, ask if it's a real twin, with space between the beds.

In South Africa, the crime rate is high in the main towns and cities, and along the tourist routes. If you are travelling by car, make sure that the accommodation you choose offers safe parking, failing which you may find that you have a broken window and a missing radio (or more) in the morning. You may not even have a car at all. (In the places off the beaten tourist track, you do not need to worry. Ask the locals about the situation.)

In Zimbabwe, some hotels, especially those in the Zimbabwe Sun Group, charge much higher prices for foreigners than they do for locals. It's quite rightly regarded as a rip off. However, do not try to pretend that you are a local - a deal is a deal, and if you book as a local, you had better be able to prove that you are one. (Incidentally, if you are a genuine permanent resident, you qualify for local rates, even though you may have a foreign passport.)

Remember, too, that Zimbabwe government regulations forbid you to settle your accommodation in Zimbabwe dollars. You must use either a foreign based credit card, foreign currency travellers' cheques, or foreign banknotes. However, you ARE allowed to settle any additional hotel costs - booze, food, laundry etc, in Zimbabwe dollars

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