The Best Hotels and Resorts in Africa and the Middle East: The Gold List 2025
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Consider the Gold List the answer to the question our editors get asked more than any other: What are your favorite places to stay? Our 31st list of the world’s greatest hotels and cruises captures nearly a year’s worth of work. This collection represents hundreds of hours of researching, scouting, and impassioned debating by our team of editors in seven cities across the globe. But more than that, it reflects our ongoing love affair with the places where we stay, which often become our gateways to entire destinations. Read on for the best hotels in the Middle East and North Africa to inspire your next trip.
See the full Gold List here.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
Courtesy Ellerman HousehotelEllerman House — South Africa
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Gold List 2019, 2020, 2025 
Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Built for the shipping magnate Sir John Ellerman in 1906, this is one of the most splendid Edwardian mansions on one of Cape Town’s most beautiful coastal sites, with prime views of the boulder-strewn swimming coves below and of sunsets. In the exclusive Bantry Bay area, Ellerman House has 11 rooms, two suites, two villas, and one-and-a-half-acre hillside gardens, all verdant lawns, waving palm trees, and aromatic Cape fynbos beds. The staff members treat everyone like a houseguest by pressing clothes, running bubble-baths, delivering antique silver pots of just-picked mint for tea, and advising on the perfect wine. Each individually decorated sea- or mountain-facing bedroom features art belonging to the house’s owner, Paul Harris. He has one of South Africa’s finest private collections, including 19th-century landscapes by Thomas Bowler and contemporary portraits by Gerard Sekoto, which decorates the house and its adjoining gallery. The service within its airy, light-filled spa, its amply stocked cellar, and its sunny restaurant is personalized; chefs happily whip up individual favorites, like rich Cape Malay curries and fresh lobster salads, as well as treats that are set out daily in a help-yourself pantry. For families, two more-contemporary villas enable children to splash about in their own pool without disturbing those indulging in a formal English tea on the shaded verandas or lazing on a pool lounger while watching seagulls wheel above the Atlantic. This feels like a gracious grande dame of a hotel—a clubby space that encourages you to slow down and be spoiled. From $900. —Lisa Grainger
Ross Couper/SingitahotelSingita Ebony Lodge — South Africa
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2019If there’s a brand that embodies the safari gold standard, it’s Singita, which runs 19 lodges and camps across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Rwanda. Ebony Lodge, overlooking the Sand River in a private concession in the leopard-rich Sabi Sands Game Reserve, was the one that started it all, back in 1993. But in some ways Singita’s other lodges (we adore the nature-modernist Sweni lodge) had overtaken its traditional aesthetic—until a richly textured redesign led by Cape Town designers Cécile and Boyd was unveiled in spring 2024. The new Ebony Lodge—with the indoor-outdoor stepped central area that descends toward the river, and the glass and canvas that has replaced walls in the 12 richly textured suites—is more flowing, more immersed in nature. Singita’s game drives are always next-level, and for us, private sightings, like of a tree-bound leopard chillingly devouring an impala, were followed by blissful moments by our private plunge pool watching elephants loll in the riverbed. The new Ebony is smarter than ever but, happily, remains a classic. From $2,580. —Toby Skinner
Courtesy Kasbah TamadothotelKasbah Tamadot — Morocco
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024All kasbahs are a kind of oasis of calm behind fortified walls, and Kasbah Tamadot is one of the very finest in Morocco. Its name means “soft breeze” in the local Berber language, evoking the reprieve it offers in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains. First built over a century ago as a home for a local governor, it became part of the Virgin Limited Edition Collection of lodges and resorts in 2005. Now reopening after substantial damage from the 2023 earthquake, Tamadot is a lavish yet quirky Amazigh castle with exquisite carved doors and intimate courtyards, secret passageways, and terraces of reflecting pools strewn with rose petals. It is furnished with the extraordinary collections of the previous owner, a Venetian antiquarian named Luciano Tempo, which were included when Richard Branson purchased the place. Huge bronze and wooden chests that might have carried Barbarossa’s loot stand in corners. In rambling gardens, pathways meander beneath trellises of jasmine while espaliered apple trees frame the cabanas around the swimming pool. In addition to atmospheric rooms in the old kasbah, new accommodations offer a step-up in luxury with 10 glamorous Berber tents in the gardens and six luxurious riads, which offer three-bedroom suites and private pools. From $728. —Stanley Stewart
andBeyondhotelandBeyond Mnemba Island — Tanzania
$$ | Gold List 2025The East African coast has some of the most unspoiled beaches on earth yet very few private-island resorts. Which is, in part, why AndBeyond’s Mnemba, a tiny blob of white sand almost two miles off the touristy hot spot of Zanzibar, has been adored for so long. Opened in 1997 and rebuilt in 2024 by the esteemed Fox Browne team, with architect Jack Alexander, the diminutive 12-banda resort is lovelier than ever. Designed to mimic the curves of a nautilus shell, and to bring nature indoors, the rooms are curvaceous, wood-and-reed-clad Robinson Crusoe–esque spaces in which sea air (and an occasional bird, crab, or bat) can waft in and where shower views are of shady forest and chirruping seabirds. It’s a place loved by both seclusionists and socialites. Those wanting privacy can stay put 24/7 and ask a butler to pop by with a basket of sushi or a cooling coconut. Others might slip on a silk caftan and stroll barefoot along the blinding white sand to the bar for a Dawa lime cocktail or a glass of fine South African wine, then a romantic lamplit dinner on the beach—lobster ravioli, perhaps, or rare Kenyan beef followed by a chocolate tart or mango sorbet. For design lovers, a boutique is stocked with colorful local jewelry, clothing, and crafts; for the active, a gang of smiley chaps is on hand who can help you explore the clear, turquoise waters on catamarans, kayaks, or paddleboards; or dive the area’s famous reefs. At the island’s new spa, yoga lessons are offered on a cool, breezy beach deck, and world-class Healing Earth–scented massages administered by the island’s talented, intuitive therapists. Huge numbers of guests are repeat visitors—from America, France, Switzerland, the UK. As one glam couple, on their eighth stay, explained: “We’ve explored the world and haven’t found anything to compare. So we just keep coming back. Yes, it’s a big treat. But there’s nothing like Mnemba.” From $4,300. —Lisa Grainger
Courtesy Jack’s CamphotelJack’s Camp — Botswana
$$ | Gold List 2019, 2025 
Hot List 2021 Readers' Choice Awards 2020Imagine a land so vast it could swallow the sky, so bone-dry for parts of the year that the cracks in the earth form an intricate network of veins that stretch for miles. It’s from this landscape of Botswana's Makgadikgadi salt pans that Jack’s Camp, an anachronistic concoction filled with the all-out splendor of a 1940s camp, emerges, mirage-like. Founder Ralph Bousfield, a cultish figure in the safari world, opened Jack's Camp in the ’90s in honor of his father, Jack, and it's their combined vision that drives the camp's personality with its colonial style and archaeological treasures in glass cases. Here romance exists in spades: Each of the nine canvas tents come with campaign desks and hand-carved beds and, on the outside, broad wood decks, swings, and plunge pools. You’ll be tempted to stay put, but just out the door are wide-open spaces filled with wildebeests, hyenas, and meerkats that are waiting to be explored in a 4x4, on a quad bike, or on horseback. At the end of long days, guests and guides gather at a 36-seater table to clink glasses and test their taste buds with pilipili-hoho, a Jack’s Camp mainstay of African chilies soaked in gin. But the real standout meal here is the decadent afternoon tea, served upon fraying rugs in a Persian tent. It’s exactly what you need to shore up your spirit and head out into the still afternoon heat for more desert adventures. From $1,965. —Arati Menon
Courtesy Matetsi Victoria FallshotelMatetsi Victoria Falls — Zimbabwe
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Hot List 2017 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024This lodge, set along a nine-mile stretch of the Zambezi and staffed almost entirely by Zimbabweans, is one of the best in southern Africa. All of the 18 suites and four-bedroomed villas face “the Great River,” in which hippo snort and crocodiles float. Within walls the hue and texture of elephant skin, graphic local art hangs amid midcentury-style nature-inspired furnishings, and you’ll find tubs as well as indoor and outdoor showers. Fridges have fabulous South African wines and edible treats to nibble while lounging beside the plunge pool. In the elegant open-sided main living space, delicious meals are served in the shade of giant trees or on shaded candlelit terraces. Alternatively, picnics can be packed for day trips—to go on game walks, kayaking excursions, visits to crocodile farms, bungee jumps, gorge swings, guided tours of Victoria Falls—or just enjoyed out in the wild, in the company of healthy herds of buffalo and elephant, big prides of lions, and varied bird life. Not many lodges offer such a diversity of activities, in such style and in such a wild, UNESCO-protected destination. Which makes this place pure gold. From $1,095. —Lisa Grainger
Courtesy Six Senses Zighy BayhotelSix Senses Zighy Bay — Oman
$$ | Gold List 2019, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024As we approach Six Senses Zighy Bay, tarmac gives way to rock-peppered dust tracks lined with sidr trees, beneath which roaming mountain goats shelter from the harsh midday sun. We wind through the mountains until the horseshoe of Oman's Zighy Bay comes into sight below. Before the resort opened in 2008, this stretch of sand lay all but untouched, a secret kept for the local families from tiny Zighy village, tucked into the far corner of the bay, and the fishermen who sailed these waters. The resort’s 82 charmingly rustic villas, built with thick stone walls and topped with roofs made from tightly strung palm fronds, are designed to mimic the homes in a traditional Omani village. Sustainability is at the core of what Six Senses Zighy Bay is about, and the infrastructure is truly impressive—from the onsite desalination plant to the nearby farm that provides fresh produce, cheese, and milk. Don’t miss a trip on one of the resort’s three private boats to explore the surrounding coves. It’s the best way to truly understand the remoteness of Zighy Bay and take in the dramatic landscapes. Don’t be surprised if you spot a pod of dolphins (when the season is right) or, in our case, a group of friendly eagle rays. From $1,031. —Sophie Prideaux
Courtesy Burj Al Arab JumeirahhotelBurj Al Arab Jumeirah — United Arab Emirates
$$$ | Gold List 2020, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024The iconic image of the sail-inspired structure, which stands alone on its own purpose-built island just off Dubai's Jumeirah Beach, can be found in souvenir shops, on postcards, and in the camera roll of just about any traveler who visits the city. Together with the Burj Khalifa and Palm Jumeirah, it is a symbol of Dubai’s unending ambition. This year Jumeirah’s flagship hotel is celebrating 25 years since opening its opulent doors. If quiet luxury is the current in-vogue hotel trend, Jumeirah Burj Al Arab is the antithesis of that. Each of the 198 suites is a duplex, and guests are greeted with a sweeping staircase and gold accents. Full-size toiletries are from Hermès (and include eaux de parfum for him and her). There are eight on-site restaurants, including the gold-laden Gilt Sky Bar. The Talise Spa, meanwhile, with its indoor pool flanked by colorful mosaic pillars, remains a destination within itself—the jewel in this hotel’s crown. From $1,670. —Sophie Prideaux
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