Royal Livingstone Hotel

Set on the banks of the Zambezi, just upstream from the Falls, this hotel’s location is unrivalled – so close to the Falls that you can hear their roar from your room’s private terrace.

There’s a good-sized pool with plentiful loungers, and great Zambezi views. The hotel spa offers excellent massages in open-air gazebos right on the river’s edge, and if you take a walk near the electric fence at dusk, you may see white hippos emerge from the river to graze.

Throw in African-infused decor, ever-smiling staff and a raft of facilities and you have what is easily the best – but not the cheapest – large hotel on either side of the Falls.