The Best Hotels and Resorts in Africa and the Middle East: The Gold List 2023
Consider the Gold List the answer to the question our editors get asked more than any other: what are your favourite places to stay? Our 29th annual collection, passionately selected by our international team, reveals which seaside resort we return to every August and the city hotel that gets everything right. Now all you have to do is pick the experience that’s right for you – and get travelling.
See the full Gold List of the best hotels in the world
Courtesy La MamouniaLa Mamounia – Marrakech, Morocco
On her 100th birthday, La Mamounia has emerged from the pandemic phoenix-like, glowing from Jouin Manku’s 2020 makeover. The Netflix hit series Inventing Anna followed, with the Marrakech hotel starring as the destination of choice for Anna Delvey (aka Anna Sorokin), the New York con woman famous for her exquisite taste. But what is the secret of La Mamounia’s success? Sitting at the edge of the madcap medina, this public palace manages to be both exclusive and popular, providing the city with a spectacular stage. In the Pierre Hermé Salon de Thé, guests treating themselves to pastries are bathed in refracted light from a Lasvit chandelier that fills the courtyard. Next to the ruby-red Majorelle bar, L’Asiatique restaurant, with its Ming Dynasty-style chairs and black lacquer tables, is a vision of Deco decadence. Art deals are done to the sound of birdsong in the Italian restaurant open to the garden, while film-festival moguls host money men in the sexy subterranean wine cellar or at the black-marble Churchill bar. Even on Sundays, local society packs the pool house for the epic buffet brunch. Ask any of them about La Mamounia and they will have a story. This pleases general manager Pierre Jochem. Like Anna Delvey, he understands that, in a world of limitless choice, relevance is everything. La Mamounia is still the talk of the town. From about £442. Paula Hardy
Courtesy The Chedi MuscatThe Chedi Muscat – Oman
On my first visit to The Chedi Muscat in 2004, this refined temple of tranquillity was still a bit of an anomaly. In a Sultanate where five-star hospitality was given to outré displays of rococo glitz, The Chedi had its work cut out appealing to the flamboyant tastes of the Middle Eastern market. Happily, the brand’s first foray into the region could not have been more of a triumph. Two decades on, The Chedi has won a legion of loyal fans, both local and international, who come here precisely not to be seen. The lobby alone suggests why. Under its graceful, canopied ceiling (a nod to Oman’s Bedouin history), there’s silence. This lack of ambient music and general buzz sets the scene for what is to come: an enveloping serenity, where the daily soundtrack is the gentle burble of traditional water features winding through 21 acres of manicured grounds. In its 162 rooms and suites, defined by the restful symmetry of Omani and Asian design, teak and cool linen abound. The peace even filters into the expansive main restaurant, where carved mashrabiya screens lend an air of elegant intimacy. Omani seafood is the main event on menus at all six restaurants, one of which has a bull’s-eye view down the sublime 338-foot Long Pool. At sunset, torches illuminate the inky Arabian sky; again, the only sounds are the waves gently breaking on the beach. From about £437. Stella Rosato
Courtesy One&OnlyOne&Only Royal Mirage – Dubai
At a time when luxury properties seem to be cutting back on small things they think guests won’t notice, One & Only Royal Mirage remains unfalteringly consistent. From in-room details like fresh flowers and thoughtful amenities like poolside iced fruit and a cleaning service for sunglasses, it all adds up to a pleasing sense of indulgence. Enter the marbled lobby (to chimes from a welcoming gong), where intuitive staff perceive your every need without ever being annoying or intrusive. When the original Palace opened in 1998, on the shores of the emirate’s Jumeirah Beach, its traditional domes and arches elegantly surpassed the ruling family’s flanking beach residences. Even though it has increased its footprint to include the Arabian Court and Residence & Spa, there’s an innate sense of space and privacy, undoubtedly helped by 65 acres of meticulously landscaped grounds. Unsurprisingly, golf buggies are the vehicles du jour, saving Loro Piana-clad guests from taking too many steps to the eight restaurants, two of which are overseen by three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco. Amid Dubai’s showboating, posturing pretenders to its crown, One&Only Royal Mirage, Dubai, quite simply reigns supreme. From about £681 per night. Stella Rosato
Courtesy Al Qasr at Madinat JumeirahJumeirah Al Qasr – Dubai
I never expected to fall so hard for Jumeirah Al Qasr. This marble-clad, gold-encrusted palace at the nucleus of Jumeirah’s multi-resort beach enclave is the polar opposite of the less-is-more look that I, a self-proclaimed sophisticate, usually gravitate to. But within hours after checking in, I had already bought into its arabesque fantasy, and by the next morning, I fancied myself a veritable royal. It's impossible not to feel princeling-special when you have an army of staff ready with mint tea at the drop of a hat, or when you float down the resort’s labyrinthine canals in an abra boat. Wander the hallways, with their Arabian-inspired columns and mashrabiya latticework. And the more than 50 cafés, bars, and restaurants spread across the palm-tufted compound cater to every spur-of-the-moment whim. The rooms, too, are fit for a sheik, with bathrooms replete with marble tubs. Rooms were refreshed in 2018 with mother-of-pearl inlays. And then there’s that balcony view: a city of sand-coloured wind catchers poking out from a meticulously landscaped sprawl of palm trees and swirling pools, backdropped by Dubai’s gleaming skyline in the hazy distance. At first glance, Al Qasr might look like a Disney-fied bubble in the desert; spend a few days here, and you'll find that its royal hospitality is the real deal. From about £265. Chris Schalkx
Amit GeronThe Jaffa, a Luxury Collection Hotel – Tel Aviv, Israel
A single picture inspired my first trip to Tel Aviv. It wasn’t a shot of the boardwalk heaving with sun-bronzed roller skaters. Nor was it those gorgeous white Bauhaus buildings brightening up the city’s downtown. No, it was an interior shot of The Chapel lounge at The Jaffa, a stained-glass-windowed former convent that British designer John Pawson has turned into an anachronistic masterpiece. It’s even more arresting in the flesh: the sweeping ceilings, all powder blue and rimmed with Neoclassical ornaments; the chunky Italian Botolo chairs in mustard velvet; the altar turned bar, clad in marble. This old-meets-new formula informs the hotel’s other spaces too, from the collonaded walkways around the citrus-scented courtyard, where all-day deli Golda’s serves bagels and lox and shakshuka, to the timeworn plastered ceilings of my suite in the 19th-century former hospital wing, with a bathroom concealed in a sci-fi-looking mirror box. I found it an apt analogy for the rapid gentrification happening just outside the lobby, where Jaffa, just south of downtown Tel Aviv, has emerged as one of Israel’s most envelope-pushing creative hot spots. Legends around this labyrinthine sandstone port town date back to Biblical times. King David and King Solomon once reigned over its cobbled alleys, and the prophet Jonah’s journey, which ended in a whale’s belly, is said to have started from Jaffa’s harbour on the Mediterranean Sea. Later on, the town changed hands between Napoleon’s troops and British crusaders, until it was finally annexed to Tel Aviv in 1950.
Today, new concepts brilliantly meld this storied – and contentious – past with the city’s turbo-smart present. The Soho House group sniffed out the 19th-century nunnery behind The Jaffa for its first Israeli outpost, which is now a rendezvous for Tel Aviv’s in crowd, who sip chilli-spiked cocktails around the pool and have sleepovers in the snug, retro-tinged suites pitched up in the building’s turrets. Further north, rootsy boutiques and coffee bars such as Dama, a café run by an Israeli-Swedish couple doling out oat-milk flat whites and financier cakes, have moved into the century-old flea market, while the graffiti-scribbled Greek Market across the street turns into an alfresco restaurant hub after sunset. At concept store Hilweh Market, Jaffa-born curator and social-policy maker Adrieh Abou Shehadeh reclaims space for her Palestinian community and stocks the shelves with olive-wood bowls from Bethlehem, glassware from Hebron, and jewellery from Arab-diaspora designers. Back in The Jaffa’s lobby, a welcome haven of air-con breeze, a Damien Hirst spin painting abuts the crumbling remnants of a medieval bastion wall, excavated during the hotel’s construction. Its shell might be more than 100 years old, but few hotels manage to capture Tel Aviv’s current zeitgeist quite so well. From about £531. Chris Schalkx
Courtesy SingitaSingita Kwitonda Lodge – Musanze, Rwanda
With a mission as bold as its design, Singita Kwitonda is the only lodge abutting Volcanoes National Park and is the closest to park headquarters. To arrive here is to tumble into the warm embrace of intuitive service and deep-dish comfort. From the nourishing food tucked into your day pack to the hiking gear on standby, all the thinking is done for you, freeing you up to enjoy the experience of meeting animals that share 98 per cent of your DNA: gorillas. Chiseled from volcanic rock, bamboo, and eucalyptus, Kwitonda’s soft-edged interiors champion local crafts, and rooms offer views of the volcanic peaks protruding from the cloud forest’s mists, while large bathrooms double up as in-room spas with massage tables for therapists to soothe post-trek muscle fatigue. Downtime is easily filled by yoga, village visits, or nature walks led by conservationists, who will explain the value of rewilding: Singita’s reforestation goals have already seen it plant more than 250,000 trees, shrubs, and orchids. For a solo traveller, nothing beats dining sociably on braised short rib, risotto, and garden greens while watching graduates from Singita’s new community culinary school learn from the accomplished chefs. I ended the evening in my suite, which – equipped with books, art supplies, a wood-burning outdoor fireplace, and a heated pool – felt like a cocoon amid the falling rain. From about £1,835. Jane Broughton
Courtesy Asilia Jabali RidgeJabali Ridge – Ruaha, Tanzania
The Ruaha National Park is one of those wild gems that safari insiders like to keep to themselves: Tanzania’s second-largest protected tract of wilderness, dotted with fat baobabs and hills sprinkled with giant rocks. Among them, atop a kopje overlooking wildlife-rich plains and the seasonal Mwagusi River, this intimate camp is inserted like a modern-day Flintstones home, albeit with one of Africa’s prettiest bush pools. The lodge’s eight architecturally inventive rooms – some positioned so you can watch passing elephants from your hammock, others perched among balancing boulders on which cute rock hyraxes sunbathe – are the work of the Cape Town creative Caline Williams-Wynn. Cleverly, she’s designed them to be as eco-friendly as they are luxurious: walled with pale floor-to-ceiling shutters that don’t obstruct views but do let in the breeze; roofed with shade-giving branches and adorned with sculptural wooden furniture and bush-coloured linens printed with indigenous plants. After a strong massage with local marula oil, guests usually kick off their evening with a herb-infused cocktail as the sun goes down, roll on to a flame-cooked dinner in a lamplit boma, and, on certain occasions, end with a moonlit performance by the charismatic staff choir. With passionate young guides and few other guests to share sightings of big cats and rare wild dogs with, plus happy, all-Tanzanian staff who treat one another like family, it’s difficult not to fall in love with this wild little place. From £735. Lisa Grainger
Courtesy BabylonstorenBabylonstoren – Simondium, South Africa
Babylonstoren’s greatest trump card? It doesn’t feel like a hotel. You reach it by driving off the dusty Cape roads through vines and fruit trees. Tractors trundle by, laden with grapes and peaches. The restaurant is in an old cowshed. Ducks waddle past. A donkey puts out its nose for children to pat. It’s a place where you instantly feel at home (albeit one surrounded by the towering Simonsberg Mountains, rolling vineyards, and miles of fragrant indigenous fynbos shrubland). This is in large part because the 500-acre 17th-century Cape Dutch estate is still an actual home – belonging to Karen Roos, the former editor of South African Elle Decoration, who spent years creating an eight-acre Patrice Taravella – designed formal garden containing more than 300 varieties of medicinal and edible plants, and then wanted to share it with others.
Having spent her life conceiving elegant new spaces, Roos constantly changes things up. Babylonstoren opened in 2010 with 13 little Cape Dutch farm workers’ cottages beside the garden, each with a modernist glass “box” kitchen in which guests could cook fresh farm ingredients to enjoy by the fire in the spacious and bright contemporary interiors. Next, Roos converted the barns and stables to add characterful guest spaces. In the past few years, the creative hotelier has added a smattering of equally charming cottages among the fynbos, away from the public areas and surrounded by native landscaping, the better for admiring the rugged mountainscapes. I’ve been five times, and each time I return, there’s something fresh and chic to explore: a farm shop stocked with tempting local cheese and Cape gooseberry jams; a bakery, which at night is transformed into a wood-fired-pizza restaurant; and, most recently, a wine cellar and museum.
You can take a zippy golf cart from your cottage down to the public areas and walk in the sprawling gardens, with their chicken runs and beehives and rose-scented paths. Or you can have brunch or a long, lazy lunch in the Greenhouse or Babel restaurant, then have a hammam and massage in the recently added spa. Or you can do as I did on my last stay and retreat into nature, quietly fishing and kayaking on small dams, cycling amid fynbos in the hills, and lounging beside the new pool and hot tub, surrounded by rock gardens. Then, after a glass of wine at sunset, hang out in your light-filled, whitewashed cottage, cooking just-picked produce in your kitchen, listening to music and reading by the fire on Italian linen-clad sofas, and soaking in a deep bathtub fragranced with fresh herbs before a nightcap on the little veranda, the air thick with silence and lit by the moon and Milky Way. Babylonstoren paved the way for cool farm stays, but few of its successors can come close to matching the original. From about £430. Lisa Grainger