Singita Lebombo Lodge: Top 5 Hotel 2020

Matador Network’s ‘25 most spectacular hotels in the world: 2020’ list includes Singita Lebombo Lodge, in the Kruger National Park, in its top 5. The best hotels and lodges from around the world are highlighted in the list, released late in January 2020. Designed in collaboration with GAPP Architects, Lebombo reflects the spectacular landscape – within a 33,000-acre private concession on the eastern edge of the Kruger –from which it draws its inspiration.

The accommodation at Singita Lebombo Lodge, where the contemporary décor is a standout feature, is an added attraction that distinguishes Lebombo from other safari options.

Cécile & Boyd interiors are something that Matador specifically points out, stating: ‘While many luxury safari camps in Africa can lean too hard on the nostalgic (or are borderline cringey in their myopic celebration of colonial Africa), Lebombo is refreshingly modern with contemporary, natural-light-filled rooms and airy sculptural touches that celebrate the surrounding wildlife.’

The spectacular luxury destination in the heart of the Kruger, overlooks the N’wanetsi River. Here guests get to experience the bushveld world of dramatic landscapes home to high concentrations of South African wildlife.

Abundant prey draws many big cats to the area, including large prides of lion. Often referred to as ‘Lebombo: Land of Lions’ after the Lebombo mountain ridge, it is one of the best places to see these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.

‘Lebombo is refreshingly modern with contemporary, natural-light-filled rooms and airy sculptural touches that celebrate the surrounding wildlife,’ says Matador Network.

The lodge is ‘inspired by the rockface into which it is built, the untamed terrain that surrounds the lodge and the thousand stars that twinkle at night’ says Singita.

According to Matador Network, one of the highlights at Lebombo Lodge is that it doesn’t get congested like Kruger in the high season and that you can watch wildlife from your bedroom suite, which feels like ‘part of the landscape’.