The Best Hotels and Resorts in Africa and the Middle East: The Gold List 2024
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 30th 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 to inspire your next trip to Africa and the Middle East.
See the full Gold List here.
All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Natelee Cocks/Bab Al Shams, A Rare Finds Desert Resort, DubaihotelBab Al Shams — Dubai
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Gold List 2024 
Hot List 2023Bab Al Shams reveals herself slowly, her sandstone exterior—an ode to traditional Emirati forts—half-hidden by spindly date palms and sand dunes. In a city that so often leans into excess, the grande dame of Dubai’s desert resorts works her magic with restraint.
For almost two decades, UAE residents have made the 45-minute pilgrimage from the city up Al Qudra Road—past outlandishly shaped man-made lakes, swirling cycle paths and endurance horse-racing tracks to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and indulgent weekends at Bab Al Shams. The city may be creeping closer, but this is still the place we come to get away from it all. The resort’s much-photographed infinity pool, which drops off into a vast sandy expanse in a paradox of elemental opposites, is the draw for many. For me, it’s the quiet, which is all-enveloping and absolute. The resort comes into its own as the sun sets, the silhouettes of sand dunes framed in pinks and mauves; bamboo torches flickering along the perimeter and lanterns creating a play of light and shadow in outdoor passageways.
Now Bab Al Shams is fresh from a 10-month, no-holds-barred renovation, with new bragging rights as the first property in the Rare Finds Hotels & Resorts collection by the Kerzner group (Atlantis, One&Only). The exterior remains largely unchanged, the deep solid walls, arches, alcoves and geometric patterning lifted directly from the UAE’s vernacular architecture. But interiors have been transformed by a deft hand, the gilded ornamentalism that characterizes the country’s Arabesque-inspired resorts forsaken for a lighter touch. The lobby, once a warren of dimly lit, compartmentalized spaces, has been opened out and brightened up. In my terrace garden room, instead of dark woods and heavy upholstery, nods to tradition come in delicate mother-of-pearl detailing on arched mirrors, brass studs on cupboard doors and majlis-style seating in a corner nook. Teal accents flit from headboards and furniture piping to diamond-shaped mosaic tiles in the rain shower.
The hotel is unassuming, but not devoid of spectacle. At Al Hadheerah, a colossal open-air restaurant, nightly performances accompany the Arabian classic dishes: a belly dancer, whirling dervish, musicians, singers and even a re-enactment of a Bedouin -caravan with camels and horses crisscrossing a bordering desert plateau. Cooking stations serve lamb salona and chicken biryani, and the spirited Egyptian chef de cuisine takes great delight in showing guests the underground contraption used to prepare his seven-hour slow-cooked lamb ouzi. More sedate meals are served at the Mediterranean-inspired Zala or Pan-Asian Anwā, a prime sunset spot.
Bab Al Shams remains loyal to her desert environment. In the newly opened standalone spa, home to male and female hammams carefully crafted from green-veined Cipollino Nuvolato marble, some treatments use De L’Arta, a locally grown skincare line featuring Tetraena qatarensis, a shrub found in abundance around the hotel. On a recent visit, a morning safari took us through Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, over powder-soft pale-yellow dunes, past camels feasting on desert grasses, regally horned Arabian oryx, skittish gazelles and the season’s first migratory flamingoes. Indian rollers flitted between ghaf trees and lizards scuttered off into hidden burrows. It was a reminder, as Bab Al Shams has always been, that there is immense natural beauty in the UAE, if you only stop to look. From $417. —Selina Denman
hotelDar Ahlam — Morocco
$$ | Gold List 2024This rare palm-framed fantasyland near Ouarzazate, whose name translates from Arabic as “House of Dreams,” was conjured 20 years ago from the wild imagination of a Parisian creative. Thierry Teyssier re-envisaged the 200-year-old ochre kasbah and its rammed-earth ramparts to honor its Berber heritage with authenticity, elegance, and an unrivaled romance. Spells at the hideaway are more magical than ever, with the handful of rooms in the North African castle joined by spacious suites at the edge of the Louis Benech-landscaped grounds. Teyssier’s past lives as a theatre actor and event planner keep him challenging traditional hospitality as a disrupter and storyteller: Every soul-stirring scene is art-directed and choreographed to enchant, with delicate and tactile interiors, seductive scents, and unexpected curios at every turn. Surrendering to Dar Ahlam’s rare rhythm is akin to participating in immersive theatre, with unprompted poolside pomegranate juices, candlelit Berber tents for secret suppers, and personally addressed hand-penned scrolls or other gifts at bedtime. Guests can explore vast desert-scapes by four-by-four, or let the staff plan a picnic in a villager’s vegetable garden. There is no lobby, restaurant, or bar, just beautiful spaces unfettered by telephones, menus, or minibars. Dar Ahlam’s emotive approach to hospitality has a precious respect for Morocco’s remote rural places, with the surrounding community deeply involved. This interdependence with the people of the area is a welcome lesson in how respecting geography and hyperlocal history cultivates a richer appreciation on all sides. From $1,730. —Juliet Kinsman
Igor DembahotelEl-Fenn — Marrakech
$$ | Gold List 2021, 2024 
Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022It’s easy to forget what a game-changer El Fenn was when it opened two decades ago on the edge of the medina with just six jewel-toned bedrooms, plumes of bougainvillea, and a rooftop that felt like a fabulous house party. It stitched itself into the fabric of the Red City and redefined its aesthetic with color-clashing walls and lounges of thickly woven Berber and velvet fabrics; with Moorish keyhole archways and orange trees. Like the best hotels, it has moved—and expanded—with the times. Co-owner Vanessa Branson, founder of the Marrakech Biennale and a certified Marocophile, has gradually bought up the crumbling neighboring riads to create a wondrous labyrinth of 13 interconnected buildings, three pools, and 41 bedrooms in blush pinks, mustards, and acid yellows. Some have zellige tiles, others hand-stitched camel leather floors and carved wooden ceilings, all offset with pop art and bright contemporary installations. Various sun-dappled courtyards lead to a new wood-carved annex, which references traditional Arabic motifs in the latticework and stained-glass windows. I recently stayed in one of the “cosy” rooms, behind an ornate cedar door. On a hand-plastered traditional tadelakt wall hangs a contemporary dot painting by Moroccan artist Abdelmalek Berhiss, while a timeworn mother-of-pearl iridescent chandelier dangles above the bed. It’s nearly impossible to tell old from new, a result of using local artisans, natural fabrics, and upcycled furniture. The open-air, guest-only Colonnade Café is dotted with olive trees; its modern spiral staircase, which connects the ground-floor boutique with the sprawling spruced-up rooftop, is a monument to Marrakech’s contemporary mood. Yet amid the rooftop’s pool, sunbeds, and pops of color, the old magic of Marrakech endures. From $366. —Chloe Sachdev
Courtesy Jumeirah Dar Al MasyafhotelJumeirah Dar Al Masyaf – Dubai
$$ | Gold List 2024That there is still a spot on Dubai’s 99-acre Madinat Jumeirah estate that feels undiscovered comes as a genuine surprise, given that the resort, an Arabesque fantasy of four hotels on 1.25 miles of private beachfront overlooking the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024. But checking in to one of the newly refurbished Malakiya Villas at Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf is like stepping into your own private kingdom. There are seven discrete two- and three-bedroom residences, including the 7,000 square foot Royal Malakiya Villa. Each has its own private plunge pool and terrace, and guests arrive via whisper-quiet abra rides through man-made tropical lagoons. Interiors are a swirl of soft grays and creams, leather, silk, and bouclé, offset by grand Impressionist-style artworks. In the master bedroom, the bed is so high and well-appointed that once you’ve clambered in, princess-style, you’ll be reluctant to kick back the linens to escape for breakfast. A cadre of butlers can be reached via WhatsApp 24/7 and will materialize with perfectly mixed cocktails or servings of jewel-like treats for afternoon tea. A royal affair indeed. From $521. —Clare Dight
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
LolebezihotelLolebezi – Zambia
$$$ | Gold List 2024 Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023The Lower Zambezi National Park has long been a pilgrimage for safari-goers seeking natural drama on water as well as land. So when this new lodge was opened in 2022 on a formerly wild 12-acre concession on the banks of the Zambezi River, conservationists’ eyes were firmly turned. Owned by Dubai-based businessman Irfaan Yousuf for his wildlife-loving wife Shahida and son Lole (hence the name), Lolebezi is surrounded by game—which can be seen from kayaks (keeping a watch out for monster crocodiles and irritable hippo), sundowner cruises, walks and game drives. Built in partnership with respected African Bush Camps’ founder Beks Ndlovu, the six suites and double-height living space were designed by South Africa-based Fox Browne Creative and Jack Alexander Studio to feel like an indulgent contemporary boutique hotel, with curvaceous banquettes alongside calabash-strung art installations; reed ceilings above opulent green Italian marble. Considering the remote location, the food is remarkably inventive and fresh. There might be an Indian tandoori feast in the evening, Ottolenghi-style vegan tapas for lunch and spirulina- and baobab-spiked juices at dawn. With an Africology and Healing Earth spa set among giant leadwood trees (and, sometimes, wandering lions), a glass-walled gym, games room and velvet-seated cocktail bar, this is the most glamorous camp in Zambia. An instant classic on the African continent. From $1,375. —Lisa Grainger
Elsa Young/Courtesy LondolozihotelLondolozi – South Africa
$$$ | Gold List 2021, 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Even if you’ve never been, Londolozi exists in the imagination: a sprawling cluster of five thatched-roof safari camps, in varying sizes and shades of taupe and beige, built in an ancient riverine forest around waterfalls and tangled vines. Londolozi has been owned and run by the Varty family for nearly 100 years. The word londolozi comes from the Zulu language and means “protector of all living things”. Nelson Mandela, who recovered from imprisonment on Robben Island at the family camp, described it as “a dream I cherish for a model of nature preservation in our country”. The camps feel like deeply stylish African homes, layered in natural clay, khaki and sand-coloured linens. Each has its own communal open-air lobby, with plunge pools and various rooms and suites attached. All have wide views across the bush or river, some are wrapped around ancient trees, others flanked by granite rocks. Like on most top-notch safaris, you are fed well here, from the sunrise treats at early morning pre-game drives to the big breakfasts and suppers. The Varty family have been spearheading the emotional wellness trend in Africa, offering multi-day wildlife wellness retreats which involve silent treks and life-coaching sessions. Beyond just a game lodge, Londolozi sees itself as a platform to restore and heal the land. With a jovial family ethos and unbelievable wildlife (you’re pretty much guaranteed to see the waddle of big beasts and furry creatures), this is one of the world’s best safari outposts. From $1,060. —Chloe Sachdev
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
Courtesy Time + TidehotelMiavana by Time + Tide — Madagascar
$$$ | Gold List 2024 Hot List 2018“How do they do it?” I kept asking myself during my stay at Miavana, a private island hideaway just off Madagascar’s northeastern coast. Its extensive restaurant menus and top-shelf drinks list would have been impressive even if it had a traiteur on its doorstep, but given that it took me two flights and a helicopter-hop to reach its perch in the remote Levens Archipelago, the logistic puzzle this toes-in-the-sand operation requires is mind-boggling. As is the price—but that does buy you a stay in an enormous breezy beachfront villa with a barefoot Bauhaus-y design from bamboo and local sandstone, slicked up with licks of copper and jolts of turquoise. You’ll also have a private pool, of course, and a palm-hemmed beach as fine and white as powdered sugar right in front. Butlers fix poolside breakfasts, fresh coconuts and in-villa spa treatments at the drop of a hat, or help organise helicopter safaris to little-visited baobab forests and otherworldly rock formations on the mainland that culminate in lavish picnics. But for all this extravagance, the things that will stick with you the most are the ones you can’t put a price tag on: coming eye-to-beady-eye with a chameleon crossing the jungle floor in its jerky gait; having the on-site experts point out birds and gecko species you’ll find nowhere else on earth; and, if you’re lucky, spotting humpback whales from the helicopter before you’ve even checked in. The best things in life might be free, but Miavana adds a priceless dash of magic. From $3,787. —Chris Schalkx
Mike Sutherland/Courtesy Singita Sasakwa LodgehotelSingita Sasakwa Lodge — Tanzania
$$$ | Gold List 2019, 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2020Built in the style of an Edwardian stone manor house, overlooking the Serengeti, this safari lodge has had gold standards since it opened in 2007. Its elegant, antique-clad interiors ooze romance, adorned with crystal chandeliers and wingback chairs, Persian rugs and African artefacts by the acclaimed Cape Town designers Cécile & Boyd. From the clifftop infinity pool, there are views for hundreds of miles over the 350,000-acre Grumeti Reserve and neighboring Serengeti, land on which wildlife migrates to Kenya’s Masai Mara. Between the lodge’s wraparound verandas and plunge pools, birds flit, filling the dawn air with song. There are terraces and tree-shaded tables for long Mediterranean-style lunches; cosy sitting rooms in which to sip fine wines by a fire, and candlelit baths to wallow in beneath shooting stars. And, of course, there’s wildlife. Since Luke Bailes launched Singita in 1993 on his South African family farm, its mission has been to preserve Africa’s wilderness while enriching communities. In Tanzania, in part thanks to the deep pockets of the Grumeti Fund started by American philanthropist Paul Tudor Jones, Grumeti is home to creatures from big cats to tiny gem-colored birds that can be viewed from well-fitted vehicles, hot-air balloons or on foot with expert guides. As there are only five camps on the reserve (a sixth is due in 2024), safari experiences feel private, but there’s also a tennis court, pool, spa and boutique. This is a place you never want to leave, and to which many return, year after year. From $4,861. —Lisa Grainger
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