Africa has the coolest places to stay. Imagine a mobile camp with the great wildebeest migration. Or a thatched hideout in an old volcano, next to wild mountain gorillas. And did you hear about Earth Lodge in Sabi Sabi, South Africa?
But perhaps the coolest place to stay is in Namibia, where Arnaud Zannier created something special on a savagely wild savannah.
Arnaud Zannier Always Creates Something Different
We adore Zannier Hotels because of Arnaud Zannier’s unique ability to create contemporary luxury based on traditional building styles.
If you started thinking all your hotel experiences look and feel the same, you need to try a Zannier hotel.
Zannier Hotel Bai San Ho is a super stylish retreat in Vietnam, using three different local architectural styles. You just can’t imagine staying in a Cham fisherman-style hut and having such luxury until you go there.
Angelina Jolie stays in the stilt farmhouses of Zannier Phum Baitang when visiting Cambodia. In France, Le Chalet is the alpine retreat reimagined.
His hotels are always small, sophisticated, packed with atmosphere and absolutely unique. Especially Zannier Hotels Omaanda in Namibia.
Introducing Zannier Hotels Omaanda
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To the Namibian savannah we go, where ten round thatched huts stand on a private conservation reserve, close to Windhoek. These are inspired by traditional architecture of the Ovambo people.
Amazingly, it was Angelina Jolie who told Arnaud Zannier about the glorious natural setting and Ovambo people. She believed Zannier could preserve both nature and culture the same way he did in Cambodia.
It’s a savage savannah, home to elephants and rhinos, where Zannier Hotels Omaanda feels luxuriously wild.
The ten huts have private terraces, have a roof of hand-finished thatch, and are built from a variety of native woods. Rounded walls are made from natural clay and sand.
The local Ovambo people are known for their secular and sober know-how, inspired by and respectful of the wild environment all around them. It’s somehow magnificently modern by Western standards.
Curves meet straight and pure lines. Warm colours meet earth tones. The authenticity and atmosphere of Namibia, in something more stylish than almost any hotel in Europe.
And then the bathrooms. Imagine having a bath with a glorious view over one of the wildest places on earth?
From the Boma to Safari and Walking with Rhinos
The ‘boma’ is the central, beating heart of Omaanda, designed on the meeting places of local tribes. Further echoing Namibian traditions, the property is surrounded by a wooden fence called the ‘kraal.’
Proximity to the airport makes this the place to stay at the start and end of a Namibia holiday. It’s also a place to go on safari.
Sit back as an elephant herd goes swimming. Find a leopard in a jackleberry tree. Do a game drive at night, where sounds guide nocturnal discovery. Perhaps a black-backed jackal. Maybe an oryx. Giraffe feeding from the tops of trees.
Lace up your walking shoes and go rhino tracking on foot. Follow elephants. Join local trackers in seeking out African hunters, especially Namibia’s leopards.
Here you can explore. Which is the other reason we think Zannier Hotels Omaanda is the coolest place to stay in Africa.
