The crews who broke ground here routed the foundations around the roots of the indigenous trees already standing on this stretch of the upper Zambezi, rather than clearing them. Mature trees still shade the walkways between the blocks. Hippos surface in the channels below the balconies at dusk. The hotel sits four kilometres upstream of the falls entrance.
Hippos surface in the channels below the balconies at dusk.
Jim Brown’s family has worked in Victoria Falls since 1970. The business they established opened Ilala Lodge in 1991, and Palm River Hotel followed as its riverside sister in December 2021. There are 73 rooms and suites. Below the lawn, the Ra-Ikane cruise boats, built in a period style, leave from their own jetty for sundowner and dinner runs upstream, into quieter water away from the spray.
Verandas, raised timber decks and corrugated iron roofs give the blocks a Queenslander silhouette, a style borrowed from Australia’s east coast and adapted by local designers for shade and airflow rather than for cold. River stone and timber finish the public spaces, and a 34-metre infinity pool runs parallel to the Zambezi, its shallow end set aside for children.
On clear days, the falls carry upstream as a low, constant rumble.
Afternoons bring high tea on the lawns under the trees. On clear days, the falls carry upstream as a low, constant rumble. Dinner can be arranged at the river’s edge and breakfast on a terrace facing the water, and the Palm Restaurant cooks Zimbabwean ingredients throughout: bream from the river, and vegetables and herbs from a kitchen garden that supplies Ilala Lodge too.
Sixty of the rooms are deluxe, roughly 40 square metres each, in king or twin configuration, with a private river-facing balcony. Above them sit three executive suites with lounges of their own, two honeymoon suites, and two family suites made from interleading rooms that open onto a shared veranda. There is also a presidential suite, and a separate villa holds three en-suite bedrooms, two lounges, a kitchen and its own pool. The seven blocks take their names from indigenous trees, acacia and baobab among them.
Guided walks cover the Zimbabwean rim of the falls, and helicopter flights over the gorge give the aerial view the walks cannot. White-water rafting runs through the Batoka Gorge below the cataract, where a gorge swing and a zipline also operate. Game drives head into the neighbouring Zambezi National Park, and on the Zambian side, when river levels drop later in the dry season, Devil’s Pool becomes accessible. Quieter afternoons go to village visits with nearby communities, or into Victoria Falls town for the markets and the crafts, all of it arranged through the activities desk on site.
Fish eagles call from the tall trees on the far bank, and herons stand on the sandbanks.
Children are welcome without a stated minimum age, and those under four stay free when sharing with their parents, with ages four to eleven charged child rates and the kitchen cooking for younger guests. Road transfers run from Victoria Falls International Airport, and also from Livingstone in Zambia and Kasane in Botswana. The falls entrance and the town are both close enough that the rafting, the flights and a long lunch back on the lawn can all fit into the same day. A spa and gym are on site for the hours between.
Upstream of the cataract, the Zambezi runs wide and slow, and the birdlife along this stretch is dense. Giant kingfishers work the shallows. Fish eagles call from the tall trees on the far bank, and herons stand on the sandbanks. The lawns behind run into indigenous riverbank forest that elephants and bushbuck cross freely. Sundowners are the fixed point of most days here, taken from the terrace or from the deck of a Ra-Ikane boat as it works upstream, with the current sliding past below.
accommodation
Seventy-three rooms and suites stand in seven blocks along the Zambezi bank. Sixty deluxe rooms of around 40 square metres have private balconies, and above them sit executive, honeymoon and family suites, a presidential suite, and a three-bedroom villa with its own pool.
activities
Sunset and dinner cruises aboard the Ra-Ikane boats leave from the hotel's own jetty, and guided walks follow the Zimbabwean rim of Victoria Falls. Game drives run into the neighbouring Zambezi National Park. White-water rafting, a gorge swing, a zipline and helicopter flights all operate in the Batoka Gorge below the falls, with village visits and trips into Victoria Falls town for the slower afternoons.
dining
The dining hall opens through sliding doors onto a patio under indigenous trees beside the Zambezi, with an à la carte menu of local ingredients. On the riverside deck by the jetty, dinner is cooked over open coal fires with Zimbabwean flavours, and a high tea of scones, macarons and prosecco is served by the river. A free shuttle runs ten minutes into town, where Ilala Lodge's Cassia Restaurant eats outdoors within earshot of the Falls.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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Victoria Falls International is about thirty minutes away by road, and the airport takes direct flights from Johannesburg, Nairobi and Addis Ababa. Livingstone in Zambia is roughly an hour away and Kasane in Botswana about an hour and a half to two hours, so the hotel works well as the hinge between countries.
We arrange the transfer with the booking. If you are combining Victoria Falls with Chobe or the Okavango, the Kasane road crossing is the usual route and we build the timings around the border.
Yes, and it should be planned for. The town sits at around 900 metres, below the 1,200 metre line under which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Zimbabwe's malaria risk as high from November to June.
The risk eases through the dry months from July to October, but the CDC recommends tablets for travel anywhere in Zimbabwe at any time of year, so the two read the same country differently.
We do not make medical recommendations. We are travel planners, not doctors. Which tablets are right for you, whether they suit your own health or anyone else's in the party, and what is appropriate for a child, is a conversation between you and your doctor or a travel clinic.
The practical side we can speak to is not medical: cover arms and legs from late afternoon and keep repellent to hand.
Yes, children of all ages are taken and there are family suites among the seventy-three rooms. Babysitting can be arranged on request.
The hotel stands on the Zambezi bank, and the river and the pools need watching with young children about. Elephant and hippo move along this stretch of river, so families are escorted after dark rather than walking the grounds alone.
Hot through most of the year, at its hottest from September into early November, with the rains arriving between November and March as afternoon storms. May to August is dry, with cold early mornings and warm bright afternoons.
Bring light clothes, a hat and serious sun protection, a warm layer for winter mornings and boat cruises, and a light waterproof for the rainforest walk at the Falls, where you will get wet whatever the sky is doing when the river is high.
For the Falls at full power, come between March and May, when the river peaks and the spray rises hundreds of metres. For clear views into the gorge and the best photography, come from October to early December when the water is low.
For the game viewing next door in Zambezi National Park, and for the river itself, the dry months from July to October are the strongest, with animals drawn to the water and the sunset cruises at their best.
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our approach
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
