The Royal Livingstone by Anantara is Livingstone’s grandest address — a 173-room five-star hotel on the Zambezi with a private entrance to Victoria Falls, five minutes on foot.
Located on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River, a stone’s throw from the mighty Mosi-oa-Tunya falls, the seventh wonder of the world.
POTUS Rentals & Tours
Why is this the address by the falls?
No other hotel in Zambia stands closer to the falls. Guests stroll through a private gate and reach the viewpoints in about five minutes — before the day visitors arrive — and access is unlimited and complimentary for the whole stay. The spray of Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the Smoke that Thunders”, is often visible from the hotel lawns.
Opened in 2001 and refreshed for 2026 — 93 rooms renewed, four new Junior Suites and four riverside spa gazebos added — the hotel pairs colonial-era elegance with Anantara’s contemporary service culture.
Rooms and service
All 173 rooms and suites face the river across shaded verandas, and every room comes with butler service. Zebra graze the lawns between the buildings; giraffe amble through the wider estate. Afternoons close with a daily English high tea, and sundowners belong to The Sundeck, the bar on the riverbank where the Zambezi slides past at eye level.
Signature experiences
- Private falls entrance with unlimited access — a five-minute walk
- Anantara Spa with outdoor riverside treatment gazebos
- Daily English high tea and the Sundeck riverbank bar
- The Royal Livingstone Express — a restored steam train dining up to 92 guests on the Victoria Falls Bridge, from $220 per person
- Sunset cruises, canoeing and game drives arranged from the hotel jetty
Why book it through POTUS?
POTUS Rentals & Tours holds a signed agency contract with the Royal Livingstone, so our clients book at preferential contracted rates starting from $450 per night — with VIP treatment on arrival and the whole itinerary managed on one thread: rooms, chauffeured transfers, cruises, the falls and Chobe. We serve couples, wedding parties, VVIPs and executive delegations with the same discretion that has earned us clients such as the IMF and GIZ.
Every booking is confirmed with a personalised proforma quotation before payment — rates are starting-from, never set in stone. The hotel’s full profile is on the official Anantara page.
Getting there
The hotel is 10.4 km from Livingstone town — about 14 minutes by road — and roughly 25 minutes from Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport. Our chauffeurs meet every flight; add a dedicated POTUS vehicle to keep a car and driver on call for your stay.
When should you go?
For the full thunder of Mosi-oa-Tunya — a curtain 1,708 metres wide falling up to 108 metres — visit between February and May, when the Zambezi runs at flood and the spray towers above the gorge. For Devil’s Pool, come in the low-water window from mid-August to around the turn of the year, when Livingstone Island’s famous rock pool opens on the very lip of the falls, five sittings a day. The hotel’s private entrance means you meet both seasons before the crowds do.
Weddings, honeymoons and occasions of state
This is the hotel POTUS recommends when the occasion matters: honeymoons, golden anniversaries, VVIP visits. The Banquet Hall seats 450 theatre-style for weddings and galas; the riverside lawns stage ceremonies against the spray of the falls; and butler service keeps principals comfortable and undisturbed. Our team has escorted celebrities, diplomats and executive delegations through Livingstone — discretion is the house style, ours and the hotel’s alike.
Photography deserves a note of its own: sunrise on the hotel’s stretch of the Zambezi, high tea on the lawn with giraffe drifting past, and the steam of the Royal Livingstone Express crossing the bridge at dusk. Few properties anywhere hand a photographer this much in one square kilometre.
Pairing the stay
Guests here typically add the Lady Livingstone sunset cruise (from K1,200), a helicopter flight over the falls (from $230) and a Chobe day safari into Botswana (from $190). Our concierge desk sequences them so nothing collides with high tea.
Good to know before you book
The hotel takes its name from David Livingstone, the first European to sight the falls in 1855, and has carried Livingstone’s five-star flag since 2001. Dress leans smart-casual after dark — high tea and the Sundeck reward a collar — and the private falls gate keeps its own generous hours, so ask the butler for the quiet windows. Children are welcome; the estate’s family energy lives next door at Avani, a garden walk away.
POTUS quotations hold in USD or Kwacha and stay starting-from until confirmed; the standard cancellation ladder (25% from 60–45 days, rising to 100% inside 14 days) is restated on every proforma. For proposals, vow renewals and press visits, brief our desk early — the hotel’s event diary fills months ahead in high season.
Book with POTUS
Send us your dates and our concierge desk will hold availability and quote your personalised rate the same day. Request your booking or WhatsApp +260 955 747 769 — the POTUS experience, befitting the address.
