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Katelyn Long

Top-Rated City Hotels in Africa: Readers’ Picks 2025

Someone should really tell South Africa to lay low and let someone else have a turn in the spotlight. The country once again dominated our rankings of the best city hotels in Africa, with Cape Town (which has been on the best city in Africa list since 2001) taking four of the top five spots. The first-place winner, Ellerman House, a Cape Edwardian mansion with sweeping views of the Atlantic from its pool, shot up from its fourth-place ranking last year. Moreover, the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, a 70-room property decorated in cool, coastal-inspired hues, nabbed second place in its first time on the list in several years.Location AdvantageIt’s only fair to note that the hotels of Cape Town have a location advantage. With the Atlantic on one side and Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, and the Twelve Apostles mountains on the other, there’s no such thing as a bad view at this town’s best properties. Although readers may have a soft spot for Cape Town, Johannesburg has plenty of five-star stays as well. It’s a testament to the Saxon Hotel, Villas, & Spa’s secluded location and eye-catching design (it houses 200 works by South African artists) that it’s been the lone Johannesburg pick for two years running. The Saxon, in fact, is close to making our Hall of Fame: it has placed on the list nine out of the past 10 years. Therefore, with travelers around the world finally giving Johannesburg’s thriving art and food scenes a second look, we expect the city’s five-star stays to prove stiff competition for Cape Town in coming years.World’s Best AwardsEvery year for our World’s Best Awards survey, we ask readers to weigh in on travel experiences globally—sharing their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as City or Resort based on their locations and amenities. If you haven’t already started planning your next trip to Africa, these five hotels may be just the motivation you need. Read on for the perfect places to stay, pre- or post-safari.5. One&Only Cape TownCourtesy of One&OnlyScore: 92.974. Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa, Johannesburg, South AfricaCourtesy of Saxon Hotel, Villas and SpaScore: 94.003. Cape Grace, Cape TownCourtesy of Cape GraceScore: 94.102. Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, Cape TownCourtesy of Twelve Apostles Hotel & SpaScore: 94.591. Ellerman House, Cape TownCourtesy of Ellerman HouseScore: 95.78When international royalty and celebrities like Oprah come to Cape Town, this is their stay of choice. Set on a cliff in the tony Bantry Bay neighborhood, Ellerman House has 13 rooms and two private villas. Consequently, with a staff-to-guest ratio of 3-to-1, there’s no better place in the city for exclusivity, privacy, and personal attention. Readers raved about its impressive art collection (the pieces on display are curated to give a comprehensive look at the history of South African art, and an on-site guide is available for private tours) as well as the exceptional food and top-notch wine cellar, which houses 7,500 bottles from around South Africa. One reader said it best: “I keep telling my husband that he could just leave me at Ellerman House and I would be very happy!”

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Experience Local Life in Belgrade: Insider Tips

GoTravelDaily Local Nevena Paunovic was born and raised in Belgrade’s green, hilly neighbourhood of Banovo Brdo. After plenty of travelling abroad, today she chooses to live here because for her, Belgrade still holds that charming balance between a metropolis and a provincial town. You’ll find her cycling along the city’s rivers, attending fantastic music gigs, or enjoying Belgrade’s coolest vegetarian restaurants.

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Experience Local Life in Geelong, Australia: A Complete Guide

Originally from Melbourne, GoTravelDaily Local Kate and her partner moved to Geelong over a year ago for its relaxed lifestyle. As a travel writer, Kate spends her time travelling the world but finds nowhere is as friendly as Geelong. This city boasts a great community feel, and its location—close to Melbourne, the Bellarine Peninsula, and the Great Ocean Road—is perfect for local adventures.

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Discover Exciting Family Activities in Bonaire’s Waters

Just 50 miles north of Venezuela and importantly well south of the Caribbean hurricane belt, lies Bonaire, one of the Dutch ‘ABC islands’ which also includes Aruba and Curaçao. Uncrowded, peaceful, and boasting 365 days of sunny skies, Bonaire is famously one of the world’s most outstanding and kid-friendly destinations for water sports, especially diving, snorkeling, and windsurfing.

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Exploring the Breathtaking Lebanon Mountain Trail from Border to Border

The 470km-long Lebanon Mountain Trail traverses the full length of this tiny Middle Eastern country, passing through ancient cedar forests and olive orchards, while ambling by rushing waterfalls, Roman temples, and monasteries carved into cliff faces. This hike offers an astonishing way to experience a land often only known to outsiders for its tragic recent history and the frenetic bustle of Beirut’s nightclubs.

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Unforgettable Experiences in Papua New Guinea

A remote and still relatively undiscovered destination, Papua New Guinea is one of the few places left in the world where you can truly go off the beaten track. Whether you’re trekking in remote mountain ranges, searching for the elusive bird of paradise in cloud forests, or traveling to off-the-grid villages to get to know some 750 tribes who call PNG their home, you are likely to have the country’s wonders mostly to yourself.

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Adventure Awaits: Explore the Empty Quarter by Motor

A desert road trip just south of Abu Dhabi will transport you far from the city’s skyscrapers and malls, adding a cinematic, sensory dimension to your UAE adventure. Here you’ll find vast open spaces under vibrant skies, waves of sandy dunes shimmering in shades from silver to cinnamon, lonesome camels by the roadside, and lush date palm groves. Feelings of enchantment seem to increase with every mile of tarmac covered.

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Experience Serenity in Tranquil Paraty

Strolling through Paraty feels a little like you’re revisiting a bygone era – horse-drawn carts jolt their way along cobblestone streets, boats hover patiently on pretty shores and life centers around a cluster of white-stone houses etched with Masonic symbols. It’s about switching off and tuning out here, and with 300 beaches, acres of waterfall-laden rainforest, and a network of hiking and cycling trails all within easy reach, you won’t struggle to do so.

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Exploring Van Gogh’s Last Days: A Journey to Auvers-sur-Oise

Genteel, peaceful Auvers-sur-Oise, just 34 kilometers from Paris, already had pedigree as an artists’ village when Vincent van Gogh arrived in the spring of 1890. However, during his short, intense stay, the Dutch master painted 80 works in 70 days — a frenzy of productivity that culminated in his death from a gunshot wound in his tiny room at the main street’sauberge(inn).

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Explore Doha: A First-Time Traveler’s Guide to Souqs, Skyscrapers, and Islamic Art

There can be few places on earth changing faster than Doha right now – in true Gulf style, the cityscape of Qatar’s capital is rising as steadily as a plume of shisha smoke. A short jaunt around town will pass all-new luxury hotels, art complexes, and lofty skyscrapers designed by the world’s finest architects, not to mention the odd Venetian town complete with canals.

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Top 10 Reasons to Explore Port of Spain, Trinidad

For food, fun, and festivals, Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, is your ideal Caribbean location. The country’s complicated history connects indigenous, Spanish, English, French, African, Indian, Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Portuguese cultures — and this wide array of influences is reflected throughout the city. There’s always something going on in ‘Town,’ as Trinidadians call it.

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