It’s official: This KZN lodge is one of the world’s best historical stays

It is well known that South Africa is a country with a deep and complex history. Across the nation, monuments, museums, landmarks, and even hotels serve as tributes to the people and events that shaped the country’s fight for freedom. From the Nelson Mandela Capture Site in Howick to the recently unveiled 9-metre-tall bronze statues of Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela at Durban’s North Beach promenade and Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Now, one of KwaZulu-Natal’s very own lodges has been recognised as one of the world’s top historical stays by Wanderlust magazine.

The publication’s WonderSleeps 2026 series asked more than 10,000 of its readers to vote for the world’s "most authentic, distinctive and meaningful places to stay". This year’s categories included urban, historic, sense of place, natural world, and eco-conscious.

Three Tree Hill Lodge ranked eighth globally in the historical stays category, sandwiched between Burg Colmberg in Bavaria, Germany, and InterContinental Bordeaux Le Grand Hotel in Bordeaux, France.

Surrounded by the site of an Anglo-Boer War battle, this intimate Drakensberg family-run lodge specialises in preserving the history of the South African War, with the Battle of Spioenkop being its focal point. Through "world-class, holistic, evocative and insightful" tours, visitors are immersed in one of the country’s most significant historical landscapes.

According to Wanderlust readers, the lodge's "excellent in-house historian puts the area’s history in context".

If you’d like to add the lodge to your must-see list and experience one of these tours for yourself, I’d recommend booking well in advance to avoid disappointment. Bookings are available through Booking.com.

The world’s 10 best historical stays, according to Wanderlust magazine

1. Taj Lake Palace - Udaipur, India
2. JW Marriott El Convento - Cusco, Peru
3. Four Seasons Hotel İstanbul at Sultanahmet - İstanbul, Türkiye
4. Esplanade Zagreb Hotel - Zagreb, Croatia
5. Alvear Palace Hotel - Buenos Aires, Argentina
6. The Xara Palace - Mdina, Malta
7. Burg Colmberg - Bavaria, Germany
8. Three Tree Hill - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
9. InterContinental Bordeaux Le Grand Hotel - Bordeaux, France
10. Casa Gangotena - Quito, Ecuador

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