Protea Hotel Zambezi River Lodge

We expected a lot more being part of a chain, but unfortunately it was a little disappointing. The facility as a whole is dated and tired and the restaurant food needs some attention too. The rooms were big and the beds comfortable. The tv didn’t work. The WiFi wasn’t too bad.

stayed 2 nights there and it was great. yes, the hotel is old but everything is still clean and good. food is pricy but tasty. beer is cold. however, what makes the hotel is the view over the river!

Require maintenance and so rounding

Don’t expect much here! Stayed two nights - 1 before Livingstone/Sambia (2 days there, border procedures and road are nightmares) and 1 night after Sambia. In one room the aircon did not work, in the other there were no lights, in the third the toilet and shower were broken and it smelled. Beds were nice though. Guy in bar where you can have some small dinner was sleeping deeply. Breakfast also in the bar-very small and basic. You need to ask everything separately, I.e. Butter, toaster etc. And service is extremely slow. Pool is big but dirty. Most important thing here is you pay upon check in. But card payment only worked after 4 attempts. Views of Zambezi are astonishing though. Really needs renovation and proper management.

Overall, I enjoyed my 2-night stay at this Marriott hotel. The best part is the view from the restaurant overlooking the Zambezi River, which is also the best place to catch the beautiful sunsets. I had dinner at the restaurant, which serves pretty good food. The buffet breakfast that was included in my room rate was also excellent. The restaurant staff is very friendly & accommodating. They even packed a breakfast box for me when I had to leave early in the morning for my transfer to Victoria Falls. As for my room, it was spacious and clean, and the bed was really comfortable. There was a hot water kettle, coffee, & tea in the room, as well as a small refrigerator with a couple of bottles of water. The only downside is that the wifi didn’t work outside the reception & restaurant area. Since my room was close to the reception area, I was able to connect to wifi but it was too weak, so I still had to go to reception or the dining area if I really needed to get online. Other than that, this hotel was everything I needed for my short but comfortable stay in Katima Mulilo.

Food at restaurant was very good. Room was fine. There was no electricity for an entire day, which was not the hotel's fault. However, since the hotel knew that the electricity would be turned off by the town, it would have been nice to warn the guests so they could take a shower prior to the water being unavailable and charge devices prior to the power being shut off.