North Zululand

TripAdvisor lists accommodation rated by guests, but as much as we love peer reviews, they don’t offer a comparative voice – so how do we know No. 1 is really the best? Pippa de Bruyn, who has reviewed accommodation for 20 years for the likes of Frommer’s and The Telegraph , scours TripAdvisor and other online accommodation sites when researching a destination. For Zululand, she created a longlist of 15 to inspect. The following made the final cut.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

• Your own self-catering bush villa (pg 64)

• The best views and access to Lake Jozini (pg 64)

• A B&B stopover that’ll make you linger (pg 65)

• A game-reserve bargain for a group (pg 65)

• Fantastic hospitality beside a river (pg 66)

• Great-value Big Five safari stays (pg 66)

• A super-special luxury camp (pg 67)

WHAT I FOUND ABOUT ACCOMMODATION HERE

It’s fairly complicated to get a comparative idea of stock in Zululand, as there are several overlapping areas. Keywords you could use for online research include Mkuze, Hluhluwe, Pongola, Jozini, Manyoni and Zululand. (I focused on the hinterland as St