Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Lion Sands
Lion Sands hotels
Family safari lodges follow the Sabie River through a reserve spanning Sabi Sand and Kruger.
Lion Sands makes the Sabie River the thread through a family-owned safari reserve spanning Sabi Sand and Kruger National Park. The land entered the family in 1933, and the More brothers opened River Lodge to guests in 1978, beginning the hospitality chapter now carried by MORE Family Collection.
3 Lion Sands hotels in 1 country on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by the More family
- Worldwide: Four lodges (Ivory, River, Tinga, Narina) and three treehouses (Chalkley, Kingston, Tinyeleti), on the Sabie
- On the atlas: 1 Grand Luxury, 2 High Luxury
History
Lion Sands developed different lodge experiences along the Sabie River, with Ivory, River, Tinga, and Narina sharing the reserve while keeping individual atmospheres. Family arrangements vary by lodge, as do some dining provisions. The landscape connects the houses, but their scale and guest experience remain distinct.
Timeline
- 1933 — Guy Aubrey Chalkley buys the Kingston farm on the Sabie in November. A camp follows, for the family. He later sleeps in a leadwood to stay above predators. That tree is the site of the Chalkley Treehouse.
- 1948 — The family is among the founders of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin.
- 1978 — The More brothers open River Lodge to guests. Eighteen rooms and suites now stand on the bank, under trees the lodge dates near 800 years.
- 2000 — A flood on the Sabie damages River Lodge. The family rebuilds it.
- 2003 — Chalkley Treehouse opens on the old leadwood camp, a one-night platform.
- 2013 — Kingston Treehouse and Tinyeleti Treehouse open. Kingston is on the Sabi Sand side. Tinyeleti is on the Kruger side, over the river.
- 2025 — Ivory Lodge reopens in September after a fire, eight suites on the Sabie in the Sabi Sand.
The houses to know
- Lion Sands Ivory Lodge, Sabi Sand, South Africa — Eight suites on the Sabie, reopened in September 2025 after a fire.
- Lion Sands River Lodge, Sabi Sand, South Africa — The 1978 guest lodge, 18 rooms on the Sabie, on land the family has held since 1933.
- Lion Sands Treehouses, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa — Three one-night platforms: Chalkley from 2003, Kingston and Tinyeleti from 2013.
Newest openings
- Lion Sands Ivory Lodge, Sabi Sand, South Africa, reopened in September 2025 after a fire. Eight suites stand on the Sabie. The atlas dates the house to that reopening. Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice list for 2025 ranked it eighth. It is a return after the fire, and it is the newest night a guest can book under the name.
Opening next
- No confirmed announcements were identified in the sources reviewed through 2026-09-25. No fifth lodge, and no new treehouse, with a year.
Every Lion Sands hotel on the atlas
South Africa
- Lion Sands Ivory Lodge — Sabi Sand · Grand Luxury
- Lion Sands River Lodge — Sabi Sand · High Luxury
- Lion Sands Treehouses — Sabi Sand Game Reserve · High Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Lion Sands's full dossier, with prices and maps.