Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Mantis Collection
Mantis Collection hotels
Wildlife lodges, island retreats and riverboats connect a stay to practical conservation work.
Mantis is Adrian Gardiner's conservation hotel group, founded in 2000 after Shamwari. The name was Ian Player's, later read as man and nature together is sustainable. Accor took half the company in 2018. The atlas files a Madagascar hotel, a Victoria Falls manor, Hawar Island in Bahrain, and two river boats.
3 Mantis Collection hotels in 3 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Founded by Adrian Gardiner, with Accor as half-owner
- Worldwide: Accor's 2018 release described 28 managed properties plus branded hotels and residences, and the Zambezi Queen houseboats. A Mantis page later counted 18 hotels, eco-lodges, and waterways. The atlas files five: Sainte Marie in Madagascar, Mbano Manor at Victoria Falls, Hawar Island in Bahrain, and two boats, the Kivu Queen and the Zambezi Queen.
- On the atlas: 1 High Luxury, 1 Core Luxury, 1 Accessible Luxury
History
Mantis is Adrian Gardiner's conservation hotel group, founded in 2000 after Shamwari. The name was Ian Player's, later read as man and nature together is sustainable. Accor took half the company in 2018. The atlas files a Madagascar hotel, a Victoria Falls manor, Hawar Island in Bahrain, and two river boats.
Timeline
- 1989 — Gardiner buys a farm in the Eastern Cape as a weekend retreat.
- 1992 — He turns it into Shamwari, which the Founders Lodge account calls the first private Big Five reserve in the malaria-free Eastern Cape.
- 2000 — He founds the Mantis Collection. Ian Player suggests the name.
- 2008 — Gardiner sells Shamwari and keeps a private portion, later Founders Lodge.
- 2009 — The Zambezi Queen is dated 2009 in the atlas, 14 rooms.
- 2018 — Accor announces a 50 percent stake on 5 April. Mantis co-founds the Community Conservation Fund Africa the same year.
- 2020 — Mbano Manor at Victoria Falls is dated 2020 in the atlas, 18 rooms.
- 2023 — Mantis Soanambo on Sainte Marie, Madagascar, is dated 2023 in the atlas, 28 rooms.
- 2024 — Mantis Kivu Queen uBuranga, on Lake Kivu, is dated 2024 in the atlas, 10 rooms.
- 2025 — Hawar Resort by Mantis is dated 2025 in the atlas, 104 rooms.
The houses to know
- Hawar Resort by Mantis, Hawar Island, Bahrain — Hawar Resort by Mantis opened in 2025 on Bahrain's protected Hawar Island, a boat ride from the Durrat Al Bahrain Pavilion to a beach and overwater-villa camp in a wildlife sanctuary.
- Mbano Manor Hotel Victoria Falls by Mantis, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe — Accor signed its first Zimbabwe hotel in 2023 when Mbano Manor, 18 rooms near Victoria Falls since 2018, joined the Mantis Collection.
- Mantis Soanambo Hotel & Spa Sainte Marie, Sainte Marie, Madagascar — Mantis Soanambo Hotel & Spa on Sainte Marie Island, Madagascar, rebranded under Accor's Mantis Collection in 2023 after operating locally as Soanambo Hotel & Spa since 2010.
Newest openings
- Hawar Resort by Mantis — Hawar Island, Bahrain — dated 2025 in the atlas — 104 rooms.
Opening next
- No named unopened hotel was verified beyond the houses already dated.
Every Mantis Collection hotel on the atlas
Bahrain
- Hawar Resort by Mantis — Hawar Island · High Luxury
Madagascar
- Mantis Soanambo Hotel & Spa Sainte Marie — Sainte Marie · Accessible Luxury
Zimbabwe
- Mbano Manor Hotel Victoria Falls by Mantis — Victoria Falls · Core Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Mantis Collection's full dossier, with prices and maps.