Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Sabi Sabi
Sabi Sabi hotels
Railway nostalgia and earth-covered suites offer different readings of the same Sabi Sand reserve.
Sabi Sabi brings four distinct lodges together on a family-owned reserve beside Kruger in South Africa’s Sabi Sand. Hilton and Jacqui Loon began welcoming photographic safari guests at Bush Lodge in 1979, later adding Selati, Earth Lodge, and Little Bush Camp, each with its own atmosphere within the same landscape.
4 Sabi Sabi hotels in 1 country on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by the Loon family
- Worldwide: 4 lodges, all in the Sabi Sand, South Africa
- On the atlas: 1 Grand Luxury, 3 Core Luxury
History
Bush Lodge became Sabi Sabi’s more sociable family base, with suites, pools, and a waterhole shaping the stay. Selati developed a different atmosphere around the region’s railway history. Lamps, firelight, and railway memorabilia give that smaller camp a distinct evening character within the same reserve.
Timeline
- 1979 — Hilton and Jacqui Loon buy the Shaws farm portions in the Sabi Sand and open Bush Lodge, the first Sabi Sabi lodge, at a time when nearby land is still leased for hunting. The bet is photographic safaris.
- 1993 — Sabi Sabi buys a northern section from farmer Werner Ackerman and turns his homestead into Selati Camp, named for the Selati railway Paul Kruger ordered toward the goldfields in the 1890s. Seven suites take the names of vanished stations.
- 2001 — Earth Lodge opens. Mohammed Hans and Geoffrey Armstrong excavate 13 suites and the main building into a hillside. Armstrong carves furniture from trees felled by flood and by elephants.
- 2005 — Sabi Sabi buys a riverside parcel on the Msuthlu riverbed.
- 2006 — Little Bush Camp opens on that parcel, six suites, the smallest lodge.
The houses to know
- Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa — Thirteen suites cut into a slope in 2001, sand and plants on the roof, elephants sometimes walking above.
- Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa — The 1979 original: 21 luxury suites and three villas on an active waterhole.
- Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa — Six suites on the Msuthlu riverbed, opened in 2006, often taken by one group.
- Sabi Sabi Selati Camp, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa — Seven suites in Werner Ackerman's old homestead, named for stations on the Selati line.
Newest openings
- None. The four lodges have been the set since Little Bush Camp opened in 2006. No fifth lodge was verified.
Opening next
- No confirmed announcements were identified in the sources reviewed through 2026-09-25. No announced camp, with a site and a year.
Every Sabi Sabi hotel on the atlas
South Africa
- Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge — Sabi Sand Game Reserve · Grand Luxury
- Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge — Sabi Sand Game Reserve · Core Luxury
- Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp — Sabi Sand Game Reserve · Core Luxury
- Sabi Sabi Selati Camp — Sabi Sand Game Reserve · Core Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Sabi Sabi's full dossier, with prices and maps.