Protea Hotel Livingstone is a 3-star Marriott Category 1 hotel in Livingstone, Zambia. Located some 2.4 km south of Livingstone’s downtown, this well-landscaped property is a nice escape after a day’s activities. I stayed 5 nights in this property using 30,000 Marriott points (7,500 points per night + 5th night free benefit).
Elite status: Marriott Gold
Check In/Check Out
I was given a room immediately upon arrival at ~3 pm.
Check out was also pretty fast, took under 5 mins to settle my bill.
Room
I was given a King room overlooking the pond. Try to get rooms facing the pond/pool. The other rooms face the railway track, and the trains are actually quite noisy.
Featuring hardwood floors, the average-sized room has a King bed that took up 1/3 of the room. There was also a good-sized safe deposit in the wardrobe, and a mini-fridge. Water bottles were replenished daily, and there were some tea/coffee sachets.
Bathroom
The bathroom is large, and has a rain shower in a tiled shower area. There’s a toilet, and a single sink on a long vanity.
The hotel uses Earth Therapy products, which are okay.
Food
Breakfast is provided to all guests. The spread was huge, but there wasn’t much variation over the five days I was there. There’s also an egg-chef, who did made-to-order eggs. Their omelets were amazing.
There were four hot stations featuring some veggies, beans, and various meat options like sausages and bacon. The cold buffet has cold cuts, yoghurt, fruit, etc. There are also breakfast pastries.
I had dinner here twice. It’s quite a bit more expensive than other dining establishments in Livingstone, and the food was just so-so. I had high hopes for the sticky ribs (140 kwacha), but it was quite tough, as opposed to melt-in-your-mouth. The lasagna was also just okay. (85 kwacha)
Service
Friendly and efficient.
Amenities
There’s a pool on site, with (sorta) pool-side service. It was winter when I visited, so the pool was a bit cold even during mid-day (you can swim, but the first minute will be a shock). There’s also a playground in the expansive grounds of this property.
There’s also an onsite tour agency, which books tours at a slight premium over others.
Overall
Protea Livingstone is a lovely resort property, and I had a relaxing stay. While there are a few restaurants located nearby, it is located some ways from town, so be prepared to be held captive to hotel’s (rather expensive) options.
Wanderlust 