It’s not really a secret that when you enter the Londolozi Healing House, you’re made to feel like the only person there. You’re greeted by your therapist at the entrance, welcomed and guided through the space. Behind the scenes, she has already thought about what you might need during your treatment. A customised mix of essential oils has been made specifically for you. The playlist has been chosen with you in mind. The temperature of the room has been thought through. And then the treatment starts, and for 60 or 90 minutes, the focus is entirely on how good you can feel during your time at the Healing House.

This ethos of customisation and care is an extension of Londolozi’s hospitality style, keeping our guests at the centre of everything we do. But that magic is magnified when you step into the cool, calming space of the Healing House en route to a few hours of wilderness wellness in the expert hands of our healing team.

With this in mind, you could understand that gaining awards for what we do in the Healing House isn’t the reason we wake up in the morning. Being a channel for healing in a unique part of nature is. But after six consecutive years of recognition from the World Spa Awards as a place of excellence, we needed to take our own medicine and receive what this means to us. 

Nothing we do at Londolozi is ever about what we might get in return for doing it. It is always about receiving people into our village and showing them our world in the hopes that it sparks something inside of them. So while six consecutive years of awards is wonderful, to us, it is really a record of something being done the same way, to the same standard, by the same hands, for six full seasons.

I feel so priviledged to have been able to work as a therapist in the Healing House over the last 6 years, as it has grown into what it is; A true Sanctuary for stillness, transformation and healing. Each day is different; no two treatments are exactly the same when working on each guest. The personalized attention to detail creates space to truly listen, feel, and intuitively respond accordingly with each body and individual. – Samantha Zeederberg

You have to love what you do as a therapist, and this passion fuels us as a small team to keep the energetics of our space that of tranquility, of safety, peace and deep stillness for all that enter.

The World Spa Awards were established in 2015 as the sister event to World Travel Awards, often called the “Oscars of the travel industry.” Winners are decided by a global vote among travel and wellness professionals, past winners, and travellers themselves, recognising properties setting the standard in quality, service, and innovation across the spa and wellness industry. Every year since 2020, the same title has come back to the same small building beside the Sand River: South Africa’s Best Safari Spa. Before that, from 2020 to 2023, it held the continental title too, Africa’s Best Safari Spa, four years running.

This year, the title returns again.

Somewhere behind each of those six wins is a team of therapists who arrive and work with the same care each day, honing their craft and deepening their practice with every hour of treatment. Whether it’s a first-time guest or someone returning year after year, each treatment is performed with intention. The team has earned its 10,000 hours of wilderness healing expertise, and it’s that depth of experience that really makes someone feel vital and well after time spent in the Healing House.

“Holistic Wellness has always been my passion. It has been the smallest everyday practises that connect the mind, the body and the spirit. Being part of Londolozi Healing House deepens that connection with the feeling of coming home and to myself. We build connections and hold space for our guests through Body work paired with intentional wellness practises through Breathwork, Meditation and Yoga. Everyday at our healing space I find a purpose that connects me to something that is larger than myself – as one healer among other healers at Londolozi and the massive vision behind it and its purpose. Being recognised in the world for the smallest impact that we make is a dream come true. We thank you.” – Lulamela Mxhego

There’s a version of luxury that’s the same everywhere: white light, imported oils, a treatment menu that could belong to a hotel in any city on earth. The Healing House was never destined to be that. It’s unique in its ability to invite a sense of homecoming, back to yourself and your own sense of wellness. It is unlike any traditional spa not only because of its menu of treatments rooted in ancient wisdom, modern technology and nature, but because of the elephants that feed below its decks, the quiet energy of the ancient trees that have towered above it for centuries, and the sacred stretch of the Sand River it sits along, home to secretive leopards and a wealth of bird life and an activated crystal grid – all of which lend themselves to every treatment as African guides.

Bronwyn Varty, who has shaped much of the thinking behind Londolozi’s approach to wellness, put it this way:

“The Londolozi Healing House is, at its heart, a living expression of our family’s own journey with the wilderness and of all that nature has taught us about returning to our truest selves. It has never been a fixed idea, but rather a creative collective: a place where gifted healers and wisdom keepers from around the world have come, shared their genius, and left something of their knowing behind. Over many years, these teachings have been woven together with our own deep understanding of the body to create treatments that exist nowhere else in the world. Our signature experiences carry the imprint of old technologies, intuitive healing and the accumulated wisdom of many hands and hearts. For me, the Healing House is ultimately our deepest expression of love and care – a place of reverence for the intelligence of the body, the wisdom of the natural world, and the ancient knowing that somehow, the wilderness always leads us home.”- Bronwyn Varty-Laburn 

This year’s award is a touchstone – a reminder – that the embodiment of ancient wisdom and the deep practice of expert hands doesn’t go unnoticed. We are deeply grateful to everyone who voted for our Healing House again this year and invite you to experience all that it has to offer on your next visit.