Singita Takes Top Honors in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011

NEW YORK, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- South Africa's Singita Game Reserves has taken top honors in this year's Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 readers' survey, scooping both 1st and 2nd places among the World's Top 100 Hotels, as well as securing the winning slot for Best Hotel Spa in Africa and the Middle East.

Having been rated against the finest hotels around the globe, Singita Grumeti Reserves, located along the Western corridor of Tanzania's legendary Serengeti National Park, is ranked No. 1 on the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 list of Top 100 Hotels Overall. Comprising four distinct, luxurious travel products that includes the new Singita Explore mobile safari experience, as well as flagship Singita Sasakwa Lodge (a Relais & Chateaux property), Singita Sabora Tented Camp and Singita Faru Faru Lodge situated along East Africa's world-famous wildebeest migratory route, Singita Grumeti Reserves is one of the jewels in the crown of Singita's iconic safari destinations, where guest experiences are nothing short of life-changing.

Flagship Singita Sabi Sand, home to Singita's founding lodges Singita Ebony and Singita Boulders, as well as exclusive-use retreat Singita Castleton, followed hot on its heels as No. 2 on the coveted list of Top 100 Hotels Overall. Set within the greater Kruger National Park, Singita's private concession offers the ultimate in safari luxury and an unsurpassed 'Big 5' game viewing experience within classic bushveld landscape.

In a remarkable achievement, a third Singita product, Singita Kruger National Park, which encompasses Singita Lebombo and Singita Sweni Lodges with its spectacular setting overlooking the N'wanetsi River, not only made it onto this coveted Top 100 Hotels Overall list too (ranked No. 39), but it was also voted Best Hotel Spa in Africa and the Middle East in the same readers' survey this year.

Highlights from the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 readers' survey have just been announced in the USA on NBC's Today Show. Winners will be honored during an awards ceremony to be held in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 14.

Says Chief Marketing Officer for Singita Game Reserves, Lindy Rousseau: "Singita today manages and is responsible for 570,000 acres in Africa. We operate ten lodges in four destinations in three countries. We practice modern conservation, which is a finely tuned relationship between wildlife, local communities and tourism. We are exponents of low impact/high value tourism ensuring that the habitat is sensitively managed.

"Our winning property, Singita Grumeti Reserves stands out as a shining example of this. Just eight years ago hardly an animal was to be seen here, and today it has the most prolific game population in East Africa. We spend more on wildlife projects and community development than anyone else. When it comes to hotels, the new world order is very different from just five years ago. Today it is about authenticity, integrity and being real – and I think this is why more and more guests identify with what we are doing. We also run exceptional lodges, from a design and decor point of view, with excellent food, service and staff. It is a true honor to be voted a world leader by the discerning travelers who have stayed at our safari destinations," she concluded.

Singita Grumeti Reserves embodies the philosophy of 'touching the earth lightly,' and is an exemplary model for the new African eco-philanthropy that 'gives back' through significant conservation and community projects.

The Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 are featured now on TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest and will appear in the August issue of Travel + Leisure magazine (due for release July 22). The survey results are based on readers' ratings. Properties were rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent, according to selected characteristics: rooms/facilities, location, service, restaurants/food, and value. Hotel spas are rated on the basis of their ambience, treatments, service and value. The complete survey methodology is available on TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest and in the August issue. The Travel + Leisure World's Best will be featured in the first-ever World's Best Awards 2011 iPad edition, available via www.TravelandLeisure.com/iPad, as well as on the iTunes App Store as of July 11, 2011.

ABOUT SINGITA GAME RESERVES

Recognized internationally as providing 'the best safari experience in Africa,' the Singita product offering includes ten iconic, low-impact, high-end lodges in four destinations: Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

The focus of Singita is not only game viewing, cuisine, wine, high design and luxury, but it is also dedicated to conservation and sustainability.

Inquiries and reservations can be made to: Singita Game Reserves, Tel: +27 21 683 3424, Email: [email protected], www.singita.com

Press Information
Contact: Michaelyn Fesler, Imagine Global Communications
Email: [email protected], Tel: 212 922 1961

SOURCE Singita Game Reserves