The Victoria Falls Rainbow Hotel is in Zimbabwe, and it is run by the Rainbow Tourism Group. For a South African guest the useful thing is that RTG has a Johannesburg office with a local number, so you do not have to make an international call to book.
Booking from South Africa
- RTG South Africa: 011 463 4470
- Address: Block 2, Bryanston Gate Office Park, 170 Curzon Road, Bryanston, Johannesburg
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00
The hotel’s own reservations
- Reservations telephone: +263 242 754507 or +263 242 754508
- Reservations email: [email protected]
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00
Note the mailbox domain is rtg.co.zw, a Zimbabwean address, while the group website is rtgafrica.com. Both are the group; the .co.zw one is where reservations are read.
Group head office
- Rainbow Tourism Group, 1 Pennefather Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Telephone: +263 242 772633 through +263 242 772639
- RTG also operates The Rainbow Towers Hotel, A’Zambezi River Lodge, Montclair Resort, Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel, New Ambassador Hotel and Kadoma Hotel
The published Harare number is a range: 772633 to 772639. If the first is engaged, try the next.
Things that are different because it is Zimbabwe
- You will need a passport, not a South African identity document, and South African travellers should check the current visa position before booking rather than at the border.
- Zimbabwe uses the US dollar widely alongside its own currency. Ask at booking which currency the rate is quoted in and which is accepted at the hotel — a rand quote is not always a rand payment.
- Card acceptance and connectivity are less reliable than in South Africa. Carry some cash and do not rely on tap-to-pay.
- Victoria Falls has a dry season and a high-water season, and what the falls look like differs enormously between them. Ask before you pick dates.
Your consumer rights are Zimbabwean, not South African
This is the part people forget. A booking made with a Zimbabwean hotel is governed by Zimbabwean law and Zimbabwean consumer bodies. The South African Consumer Goods and Services Ombud has no jurisdiction, and neither does the Consumer Protection Act. If you book through a South African travel agent instead, your contract is with that agent and South African recourse applies — which is a real argument for booking through one if the trip is expensive.
Paying safely across a border
- Pay by card, not by EFT or international transfer. A card gives you a chargeback route; a transfer to a foreign account gives you nothing.
- Confirm the booking reference in writing from an rtg.co.zw or rtgafrica.com address before paying anything.
- Never take banking details from an email. Phone 011 463 4470 and have them read to you if a deposit is genuinely required.
- Watch for lookalike sites: a domain that is not rtgafrica.com is not the group.