Fodor's Expert Review Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Imagine walking into a Hollywood film set where the spectacular setting is literally "Great Zimbabwe ruins meets SS Titanic baroque." Clusters of stilted rooms with woven conical banana-leaf domes and fancifully carved stone chimneys cling to the crater's rim and somehow blend in with the natural surroundings. Your palatial abode has polished wooden floors, leather armchairs, and a dramatic mix of furniture and styles, including crystal chandeliers and hand-wrought local lamps. Ceiling-high swaths of silk taffeta drapes frame a small veranda with some of the world's most awesome views. Hand-carved doors lead to a massive bathroom with fresh-cut roses, a freestanding tub, and a tessellated tile shower straight out of a Roman villa. The main dining room has a 1920s ocean liner stateroom feel, but the adjacent lounge comes straight from an old English country house. It's a daring glamorous mix of competing styles and themes that somehow works.