Corridors Through Time

A History of The Victoria Falls Hotel




Corridors Through Time - A history of the Victoria Falls Hotel

New Updated Edition

We're pleased to announce a new updated and expanded third edition (224 pages, 61,500 words), published April 2021.




Following the Hotel's central role in the development of the Victoria Falls as a global destination for travellers, Corridors Through Time - A history of the Victoria Falls Hotel covers over one hundred years of the travel, transport and tourism to the Victoria Falls.

Fully illustrated with over 100 archive images and over 30 modern photographs, Corridors Through Time - A History of The Victoria Falls Hotel traces the history of the Hotel's development, from humble beginnings to luxury five-star elegance, from the arrival of the railway to the age of aviation, and from colonial administration to Independence and beyond.

The Victoria Falls Hotel

The Victoria Falls Hotel

The Victoria Falls Hotel has become an essential element of a visit to the Victoria Falls.

"Over the long period of its operation the Victoria Falls Hotel has taken on an identity of her own, 'The Grand Old Lady of the Falls,' matriarch of Zimbabwe's tourism industry. She has had her ups, and downs, but from modest beginnings she has a matured into a global icon, ranked among the most famous hotels of the world... 'Corridors Through Time' is more than the history of a Hotel - it is the story of the development of modern tourism to the Victoria Falls through the twentieth century."

Karl Snater
General Manager, The Victoria Falls Hotel (2009-2011)



The Grand Old Lady of the Falls


Established in 1904 The Victoria Falls Hotel, known locally as 'The Grand Old Lady of the Falls,' is steeped in a rich and interesting history covering the growth of modern tourism to the Victoria Falls.

Built by the developing Rhodesia Railways upon the arrival of the railway from the south, The Victoria Falls Hotel was originally intended only to be a temporary structure, housing railway officials involved with the construction of the Victoria Falls Bridge and extension of the railway northwards of the Zambezi River.

First Hotel at the Victoria Falls


The first Hotel buildings were typical of railway construction at the time, a basic iron structure and wooden walls and floors, raised off the ground. In fact the dining room was a converted engine shed that had been relocated from elsewhere on the network and customised for the purpose.

The image adopted for the Victoria Falls Hotel's original logo, and suitably readopted by the Hotel since the 1990s, features a lion to represent southern Africa, a Sphinx for Egypt, symbolising Rhodes’s dream of a railway from the Cape to Cairo.

Victoria Falls Hotel c1905   Victoria Falls Hotel Annex c1910

The Victoria Falls Hotel, c1904

The Victoria Falls Hotel was rebuilt during the period of the First World War, and the new brick buildings opened in 1917. Consisting of a central wing with two flanking side-wings, these buildings still form the core of the Hotel today, despite many extensions and refurbishments over the decades.

Victoria Falls Hotel c1910   Victoria Falls Hotel c1920

The Victoria Falls Hotel, c1910s

Significant extensions were added to the Hotel in 1926. Another fifty bedrooms were built, with bathrooms and other facilities, in the new 'hammerhead' blocks. In the years following the Court and West wings were developed, forming the main footprint of the Victoria Falls Hotel we know today.

Victoria Falls Hotel veranda 1920s   Victoria Falls Hotel 1920s

The Victoria Falls Hotel, c1920s

The Victoria Falls Hotel would enjoy an unrivalled position as the premier Hotel at the Victoria Falls for many decades, and along with the Victoria Falls Bridge would become modern icons of tourism and development in the heart of Africa. The Hotel's management was soon consolidated within the emerging railway catering department, and would be managed by the railway company until 1970.

Victoria Falls Hotel veranda 1930s   Victoria Falls Hotel 1930s

The Victoria Falls Hotel, c1930s

The Hotel also played a central role in the early growth of tourism at the Victoria Falls, purchasing rickshaws to transport guests and leisure boats for river cruises. In 1920 the Railway Company installed a rail-trolley line from the Hotel to the Falls and Bridge, which transported an estimated two million people during many years of service, before being decommissioned in 1957. [You can read more about the Victoria Falls Hotel's famous trolley system in our feature section.]


Victoria Falls Hotel on the river   Victoria Falls Hotel Tourist Trolley

The Victoria Falls Hotel Trolley, c1930

You can also read more about the history of the Victoria Falls Hotel with our extended Hotel feature section which supplements material found in the book.



Corridors Through Time - A History of the Victoria Falls Hotel is available on different amazon sites allowing payment in US dollars or UK pounds and dispatch within each country (or beyond - postal rates may vary).

Amazon's UK site

Amazon's US site

Also available for local printing and delivery through Amazon Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and also Japan.

The author can order copies for overseas orders outside of these areas (and with discounts for multiple copies) - please see the Contact Us page)





A Railway Engineer in Rhodesia - Charles Murray Ingledew   African Odyssey - The Development of the Drewry Railcar (1902-1908)   To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond - Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo   Life and Death at the Old Drift, Victoria Falls 1898-1905   Sun, Steel and Spray - A History of the Victoria Falls Bridge   Footsteps Through Time - A History of Travela and Tourism to the Victoria Falls




Explore the history of the Victoria Falls online - www.tothevictoriafalls.com

Explore the History of the Victoria Falls