The world's 10 sexiest hotel rooms?

reprinted from the Sunday Times - August 17, 2008

2 BANDA 5 Beho Beho, Tanzania

You can’t help feeling for the honeymooners who come to Beho Beho. How, in the rest of their married lives, will they ever equal the lubricious thrill of staying here? You’re in a grand banda, a huge thatched cottage with polished flagstone floors, exquisite antique furniture, an open-air stone shower and a vast, crisp-linened, muslin-draped bed.

Best of all, the front is completely open, giving an enormous view over a valley where giraffes, impalas, lions and leopards roam. It’s an irresistibly sexy cocktail of drama, luxury and an edge of danger - in theory, there’s nothing to stop those leopards dropping in for a midnight snack.

In practice, they stay well clear, though the elephants sometimes parade past on their way for a drink from the swimming pool. There are just eight bandas: go for number five for that out-in-the-wilds feel. A four-night break starts at £2,319pp, full-board, with flights; 020 7471 8780, www.tanzaniaodyssey.com