Introduced by the AA for the first time this year, the award celebrates the ever increasing popularity of glamping in the UK.

The AA remarked that “Durrell Wildlife Camp offers quality accommodation, excellent customer service and a unique holiday experience and is a worthy winner of the AA’s first Glamping Award.”

Durrell's Accommodation Manager Ashley Mullins said: “It’s a huge honour to have been chosen for this award, especially with so many luxury glamping experiences on offer in the UK. Durrell really does offer something unique. We pride ourselves on our customer service and this combined with our safari style setting within the zoo and our extremely comfortable and exclusively designed ‘pods’ makes a stay at the Durrell Wildlife Camp an unforgettable experience.”

Durrell’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Lesley Dickie, said: “It’s a tremendous achievement for Durrell to have been awarded this accolade and I am so proud of the team for all their hard work over the past four years. Our commercial offering at the zoo is hugely important; every pound spent at Durrell goes directly to supporting our mission of saving species from extinction. Our guests at the Wildlife Camp play a vital part by enabling us to work with some of the world’s most vulnerable species and most threatened habitats.”

The Wildlife Camp opened in 2012 in landscaped grasslands overlooking Lemur Lake, with 12 spacious pods available, each named after a species of lemur. 

They accommodate up to two adults and two children, with the option for children to stay in separate “tepees” to have their own adventure. 

They are kitted out with disabled access for some guests and are equipped with a few creature comforts including a luxury double bed, cosy wood burning stove, personal open sun deck, private toilet and shower facilities and kitchen.

“Lemur Lodge” has been created for socializing with a communal barbeque and as well as enjoying the sounds of the Wildlife Park, campers have unlimited free entry to visit it during their stay.