We started our 4 weeks of Tanzania with a few days at the Hakuna Matata lodge to lose the stress of work a bit. We arrived very late and were picked up from the airport and arrived in a nice and comfortable room. The beach looks very nice, but isn't a very good swimming spot (we knew this and don't care too much about swimming). The pool is good and clean and the grounds in general are a beautiful surrounding. There are several cosy, exotic spots where you can retreat to read or just sit and look around. The staff was friendly and the food was good.

The lodge is situated at about 2km from the main road. This road is quite bad and it takes about 20 minutes walking through Bububu to the main road. There, you can easily hop on a local bus to Stone Town (which can be crowded). This is all safe during daytime. Taxis will take you back from Stone Town to the lodge. So while Hakuna Matata is a good basecamp for visiting Stone Town, it will either be through the hotels tour operator (rather expensive) or involve some walking.

For our Zanzibar honeymoon, we decided for our first few nights to be at the Hakuna Matata Beach Lodge. I really wanted to impress her with a room in their honeymoon suite that looked over the water. Our trip for October was booked in March with confirmation for the honeymoon suite. You can only understand our surprise when they put us in a "regular suite." They had no record of our booking the Honeymoon suite and luckily I had saved the email from 6 months ago telling me of our booking.

Rath, the manager had felt so bad over this mishap and compensated us very well. In truth, it was not about the money as much as we flew halfway across the globe for our honeymoon to stay as "2nd class" guests at such a wonderful hotel. We were very grateful for Rath giving us his personal attention for our three nights that we stayed there. However, our last night there, Rose, the owner stops by our table for dinner and without introducing herself or apologizing, she states that she just got back in and confirmed our departure the next day. My wife and I had never felt so alienated. Then she proceeded to come back over and talk to us in German the next morning(as it wasn't already obvious that we were the only Americans at the place).

Truth be told, we just did not want to spend a honeymoon day driving around Zanzibar trying to find a new place. I have a feeling that had Rose been present on the day of our arrival and mishap, she would not have compensated us any. Rath and the rest of the staff were so nice to us, that it was no point in being upset and we were happy just making the best of the situation. Beware, just because Hakuna Matata says that you have a particular room, does not neccessarily mean you have that room booked.

This hotel (which is pretty close to Stone Town) and it's staff were fantastic, friendly, and very helpful! What made this place even more outstanding was the food - we read it was the best on the island, and my wife and I can confirm this (we had the pleasure to eat here for 10 days - far too little time)! Literally everything was made fresh - and you could really taste the quality! While the beaches on the other side of the island are a bit prettier (because of the finer, white sand), this place is by far more relaxing, quiet, not over-run by the many hotels on the other beaches, has a nice pool and private beach, and the food!! They also had a really nice spa and great cocktails! We found visiting other parts of the island with a driver and coming back here was ideal. We can also really recommend the private sandbank trip - this was a great experience (both for the snorkeling and the decadence)! Thanks for the amazing honeymoon - Rose, Fritz, and Rath - you've got an amazing place (and great staff - please say hi to them from us too!) and we'll never forget the time we spent here! We really appreciated all the conversations and stories we had with you all. We could not have wished a more perfect, private holiday beach lodge!

Came to Hakuna Mata after a bad experience at a hotel on the east coast of the island. I was picked up by their driver promptly at my hotel. The driver was friendly and full of great stories. Was greeted at the hotel by the General Manager, Rath, treated to a welcome drink and given a detailed orientation to the hotel, meals and possible tours.
The grounds are beautiful, the staff is friendly. I was greeted by name and asked how everything was going each and every time I saw Rath or the owners, Fritz and Rose. You are given a cell phone with the important hotel numbers programmed in, in case you need to contact the hotel at anytime, for a ride, etc while you are out exploring the island. What a great feeling of security!
The rooms are beautiful, each with a private veranda. Airconditioning. The pillows were really lumpy though!
The food was delicious. Keep in mind there is no choices for dinner. There is just one entree.Enjoyed one dinner of traditional Swahili food which was served for all the hotel guests at one large table. Very fun to talk and get to know everyone, even though I was the only non-German staying at the hotel that night.
Also, they want payment in cash - U.S. dollars, Euros or Tanzanian schillings. Since I was not prepared for this I was told the driver would stop at an ATM for me on the way back from my tour of Stone Town. I was not able to withdraw enough cash in one transaction to pay my bill. I was a little worried, but I was assured by Rath that this was not a problem - I could stop again at the ATM on my way to the airport and give the payment to the driver. That is trust you don't see in the U.S!
It was like staying with family. Thanks for the wonderful stay!