Whenever you plan a trip to Zanzibar, everyone keeps raving about La Gemma. So after all the hype, we went on to check this place out. The beach on high tide is phenomenal. The sand is crisp and clean (thanks to all the vacuuming).

This beach is up there with Maldives and Mauritius. However, the rooms are getting really run down. The bed is uncomfortable, the setting and lighting is darn right depressing and the restaurant is very mediocre. Like your Arabiata? Well you better, because that's all you'll be having! The menu is indeed very Italian heavy and so are the Tanzanian waiters (fluent in Italian and tend to give way too much attention to especially Italians).

I don't quite understand the management ethos behind this as any other race was pretty much ignored during my visit. Perhaps its all the Arabiata these folks are being fed?

Apart from the lack of discipline from the waiters, there were a few odd moments. Not that I am conservative but topless 60 year olds were the last thing I wanted my 3 year old to see in the middle of the beach (he already got enough brainwashing by all the Arabiata he had for lunch and dinner for 4 days).

In the end, La Gemma lies on a fantastic beach but really feels very run down. A little upgrade and a little less pasta and a home run is real close.

The entire hotel was amazing. The beach was great; normally the tide and currents are very evident in Zanzibar but not in this hotel's beach. The location of the hotel is very good and you can swim any time during the day regardless of the low or high tide.
The food and wines were amazing. There was an African night on Friday night and it was the best night of our entire vacation. Food, music and drinks were great. Include a Friday night to your vacation if you plan to stay in this hotel.
The staff in the bars and restaurants are incredibly friendly. The rooms have sea view and they are very clean. You have flowers all over you room.
Definitely recommend this hotel to anyone.

We stayed in this hotel for four days following safari. Overall, the experience was nice. The food at the main restaurant was good (especially for a buffet 3x a day), and the pizza place (also included in our package) had a nice atmosphere. The pool is pretty but salt-water. The beach is big at low tide, small at high tide, but it seemed like one of the best in the area for swimming (many other hotels only had only low, rocky cliffs at high tide - not so nice). Be warned - there is not much to do here other than relax, and it's definitely a couples' kind of place. Excursions are tricky - we saw different quoted prices before coming, and it's probably worth googling a little before going on one to get the right price. We payed through the roof for a snorkeling trip that was advertised for a third of what we paid at a nearby dive center (that trip would have been with a group, but still). The same goes with the 'spice tour', which was nice but we probably could have gotten a better price from the tour agencies that work out of the hotel lobby.

Overall, I found the resort a little boring. Zanzibar as a whole was underwhelming (snorkeling not so great, beaches very narrow, hard to get around and explore from the resort areas). Also, no wifi in the rooms (although it's good in the lobby area, which is really beautiful). And the 'extra nice' cottages that are part of the complex are a little too snooty for my taste - we were told we couldn't walk in that part of the resort because that was the 'luxury part', or something like that.

In short - beautiful, probably worth your money if you are a couple that wants to relax, but quiet. Try and negotiate better prices on the excursions, because they can be quite expensive.

Been on many places , but this one is in the top 5 of the best , with service included butler service, wonderful food and a very nice spot.
The place looks big, but its build like if it is completely private, so you have all facilities without being masive. perfect place to stay, very friendly and a great service, nice clean rooms. the buffets are every 10 minutes fresh, the cooks are preparing it everytime fresh.
The sunsetbar is a great place for music and enjoying the evening. totally perfect place