Dear all,
I stayed with my wife in Melia from 29th October till 8th November 2012.
I start with things I did not like:
- paid airport pick up - this was the biggest surprise for both of us, that a 5* hotel and we as All Inclusive clients did not receive free airport pickup. It is more or less same for other hotels as well. But I would suggest that at least for clients who stayed for longer than 5 days (we stayed 10 days) it would be in payment included.
That`s it :)
Overall, we have been very satisfied with this hotel. The facilities are awesome, clean and modern. The gym is smaller (round 6-8 people training at same time), but is enough for a bit of relax. The rooms are organized in buildings with 10 rooms/ building. Besides rooms there are villas as well. Overall there is more than 1 pool. Big and very nice pool (even for children) is well organized while having stunning view of Jetti Restaurant and sea around. There is enough space to lay around the pool and the pool bar is active and effective with staff going around and taking orders. The main facility was with inside and outside restaurant, really nice and with many people serving your needs.
The beach - unless seeing more of them, I would put it as negative thing, but is same for almost all resorts - from what I heard from our tour guide, there is 1-2 hotels with nice beach. Our beach was really around 800m-1km, but they take you around with their golf cars :). Anytime, you just need to announce it on the reception. The beach is very nice, but during the ebb time.
It was amazing staying in this hotel and I loved it very much. If someone wants to go there, this hotel is very nice choice for anyone who wants to have luxurious holiday :)

Regards,
Tibor & Zuzana

From the moment I set foot at reception and had a welcome drink and free upgrade to an ocean view room with an outdoor shower until the moment I left with a late checkout, it was bliss. The food was outstanding, the service great (for the most part) and the rooms and grounds were stunning. The spa was a real Thai spa that rivals any massages I've had in NYC. As a solo traveler, I was sometimes overlooked, but that's generally the case anywhere I am, particularly with all-inclusive options. Here, it was definitely a must as it pays for itself. Drinks options are great (excellent mojitos) too. The beach is a little far, but the staff makes you feel secure and the golfcart are always around if you don't want to walk (or it's dark or high tide and you can't). In particular, Genipher, Juma, Hassan, Isaac and Wallace made it a lovely stay. Extremely great value for your money. I wouldn't waste time in Stone Town-- just go for the day-- and enjoy the paradise at the Melia. Wish I had another week!

I stayed there for 9 nights, with the all-inclusive package. We were three people traveling together, having two rooms. We started our vacation with a safari, and coming to Melia straight after that felt like paradise on earth. We were met with drinks and helpful staff when we arrived. We stayed in 1703 and 1306, both great places (first-floor).

The place is about 45 minutes by car from the airport. It seems a bit far away from everything, but for us it was great (I would definitely recommend all-inclusive due to the remoteness of the hotel). We wanted to relax and enjoy the sun. The hotel is beautiful with great rooms. There are beautiful floral decorations everywhere, and the main building of the hotel had a very comfortable smell!

The beach is a bit away from the hotel, but they have golf carts that take you there. Riding the golf cart you also get to talk to the pleasant staff. The beach is by far not the best beach in the world, but it is great for relaxing, tanning and reading a book or five. When the water is low, you can walk quite far out, which was a nice walk. If you want to swim, you have to walk a bit. If swimming is not your priority number one, it is a good place to be. There are no water sports, but for us that was perfect. There were some beach vendors, but the hotel security there kept it to a minimum. After learning some Swahili, we could also answer them quite well and they kept away.

The staff at Melia was extremely helpful and friendly. They always smiled (in a naturally way!) and did their best for us to be satisfied. There were at times some problems understanding some of the staff in the reception, which could cause a bit of hazzle, and the staff at the beach bar messed up some orders etc. The staff arranged Swahili-lessons which we attended, and we got to learn quite a bit. We also practiced with all the staff afterwords, and they all seemed genuinely happy and interested in talking to us.

The power went out every night, some nights more than others. All-in-all we didn't really mind, we were just enjoying our vacation. Also be aware of "African time", things don´t always go as fast as in the western part of the world.

The last day we had a bit of a hazzle checking out, mainly due to language problems. It took us at least one hour, and they did not understand what we said. They said "yes", but they obviously didn´t understand. They would´t let one of us pay (I am still kind of surprised about how we "faught" to pay!) - one of the staff thought we already had paid. They lost papers, and didn´t manage to get the right amount to pay.

Even so, we would definitely go back - we had a great time at a great hotel with awesome staff!
It is a bit like paradise, where you definitely can relax and forget the "outside" world for a while.

I stayed there for 3 nights, with their all-in package which is a perfect solution - hassle-free and you still have a wide variety of choice with regards to food & drinks. The airport pick-up was a bit African style (first come first served - only 4 spots in the 4WD) but it turned out well after all.
The location is very good, away from crowds and noise (a 1h drive from the airport on a lovely road). Spectacular views over the Indian Ocean and even though the 'beach' in from of the hotel is not fit for swimming due to the stretch of coral reefs, it just takes a 10 min walk or a 2 min buggy ride to a proper private beach (still located in the domain of the resort) - the coral reefs can however be discovered (with the proper shoes) at low tide, the marine life is plenty. And there is no water sports activities given the ecological protection - which may be boring for some but for me it was a pure bliss not to be constantly disrupted with the irritating noise pollution associated with jet ski & other. Beach vendor hassling is kept to a minimum by the security guards of the hotel. The very long stretch of beach can easily take you on a 1-2h walk.
Given the property is vast it never makes you feel that the hotel is crowded. The gardens are very well maintained and wherever you go there will be flowers. The rooms are spacious and clean and had the standard amenities. The food of the restaurants was excellent.
My '(almost)' are small tweaks: this is Africa so not everything rolls on wheels: expect regular short but daily power cuts (most often in the evening); my room was not provided with any room service menu and it took me 3 calls to get it, the terrace door does not have any handle on the outside so prepare to break some nails in sliding it back open; the staff of the hotel is overall friendly (Reception staff is great - wish all staff could be like them) although some really seem to be unhappy in their job (e.g. the beach bar) and are not very helpful. The hotel should really invest in providing their staff with more training in terms of hospitality, client service oriented mindset and language as it is these small things that make a difference. The hotel souvenir shop is semi deserted and has barely any items (not even postcards). This is a pity given the hotel is pretty remote - it could become a very successful shop if it was properly supplied with the basic tourist items. A thank you to the 2 Spanish front desk gentlemen as they were very friendly and very welcoming.
All in all I did really enjoy my short time there and would definitely recommend the hotel - I plan a new trip for sure next year !