I stayed at the Melia with my wife after a Kilimanjaro climb. The resort is located an hour from the airport and it is truely fantastic, the service first class. The restaurants have a wonderful variety of foods for every taste. The bathroom was bigger than our bedroom, with an indoor and outdoor shower and deep and over 60 " long bath tub that can accomodate normal size couples. It is a romantic resort and every member of the staff appears to be there just to please you. They have live music every night which is a joy with the evening breeze.

The downs:
1) the beach accross the resort is pretty but unusuable, full of rocks, mud, plants, unwalkable. They have another beach 1 kilometer from the resort. A gulf cart from the resort leaves frequently to Gabi beach. They have a few huts with a bar and a pretty view. a few yards of beach that you can walk in 5 minutes but again, you cannot get to enjoy the water of the sea if you want to swim. I am pretty determined but could not walk half a mile on rocks, seaweed, glass and other trash to get there. It is worth taking a few pictures since the view is spectacular.
2) Another inconvinience was the crowds of 20 year olds claiming to be captains (Harry, John, Charles) they would follow you every where with pictures of fish, clear water, outboard boats. Want to go fishing? Best prices, half a day $150 a person look....snorkling, pick you up tomorror $120 cheapest price. You can politly decline but they will keep going up until you get firm and tell them not to bother you any more.
3) they nickel and dime you. As you arrive, they offer an all inclusive service at $50 per person per day, they claim it includes all drinks and lunch and dinner since breakfast was already included. Once you pass your credit card and sign, they will show you a menu with all sorts of drinks, after each one there was one, two asterics or none. We were then told that the all inclusive covered only the one asteric items. Guess what, of the 30 wines on the menu, there was one Sauvignon blanc and one sparlking, of all the beers, just one brand was included, of all vodkas, only Smirthnoff was included.

If you are prepared to splurge, happy to be exclusively nestled in this resort with your loved one, or just relax by the ocean, this is the place for you. Large room and bathroom, clean linen and charming ocean resort are Melia's strengths. The mini-pool by the ocean near the fitness center is a good experience. While you are dipping in the pool by the edge of the cliff, you see the ocean across! Service is mediocre and the management will need to take the effort to train their staff on all counts. For people who eat vegetarian food, this is not the place to be - you will be desperate and find nothing much for you. After all this is an island! If you are looking to do sight-seeing in Stone Town and other places around Zanzibar, then transport options are limited and you will have to take the expensive hotel taxi. After all, it is better to enjoy the paradise of Melia Resort and neighbouring Gabi beach. This hotel is okay recommended for business meetings but not if you need internet access for work, which is terrible.

A group of friends and I stayed at Melia for three nights after a week on safari. The rooms were incredibly clean and well maintained. The bathroom was draw-dropping with an indoor and outdoor shower and huge bath and just as big as (if not bigger than) the bedroom. We upgraded on arrival to all inclusive and it was well worth it. While it was the basic level (so not everything on the menus was included) there was still plenty of variety in both drinks and food. The burgers at the pool bar were delicious.

The infinity pool was awesome and the wait staff at the pool were prompt with taking and delivering orders. I found the beach not that great. It was gorgeous but the water is very shallow and warm and the sand felt like mud underfoot. This is obviously not the hotel's fault and I may be picky because I'm used to beaches in Australia. I was more than happy to lounge by the pool for the majority of my stay.

The food at Spices (buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner) and Aqua (set menu for basic all inclusive guests) was delicious. The cafe at Gabi beach wasn't up to the same standard as the pool bar I thought but we were there at what seemed like a very busy time. Plus I was on holidays so was in no hurry.

I've read reviews complaining about the noise but I was in a ground floor garden room in block 14 (facing Spices where a band plays each night) and I had no problem with noise. And yes, there is the occasional black out but not for long. It is Africa after all and if you've spent any time there you know how common power outages are.

All in all I had a wonderful stay and wish I could have stayed longer. I hope to make the long trip back sometime (hopefully sooner rather than later).

Was there for 4 days meeting. While grounds and rooms are spectacular thanks to ex owners (Kempinski), this place cannot be recommended for 60+ people gathering for conference...

The hotel is just not able to react quickly even on rather simple requests: I requested extension of my stay for 1 additional night, and only after 2 days and number of reminders later I received the final confirmation. OK, I stayed based on conference rate, but nevertheless...

Safe in my room was not functioning (not big deal, but not acceptable for 5* hotel). There is no way you can order iron and ironing board, so bring your own travel iron!

My room was NEVER cleaned before 3-4pm. Disappointing,as you need to work after the lunch break. The internet was slow, if available at all. Over cable.

The pool in theory opened at 7am, but none of the mornings the towels were made available so early.
Staff is coming late at night to spray the rooms.

Room service order took 50 minutes.

General staff attention is attentive and friendly, but supervising staff at the reception seems to be non existent.

My highest appreciation goes to Mr Reda however: he looked genuinly interested to our feedback and despite being responsible for food, was going the extra mile to address our concerns.

Gabi beach is great with friendly staff and guards there, and the golf kart ride is refreshing and fun.

So, my recommendation- to spend some free days there ( but be prepared to very high food costs, but the quality of the food is excellent (dinner buffet with water included: USD 45 per person) and super inflated prices for spa treatments (pedicure USD 55)).

But if you are looking to stay there for work, look elsewhere!