When we were booking our stay in Zanzibar it was not so evident which place is better and which is not so good so we booked 5 nights in Zanzibar and 5 nights in a different hotel (where we were supposed to get a better beach) and it was our biggest mistake.
The first thing - the hotel exeeded our best expectations. We travel a lot and always stay in top hotels, we have lots of needs because of our 4 little kids, we are quite spoiled with high quality service and high standard facilities but this time we were really surprised.
The quality of service is fantastic - everywhere starting from reception, guest relation manager (we had Daniel) and restaurants (and other food and drink service) we met professional people who offered us lots of attention, assistance and positive emotions. I can not understand reports where guests tell about low quality of food or lack of choice...That is not true. The choice is big and if you don't like something they will prepare you a special dish according to your taste with smile and with excuse that you would need to wait couple of minutes more...
We felt like in a magic palace where all your problems/issues can be resolved by helpful staff.
I really do not have enough of words to describe all positive moments of this hotel. I can only say that my kids were crying when we moved to other place and they were telling me: we don't have problems with our current hotel, the hotel is not bad, it is because Baraza was too good and comparing to it any other hote seems ugly...
I would really to thank all hotel staff and owners of this hotel who made our stay unforgettable. I want to say "thank you" to Daniel, our villa manager, "thank you" to the manager of "food and drinks area" who was always nice and helpful and who coordinated preparation of all kind of different food for our kids and they were changing their ideas every 10 minutes...
Of course there is a low tide (but in almost all Zanibar beaches you will see it) but during this low tide you can have a walk on the reef, you can have a bicycle, you can realax at the swimming pool area with cocktail or fresh coconut....
We definitely will come back. I already promised it to my kids.

This is a stunning all inclusive Resort. Baraza hotel offers only the most luxurious & elite facilities for its guests. services included are Breakfast, lunch and dinner ,Afternoon tea ,In-house alcoholic drinks ,Soft drinks, juices & mineral Water, Beer, in house wines and cocktails , Use of tennis court, Fitness center & Swimming pools

The Villas which are very spacious , include TV, hair dryer, mini fridge, your own plunge pool, lovely bathroom amenities, fresh, crisp towels, very large comfortable bed, tea/coffee making facilities,

It is important to note that young guests at Baraza Resort & Spa are exceptionally well catered for - there is an excellent children's club for 4 to 12 year olds and babysitting services can easily be arranged.

we spent most of our time by the pool side, drinks are brought to you at regular intervals, you will be spoilt whilst you are there. The food is out of this world, so much to chose from , whilst we were there for lunch they had Buffet as well as light lunch menu that you could chose from incase you weren't upto buffet. Dinner was a set menu, we loved the food so much, we asked to see the Chef to thank him personnaly, I forgot the name but he was from mauritius !

The Dhahabu Bar & Lounge opens in the evenings until midnight is a nice place to stop for a drink before & after dinner.

The whole place is so stunning whilst we were by the pool side we enjoyed being there thouroughly and when we went to our villa we didnt want to go out, i cannot express in words how nice this place is. You have to be here to experience it as no word can do justice to this lovely place

The staff are extremely Courteous. We want to thank the entire Baraza team for making our stay a non forgetable one, we highly recommend it and will definately be back. Thank You ! Thank You, Thank you !

We stayed for 6 nights post safari in a 2 bed family villa. These aren't beachside, but have a pretty enough garden and are extremely comfortable. We've done similar beach-post-bush breaks in Mozambique and Mauritius but this was probably the nicest. The staff were outstandingly good as was the food. We loved our pre-supper cocktails (teenage kids) and for us the evenings struck the right balance between formal and casual. For our more sophisticated kids (!) they were a bit sniffy about the number of younger kids around the pool area, but thankfully they were for the most part well behaved. The sea (principal reason for these things for us) was lovely but we got lucky - if you choose the wrong few days as far as the tide is concerned you'd be stuck. You can only really swim for maybe 3 hours a day when the tide is at its very highest. Tours are vastly overpriced and you're quite a way from a lot of stuff on this resort (1 hour to Stone Town, about the same for your Spice Tour) but they're interesting and provoke lively discussion. I've read in the papers since that Stone Town has become unsafe because of a rise in unrest and some targetting against tourists which is a shame but this is a colossally poor place behind the 5 star loveliness. We were there in Ramadan which wasn't a problem, but were surprised at the lack of consideration given by a lot of tourists. Good spa - again 5 star prices - but the service, pleasant atmosphere and great food were all a plus for us.

We stayed at Baraza for 6 nights. Initially I was disappointed at location of our room - Villa 29 - last villa against perimeter wall in last line of villas. Not my ideal spot but villa was very nice. Hotel gardens are still very young so will look better in a few years. Interior design - all a bit monotone - gold and ivory. Could do with a flash of other vibrant colours. We really liked the high and low tides and at high tide the sea is beautiful to have a dip in. I see people moan about the tides but being a hotel of 30 villas, hardly anybody goes into the sea at high tide! Food and beverage - very good beach service - little treats during the day offered - fruit cocktails, iced coffee etc. We did appreciate this. Breakfast is good and the fruits are amazing. Lunch is fine - small buffet. Dinner was our least favourite meal. For us we prefer a quality buffet and yes, we did get this, perhaps nearly every other night which was very enjoyable. What we didn't like were the 'set menus' - it felt like they were trying too hard - 5 course bland meals. The only thing in these menus I was interested in eating were the delicious soups. Please, Baraza, re-think the fine dining experience. I just don't think it works. House wines were fine. Spa is very good. Regarding the internet, perhaps the Baraza could explain why they charge for internet access. In most hotels I stay at nowadays, it is free and at the hotel they own in Nairobi, internet access is free. That did annoy us. Also in East Africa, we find that laundry services are normally included in this sort of resort. Here we had to pay extra. Water sports were also at an extra cost. I think at an all inclusive resort they should include laundry, internet access and non motorised waterspouts (they don't have motorised). We loved the rising of the moon and were lucky enough to see the full moon for several evenings. Be warned, you will be informed on arrival that check out time is 10. am. We were not due to leave until 1.30 pm. If I had known beforehand I would have asked my tour operator to organise and pay for a late check out as this ruined our last morning. The staff were really delightful. They were trying so hard and I realised they didn't speak or understand English as well as some other East African countries. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience. Stone Town is a must to visit - very colourful in every respect.