Having spent one week at Mamamapambo, we fell in love with this wonderful boutique hotel.
The place itself is already immaculate, but when you add the hospitality of Fabio and Stefania and the atmosphere they create - it's simply the best.
You wake up in a beautiful, stylish room, have a perfect breakfast with fresh, home-made pastries and then whatever you feel up to: Fabio will explain with his wonderful Italian accent what he suggests to do.
Sometimes we went out for lunch and dinner but the food at the hotel was so much better. Whenever back in Zanzibar, we wouldn't go anywhere else.
Tip: Don't miss out the sand bank in the middle of the Ocean just 15 minutes walk from the hotel in low tide!

My husband and I stayed here for a week of relaxation following our self-drive safari in Tanzania. We absolutely loved our stay at Mamamapambo. It's a beautiful guest house with really spacious and tastefully decorated rooms. We didn't have a beach front room, but we had a decking area which overlooked the village which was interesting in itself. The rooms are not brightly lit but they are spotlessly clean so you need not worry about any bugs in dark corners! The rooms are cleaned daily. The bathroom is massive and you also get a little walk-in wardrobe with enough coat hangers! So you can completely unpack and get on with the business of relaxing.

A lot has already been said about Fabio & Stephania who are indeed great hosts and deserve every bit of credit. They built the place from scratch and have put a lot of love into it. However in addition to this they have trained an excellent team of staff who work tirelessly and discretely to ensure you are well looked after. Every single person is charming and takes great pride in his/her work and this attention to detail is what makes Mamamapambo such a fantastic place to stay.

Take time to investigate the surroundings and meet the locals. They are all very friendly, we even got chatting to a seaweed farmer who ended up showing us his farm and let us try a bit of seaweed farming! Don't be uptight with the beach sellers, they are just doing their thing and won't take offence if you don't buy/book something. Just enjoy the banter! The local children are always up for a game of football or volleyball or English/Swahili conversation practice. They soon abandon the "Jambo pen?" "Jambo pencil?" "Jambo 1 dollar?" mantra when you actually engage and play with them!

Do visit the resort down by the jetty to use their beautiful pool, you only need to order a drink and can stay as long as you like. The service there is also great.

Fabio arranged for us to go snorkelling with local fishermen on a traditional boat, they took us to a lovely reef not far from the guest house where we saw lots of interesting marine life.

We really enjoyed our stay in Jambiani, it's a very special place for warming your soul. It's not as commercially sanitised for tourism as other parts of the island. I hope it stays that way as that's what makes it so incredibly charming.

(One thing is be careful of your feet on the beach, it's tidal and sometimes glass or metal gets washed ashore so just look where you're going).

My husband and I just spent two weeks at Mamamapambo and to be completely honest, this is a wonderful place! All the good reviews here on tripadvisor are very true. We have been backpacking around Africa for a few months and decided to treat our selfs by staying at a nice place around Christmas. We chose Mamamapambo because of the good reviews here and we do not regret it. Fabio and Stefania are the best hosts, warm and welcoming, and very helpful. We miss them already! The place is so beautifully decorated, the rooms are huge and comfortable and every little detail is thought of. We also thought the price was very fair for the quality. The food is delicious and breakfast (which is included) is very good and filling. We have nothing negative to say about Mamamapambo.
Thank you Fabio and Stefania!

We stayed in this place for a week in August 2012. We did some research beforehand and decided to stay on Jambiani beach. We then came across this little boutique hotel. I can only say that we were so lucky to have found this place and to have been able to stay there. The place is just amazing. It's no ordinary place. The rooms are all special and nicely designed, each piece of furniture and decoration in the room is well thought through and tasteful. The rooms are big and very comfortable. The food they offer is of superb quality. We travelled quite a bit in Tanzania and we can honestly say that the quality of the rooms, the food and the price is a good value for money. It's not the cheapest, but it's fair for what you get in return. We did not stay in a room with a sea view, but it didn't matter at all because the beach is just there as you step out of the room and there's a little terrace area just facing the sea where you can relax and enjoy the sun without even leaving the hotel premises. Lastly, we would like to mention that the hosts were super welcoming and helpful throughout our stay. They really made us feel welcomed and like part of their life there :-) We wish to go back there someday. So anyone thinking of where to stay in Zanzibar, we recommend first of all to stay away from parts of the island that are filled with big tourist resorts and to go with something a lot more special and closer to local life like the Jambiani beach, and secondly to stay in Mamamapambo. You won't regret it!