This is definitely not a 5 star hotel. Overpriced and underdelivered. We cut our stay short, cause we were becoming more and more dissatisfied with the experience. The problems: 1. Incapable front office who makes promises they do not deliver on and then make inconsistent or deceitful excuses 2. Unapologetic and unwelcoming attitude from front office and manager 3. Most of the wines from the menu were missing 4. Basic foods that were brought out on a very limited breakfast menu, were missing on different mornings: bacon (!), avocado (!) 5. Breakfast quality was low (they water down the fresh juices) 6. Not properly functioning rooms: ACs work inconsistently (either too hot or too cold, sometimes the ACs just switched off during the night), sometimes no running water, TV not working, on one occasion they didn't clean our pool 7. Quality of the food from the ordering menu definitely not worth the prices that are some of the highest on the island 8. The staff doesn't know how to respond adequately to complaints - not trained enough Some examples: * It took them 6(!) days to fix the TV in our room. Each day (from day 1) the front office promised the TV would be fixed. On one day they said that the problem is the service provider and they need to renew their package; next day they said that the problem is the monkeys who are sitting on the satellite, the day after that they said again that its the service provider. Whatever the reason, they were incapable of solving it for 6 days, although promising on each day that it would be solved. * My baby got sick and the local doctors said that it is necessary to measure her temperature every day. Hotel's thermometer stopped working, but they promised to organise a new one and even confirmed that the thermometer is on the way and will be delivered during the evening. When I went to get the thermometer the next morning, the front office lady said that they couldn't get the thermometer, because Zanzibar had changed regulations and now you need a doctor's prescription to be able to buy a thermometer (although they had said that the thermometer was on the way the evening before). I called a local doctor to organise a prescription and he said that there is no such regulation - anybody can buy a thermometer from any pharmacy. I organised a thermometer myself, without the help from the hotel. * The public areas in the hotel - restaurant, reception area etc - are open air spaces, so there is no AC. However, the temperatures in Zanzibar can be quite high also in the evenings. As we were travelling with a baby, we asked the staff for a standing fan so we could enjoy the dinner together as a family without having to be worried that the baby gets too hot. The staff informed us that they do not have any standing fan and when we asked whether they could organise one, we were asked to speak with manager called Max. I addressed Max to speak about this request, however, he was defensive and unwelcoming from the moment I introduced myself, After my request he said that standing fan is not in the room description and they can't solve all the requests their guests have. I guess Max has never visited any 5-star hotels himself and doesn't know the kind of service he should provide. We never expected that organising this request would be free of extra charge, however Max never proposed any solution. When having dinner or breakfast in the restaurant, Max never greeted or welcomed any of his guests. * Nobody asked why we were checking out early. Nobody said sorry, that the TV is not working, that there is no bacon or avocado for breakfast (although its in the set menu) etc. Apology should be a common decency in any similar situation, but even more so in a 5 star hotel. * We had to order maintenance for the ACs in our rooms multiple times, as they were not working properly. Got a feedback from the maintenance, why the AC in the main bedroom was not working properly - filter was dirty. 5 star hotel hasn't changed its filters. Wow.. * Front office doesn't answer the phone on the evenings. On some occasions they also just hang up on you. Not to end on a negative note, the hotel also has some pluses: 1) It is located in beautiful mangrove forest. Buzzing nature is all around you - monkeys, bats, birds etc. 2) The garden villas are tastefully decorated. 3) Restaurant staff and cleaning staff are very welcoming. I want to compliment one of the cleaning ladies, called Rehema, and a bartender, who was very kind. 5) Big pool with a view. 6) Great beach that you can enjoy quite privately without any disturbance from beach boys.…
Room in front of the Ocean.. gentle breeze.. the Restaurant was very intimate, pool view and a great Menu.. in the middle of the Restaurant we met a new Friend.. a monkey! :) we enjoyed the place, the quiet atmosphere.. especially the dinner with candle light
This resort is paradise! The beach is very clean compared to the others around. The restaurant has a wonderful view, the food is good ( you have to try octopus, is the best that i ate on the island). It is very nice that they are giving so interesting and different combination of food. At the restaurant you may have the luck to meet Agnes, the best waiter. She was so nice and she gave us such a wonderful feeling all the time. About the room, what can i say.. magic! So large, clean. We had room nr. 6. Is true that u can see ants or moquitos but they put something in the bed area and the little animals wont come. Its safe. During the night, you shoud use repelent outside. They bite me a little but nothing different from ours( Romania). Just a few itchies. In one word, this resort is awesome! 💕 …
I have to say that I have really bad experience with this hotel. It is not definitely a 5 star hotel, fitness and spa is missing completely. The management is lying to customers in many cases. For example if you want to have a massage, you cannot, because they are saying that is forbidden because of Covid, but it is not true. In other resorts they normally do it. The atmosphere of the hotel is really poor, the staff are tired, slow and there is no music from the resort. The only music you can hear is from the bar right on the beach next to the hotel, sometimes you can here pop, techno, house music, but it is very very loud and the music is playing everyday from 2 p.m. till midnight, I know it because we stayed at this hotel 13 nights!!! We was supposted to stay longer, but we wanted to escape from this nightmare as soon as we realised that we are really unhappy and dissapointed. So if you want to have some relax in beatiful place, definitely avoid this resort. The overwater villas are quite nice, new, but I expected more privacy from that. We had several issues with unexpected visits with cleaning guys, pool cleaning etc - they came dirrectly to our terace without knocking and I was naked! I was really upset. The same case was with fishermen, they was fishing several times under our villa and dear Maasai was on the phone and didnt care (but Maasais are there to protect the hotel). The beach was a real disaster! Seaweed everywhere.. You can see it in the pictures below. The staff are really trying to do their best, but you can see that the problem is in management. I don't want to remember all those horrible experiences anymore, but you can feel from the hotel management that they just want to get money from you and that is all. And for how much it costs, the added value is really missing there. In my opinion there is a lack of love, willingness, helpfulness, the food is very poor and bad quality and I just felt that I wasnt welcome there. I was really, really looking forward to going home and I'm sorry to say that, but this was the worst vacation I've ever had. I have seen really many beautiful paradises around the world , I expected it also from this place, but it was really bad experience. I want to write it here as a warning to others, find a better hotel, this was a big, really big mistake in every way. I am positive person and I am always trying to find a good things, but in this case it was rare to find some. Advice in conclusion for the terrible management, change your attitude towards guests and respect and appreciate them! I have not seen a worse approach to guests, it's such a shame!…
We stayed two adults and a child on a 6 days package in a Garden Villa, it was our 5th stay in Zanzibar over 15 years and no surprises. In general value for money was high, the villa with private pool was big, clean and more than enough space for 3 persons, service good both from reception and housekeeping. Main Pool is with great view facing west towards the bay to get the afternoon sun and great a sundowner with one of the many fantastic drinks from the bar. This differ from most other east cost hotels facing east to Indian Ocean. Restaurant great and serving 5 course menu for dinner, we were happy that there were no buffet during Covid pandemic. Food with 4 main dish options so something for all and different each day. Tide water makes it difficult to get the full benefit of the very nice beach.…
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