Zanoceanique Hotel

Consindering the amount of money paid, breakfast can be better than it is, you can consinder buffet breakfast

Power being off and no generator

The rooms were large and comfortable, we even had a sitting room. Close to the beach, and very nice pool area. Staff were very accommodating.

Hot water was finicky.

This place ticked all the boxes for what I required, simple, quiet, chilled and relaxing for two weeks. Super helpful staff, Ciprian, John and Selma cannot do enough for you. What do you need? Local advice? (they really do know it all) Assistance changing money? (at a favourable rate) Where to buy a bottle of whiskey at short notice? (it’s not obvious and there is no bar) Tour information? (obvious but well done) A bit of a chat and an informal Swahili lesson (because why not?) Transportation: Just ask (certainly to anywhere on the island of Unguja and probably far beyond) Rooms: Basic, well airconed, spotless, with a safe and fridge (not a minibar) all of the housekeeping staff are very quiet and shy but wonderful. Restaurant: Simple and clean (you can look into their kitchen if you are quick or simply ask) a satisfying breakfast, decent lunch and good supper (do try anything with octopus!) There is no bar. Cost: Come on! You are in Zanzibar, it’s cheaper than anything you spend at home. Anyone that complains about the prices at Zanoceanique would be better off not going on holiday. Location: Matemwe is not a metropolis. It is barely a village, but it has what you need, even an ATM opening soon! Maybe some would want more, but you cannot please everyone. Walk one minute to the beach, turn left or right and you have restaurants and bars a plenty, you’ll find all the entertainment you need. This is not a five-star establishment like Hyatt, Ritz or Mount Nelson, it is a simple family run place that punches above its weight and does it very well. An observation: I see lots of complaints about the beds being too hard. My sleeping App show’s I had nothing but prolonged deep sleeps that were almost snoring and apnoea free. My body, such as it is, feels rejuvenated and my mind blissful. The beds are fine people, you just have bad backs, no hotel can cure that.

Hmmmm, maybe a better brand of coffee, possibly an availability of sparkling water, a chocolate on your pillow at night? I'm kinda struggling to find something wrong or that I didn't like.

I booked 4 nights in an "executive suite with sea view" at Zanoceanique for myself and my wife to give us a little comfort after spending the previous 12 days on safari in mainland Tanzania. The room was spacious, comfortable and clean, the aircon worked well and we had a lovely view of the beach, breakfast was included and evening meals were available for a very reasonable extra charge, the kitchen and restuarant were very good, most of the staff were very friendly and helpfull. So why such a poor overall review?

3 things happened to spoil what would have otherwise been an excellent hotel: The day before our arrival we were informed that their credit card machine was "in maintenance" so we would need to pay the full amount of our booking in cash upon arrival. As we don't carry excessive amounts of cash when travelling this was a problem for us, particularly as we has booked tours with their associated operator (Mr John), who would also need to be paid in cash. Upon our arrival which was late evening due to flight delay we handed over our cash for the room and found Mr John was waiting for us at reception quite properly expecting to be paid for the tours we had booked. We had to explain that we couldn't pay him untill we had visited the fairly nearby ATM the following day. After visiting the ATM the next day and withdrawing our full dailly limit we were just a small amount short of paying him in full but he agreed the tour would go ahead the next day. After the tour (during which we made another ATM withdrawl) we returned to the hotel and called at reception for our room key. The female attending the reception desk produced our room key and whilst holding it in fromt of us demanded the remaining small cash payment (approx 16 USD) for Mr John, which of course we immediately handed over. Whether this was deliberate rudeness or just a cultural missunderstanding I am unsure but found it quite shocking at the time. Finally, on their booking.com listing the hotel claims they have a bar - they do not, or alcoholic drinks are not served, we were informed of this on our arrival but assured that we could purchase whatever we wanted from a nearby shop and consume it on the hotel premises, I later found written rules in the room stating that consumption of alcohol was only permitted in our room - not public areas of the hotel. Perhaps the management should more properly identify their target customers and more fully cater for them.