Avis Unguja Lodge

The place is great for a retreat. The lodges are spaceful, with air and view, very unique. In addition, I especially enjoyed the service from the Manager Martin: I had told him I was arriving late and couple sandwiches were waiting at my room so that I wouldn't go to bed with an empty stomach. And I asked him to organize for me a fishing party which he did fantastically and for a very reasonable price. I went early morning an hour out from the coast fishing Tuna with good and experienced guys. We caught 2 big ones which was memorable for me. In two nights I felt I had a week break. Wonderful experience. And the double floor lodge would allow a good stay for a small family.

Les (+) : - hôtel très bien intégré à son environnement - des animaux sauvages en liberté : singes (curieux & joueurs) & hirax & dik dik … - possibilité de visiter Kizimkazi avec l’ancien responsable de la sécurité de l’hôtel - un staff souriant et aux petits soins – mentions spéciales pour le Centre de Plongée et (2) la cuisinière Les (-) : - villa bruyante (n°1) : appel & prière du Muezzin (5h du matin) et restaurant (bruit de vaisselles le soir) - un robinet d’arrivée d’eau de douche qui conduit l’électricité : problème de sécurité (risque d’électrocution) + une journée pour la réparation (4 relances et 1 fausse réparation) + 1 journée sans douche pour éviter un accident : notre décision et non celle du staff - sortie dauphins organisée par le Centre de plongée : une trentaine de bateaux tournants autour d’un groupe de dauphins. Indigne du positionnement de l’hôtel. - Un manque de communication. Ex :participation à la caisse du village pour la visite à régler à l’hôtel (et non au guide => double paiement), demandes de taxi renouvelée à 3 reprises… Ces remarques (en dehors de la communication) ont été partagées avec le manageur hollandais qui nous a expliqué comment cela aurait dû se passer : (1) absence de bruit dans notre villa, (2) réparation rapide et (3) briefing avant départ de la sortie dauphins et retour immédiat en cas d’affluence trop importante.

Nice if you like solitude and being in nature, and don't mind "rustic". Big open air villas surrounded by trees (even a few baobabs), which are frequent by monkeys (including red colobus). Not so nice if you are used to excellence and attention to detail in everything. Resort is in need of TLC at a minimum or renovation at a maximum to make it worth the price. All of the cushions are either worn out or torn with the cotton pocking out or zippers not closing... I would not recommend booking any trips with them either, as all we had were mediocre at best. Not sure about diving, but would not recommend snorkeling unless you have your own equipment. My snorkel had to be cleared every 2 minutes. Our snorkel guide could barely swim, and the boat we were on had no basic safety equipment. The coral was nice but fish population is almost all gone due to overfishing. There was a fish trap on the bottom of our snorkeling area. Lots of trash along the shore. Our boat caught a fish line in the engine, and almost got into the exposed rocks during cleanup...Everyone working there was nice and trying to please us. Overall, wish we had better memories of the Zanzibar island.

Setting was perfect. My room overlooked a pristine turquoise sea. Fisherman's boats drifted by. Dolphins on the horizon. Beautiful sunsets. Also it is located in a lovely jungle area with lots of wildlife so it felt rural and unspoiled. Food was great with lots of options catering to all sorts of diets.

we spend 4 nights at the Unguja lodge at the beginning of jan. 2020 and hardly have been at a more beautiful, well kept and spectacular place in this world, although we traveled widely. this spot on cliffs above a sandy beach with turquoise waters in front of you, offers excellent cuisine, extremely friendly service. the outstanding architecture of the individual villas sets them so cleverly apart, that you have your own, completely undisturbed sunset and are surrounded by untouched jungles. the utmost experience you have dreamed about. we can highly recommend it.

Wir waren zur Nebensaison auf Zanzibar und zunächst die einzigen Gäste der Lodge. Der Empfang und Service über den ganzen Aufenthalt hinweg war sehr aufmerksam und zuvorkommend, auch als weitere Gäaste kamen. Wir haben uns geradezu verwöhnt gefühlt. Die Lodge ist in Villas aufgeteilt, die den Gästen sehr viel Privatsphäre geben. Von den Nachbarn sind sie kaum einsehbar, viele mit Blick aufs Meer, sehr geräumig und überwiegend offen, d.h. bis auf das abschließbare Schlafzimmer befinden sich alle Räume unter einem hohen Dach aus Palmenblättern (?), man ist also z.B. beim Duschen quasi draußen. Manchmal kommen Affen oder Vögel vorbei, man muss also ein bisschen auf seine Sachen achten und sie im Schlafzimmer einschließen. Alles in der Lodge ist aus Naturmaterialien, es fiel direkt auf, dass kein Plastik zu sehen war. Der Service ist gut durchdacht, unauffällig und unaufdringlich wird z.B. früh morgens eine Kanne heißes Wasser vorbeigebracht, so dass man vor dem Frühstück schon mal einen Tee im Bett trinken kann. Eine Tauchschule, bei der man verschiedene Aktivitäten buchen kann, ist ebenfalls angeschlossen. Insgsamt wunderschön, die Villa wie die gemeinsamen Bereiche (Pool, Restaurant, Liegen und Sessel direkt an der Küste) sehr angenehm und komfortabel. Das Team kümmerte sich hervorragend und bereitete uns kleine Überraschungen, als sie erfuhren, dass wir auf Hochzeitsreise da sind.Perfekter Service also. Eine hunderprozentige Weiterempfehlung.

We loved our stay at this charming, comfortable lodge in Kizimkazi. It was quiet when we stayed which meant we had the place almost to ourselves. It felt like a private resort! Our villa and the view from our veranda was spectacular. The room was comfortable and had everything we needed. The villa came with it's own wildlife... the cheeky blacktail monkeys hanging out to see if we'd leave something lying around for them to sample, but fortunately we'd been well advised by the staff not to feed them! The pool area was great, well maintained and has clean towels on each sunbed every morning. The on-site dive center was very good, very useful. We did a Discovery dive with Sied, who was very knowledgeable, patient and reassuring. We also did the Dolphin trip which was incredible. The dive team are all very respectful of the ocean environment and the dolphins, which we appreciated. The hotel staff were all excellent. A real credit to the manager Martien. To food was great too, though lunch was sometimes expensive, we were too relaxed to care! Would highly recommend this hotel to anyone who want to relax and enjoy this beautiful area of the island.

A little piece of paradise - enormous, comfortable villas with amazing views across the ocean and the added excitement of extremely cheeky monkeys swinging through your room in the morning and trying to nick your sunglasses! Great food and lovely staff - thank you for a super stay.