Seasons Lodge Zanzibar

We had the most wonderful stay at this rustic beach resort! We could not recommend it more highly. If you are looking for a manicured resort style hotel, this is not the one for you! It is so much more than that! The beach view cottages are beautiful and to wake up every morning to the sunrise is very special. Watching the stars come out at night while lying on the day beds on your own private beach is incredible. Things we loved: - someone comes round to set up your room for the night. Put the mosquito nets nights around your bed and bug sprays so you can sleep easy knowing there are no mosquitoes - The food is delicious. The menu changes daily so you never get bored. We ventured out for lunch one day and regretted it - The staff are lovely and very attentive Thank you Chris and your amazing team!

Not our first time coming here and it certainly will not be our last. We are just so in love with this little piece of paradise. We booked the cottage with a private pool, and it was just heaven lying at the pool, overlooking the ocean being utterly mesmerized by the tidal movements. The cottage is beautifully decorated, clean and airy. A big thank you to the staff who were very friendly and attentive

The positives: The pictures do not do it justice. The rooms are nicer than depicted and the beach is lovelier - greener and bluer hues. It really is lovely. The reception area is stunning and having your own private beach - great. The drawbacks: The shower water is straight from the sea so you can never get totally clean. It ruined my hair and I felt I could not shower for the whole time which was not pleasant. The restaurant staff are really slow and if you complain, they just ignore you. One lunchtime, we were the only guests and we ordered a simple sandwich and a soup. After 45 minutes we asked where the food was and we heard the pinging of a microwave. They had forgotten and then brought the food in 1 minute. We were sitting outside the kitchen and there were 4 of them in there. Sadly this was not an isolated incident. One evening, we purposely ordered our dinner 1.5 hours before dinner started. It was still late. The restaurant staff were sulky and uncooperative most of the time. The trips they provide are expensive and not good value. We paid a fortune to go snorkelling and the local company was disinterested, dived in to see dolphins ignoring us and were not concerned with our safety. Our expensive trip to Stone Town, the guide was on his phone the entire time and not talking to us over lunch. He knew nothing about local shops either. The couples massage was 120 Euros and they told us (rather than asked) they were using a certain oil, it turned out this was the super luxurious, expensive one and I paid 120 USD for 2 massages. The Massai tribespeople on the beach are very very pushy and do not leave you alone. you want to take a nice beach walk and end up getting roped in to looking at someone's paintings on the hotel's private stretch of beach. It was very non-relaxing. Due to the sea water (we stayed in other places that didn't pump water straight from the sea) and the attitude of the restaurant staff I would not stay here again, but if these things do not bother you and you are not intending to do any trips, then do stay here!