Zanzibar Pearl Boutique Hotel & Villas

Beautiful hotel in an idyllic location, with a stunning, long stretch of beach that was perfect for walks. The hotel is a little away from the usual tourist areas, but we actually appreciated the peace, quiet and relaxing atmosphere. The staff were extremely friendly, and the restaurant team were clearly working very hard. However, I do feel that the overall level of service and the lack of some basic amenities let the hotel down. Everything seemed to operate at a very slow pace — pole pole, as they say in Tanzania. While we understand and appreciate the more relaxed way of life, when we raised issues, we often received a big smile and an “I’m sorry”, but unfortunately not much explanation or, more importantly, a practical solution. Our initial villa was beautiful, but our room and our children’s room were not connected. As we were travelling with very young children, and the rooms were easily accessible from the beach, we were uncomfortable with this arrangement and requested to be moved. Eventually, the hotel accommodated our request, but only after a lot of back and forth between ourselves, the hotel and our booking agency. There are also some basic facilities that I would expect from a hotel advertised as 4-star. The rooms do not have telephones, and there was no obvious way to contact anyone if we needed assistance, particularly at night. Reception closes at 10pm, and on several occasions my husband had to walk through the dark from our villa to the bar simply to find someone who could help us. There was also no iron provided in the room, and when we asked to borrow one, we were told this was not possible. Instead, the hotel offered an ironing service but charged per item of clothing. This was not even delivered back in time and we'd often have to chase it up to get our clothing back. Given the premium price of the hotel, we found this disappointing and another example of a fairly basic amenity not being available to guests. Apart from the larger villa we were eventually moved to, the rooms do not have fridges, which we found quite surprising and inconvenient. We also experienced repeated problems with the water supply. The water would frequently stop working, meaning we sometimes had cold showers or no water at all until we went out to find someone from maintenance to resolve the issue. There was also quite a lot of inconsistency between staff when it came to information about hotel services and answers to our questions. The food was fair overall. However, we found some of the local restaurants along the beach to be more enjoyable, and we preferred eating there on several occasions. For a hotel advertised as 4-star, I would personally rate it closer to 3-star, particularly when considering the facilities, service and reliability of the basic amenities. We came here after an absolutely perfect safari, where the hotels and service had been exceptional, and were hoping for a similarly luxurious and relaxing experience to finish our trip. Unfortunately, despite the premium price we paid, the hotel did not quite deliver the level of service or comfort we had expected. That said, we did not hate our stay. The beautiful setting, peaceful atmosphere and friendly staff allowed us to make the best of the situation, and there were certainly some lovely aspects to the hotel. However, given the issues we experienced, I don't think it is somewhere we would choose to return to as it did not quite meet our personal requirements or expectations.

The hotel is excellent, People very nice. We had a seaview bungalow, good sunbeds at the sea. Very nice swimmingpool. Cleaning is excellent, fresh water in your room every morning. Located at Matemwe beach, quiet and relaxing part of the beach. Tip: walk on the beach, all the way to the left. At the end you will find a lovely restaurant called Pura Vida. Ibiza feeling and great view!

Perfect place to chill out and unwind yourself

Beautiful relaxing resort with friendly staff, great service and stunning surroundings. Food great. The perfect place to relax after a hectic week of safari. Some trips available but we just wanted to chill. Sleepy area but perfect if you want to relax.

Nice hotel! Main points: service, location (not much people on the beach), swimming pool, beautiful view