Melisa Zanzibar, Zanzibar

This hotel does not match the usual Kempinski standard. it need renovation, furniture and more services. The garden is not well maintained. There was garbage next to the pool. The beach is far (one miles away (minibus) and is average. There is a lack of international food at the buffet (my children did not eat) Only the pool bar was open. The is no furniture in the ground floor lobby: only a carpet and an old TV set. We has a suite: air condition broke 2 nights out of 3. We decided to leave earlier.

The Hotel is quite lovely, with great architecture and impressive grounds. i stayed garden view twin room with my younger brother while my parents were in a room with a king-sized bed. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are undoubtedly the highlight of the room- the garden rooms having an outdoor shower. The swimming pool is also great- with it's large size and shape and the infinity edge. Unfortunately, our stay wasn't perfect and here's why: 1)We had specifically requested beforehand a direct sea-facing room when we had made the bookings, and when we arrived at the hotel, we could barely see the ocean! we had to go back and forth to the reception to try and get one of the direct sea-facing rooms (my mother was on crutches, so we at least got a golf cart). In the end,after 3 hours after already having traveled from Nairobi, we FINALLY managed to get two rooms to out liking, but they weren't neighboring as we had REQUESTED in our booking. 2) The first rooms we were given only had a fruit basket, and when we shifted, my parents room had a Champagne bottle as well! Apparently, VIP's and honeymooners get these complementary bottles. But the reservations also said VIP's and the original room didn't have a champagne bottle! discrimination much? 3) during the whole stay, every morning only ONE set of towels was returned by housekeeping, when CLEARLY there were TWO people staying in a TWIN room! One night, when i had to have a shower, i had to wait for over an hour ( i kid you not) for just one towel to arrive! and by then, i was already late for my dinner reservation, and made everyone else late too! 4) the poolside cafe service was terrible. My Mom ordered a plate of fries for my starving younger brother. My mom and bro decided to go to the room and get him ready for dinner, so my Dad and i stayed behind for the fries. after waiting 45 minutes for it, i had to go to my room to get ready for dinner (with only one towel in the room used by my brother, i had to use the wet pool towel i happened to be wrapped in). Then my Dad came to the room saying that they would send the fries to the room, but those fries never came. 5) the food at the restaurants is below par. As a vegetarian, I expect to be catered to as well as the non-vegetarians are, but unfortunately this turned out to be extremely tedious because of lack of communication among the food and beverage staff. Once some thrown-together food did arrive, it was terrible. And not only for vegetarians, but for chicken-eaters as well, my mom and brother had very little choice in food because the only meat they eat is chicken and all the chicken dishes were cooked were so bad that they sometimes only had bread and butter for dinner! I have been a vegetarian for over 5 years now, and never have i ever had as big a problem with hotel food as i did with Zamani. 6) We had a table reserved especially for us for the duration of our stay, but on Christmas morning, our table had been given to some white people! We were under the impression that this was a non-discriminatory establishment, but we were so wrong. 7) Beach? what beach?! there is NO BEACH! only CORAL! who goes to a beach-hotel with no beach?! US! and this was a grave mistake! even the "private beach" doesn't mean crap because it's full of coral too! 8) The hotel has all these fountain waterfall fixtures, and granted there is a country-wide blackout and the hotel is running on a generator, not a single fixture was ever on, not even on christmas! I've heard great things about other hotels such as Blue Bay Beach Resort (who ACTUALLY have a BEACH). If you're white, you'll get awesome service if you stay at Zamani. If you don't want a beach, you'll love you're stay at Zamani, and if you want a boring-ass holiday where there is zero-entertainment for yourselves and for your kid (unless they can entertain themselves with a playground and sandpit full of burrowing bugs), then you'll have an unforgettable experience, guaranteed.

After a long flight from Miami we arrived at the Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski. We were greeted with an ice cold facetowel and nice glass of orange juice. Shortly, we were driven to our villa in a golfcart by a very friendly member of staff. Our son Ryan stayed in the Zamani Suite. The hotel is beautifully decorated in comfortable modern furniture with just a touch of Zanzibar. The gardens are lovely and tropical and well maintained with a multitude of fountains. Our days were spent exploring the reef near the Zamani Beach Club and lounging by the hotel's infinity pool. We ended our days with cocktails at the Jetty Bar overlooking the Indian Ocean. We enjoyed delicous buffet dinners and breakfasts at the Cloves restaurant and one evening we had a romantic dinner on the terrace of the Red Snapper restaurant. It was an excellent experience visiting historical sites in Zanzibar, with very kind staff. I sincerely recommend Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski, it's a great deal worthy your money!

This hotel was our second choice, but we found it totally superb in all ways, and would go back to-morrow ! We loved the different areas to sit and walk, eg ,pier, beach ,swimming pool, cliff walk, and especially the luxurious rooms and bathrooms. Service and friendliness were second to none ( and we have travelled in many countries) Our only problem was the length of journey ,having travelled from Northern Ireland ! Keep up the good work. Tom & Kathleen Bailie