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Review 1 of 14
Reviewerbelen lopez
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromEurope
Visit date27 Oct 2009
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date1 Nov 2009
 
Overall 
 
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Beautiful, relaxing and with very nice touches
I loved everything about this place -from the amazing stretch of beach it sits on to the great diving and snorkeling operation they have available.
We stayed in the suites -we were changed during our stay but due to our late booking- and were impressed by its originality and relaxed atmosphere, while keeping some nice details. The food is good and they some times organize dinner in a different location, which is a nice change of pace. There are a lot of mosquitos in the rooms, but since part of their quirky charm is that they have no walls on the top floor, it's unavoidable. I still managed to get bitten only twice just by spraying some repellent every now and then in the evening.
We went diving twice and saw wonderful fish, turtles, and coral.
Yes, there is the issue of the tide but it's easy to live with and you can still go in the water and swim if you time it a little.
hide comments : 1
#36 added by guest adiam sertzu on 3 Nov 2009 at 16:46
Beautiful setting with out being pretentious, the right combination.
Really warn and nice staff make you feel like being at home.
What a nice holiday!!!
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Review 2 of 14
Reviewervipin goyal
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromNorth America
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date20 Oct 2009
 
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Review 3 of 14
Reviewerandrew sherlock
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date18 Oct 2009
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date26 Oct 2009
 
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Review 4 of 14
Reviewershaun taylor
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date11 Oct 2009
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date17 Oct 2009
 
Overall 
 
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Honeymoon
This place is in a beautiful location with an unspoilt beach, has a great pool and chilled bar area and with the padi dive centre right there it makes diving and snorkelling trips a breeze. We did a snorkelling trip to Mnemba and loved it! There are lots of small touches that make u feel like its a quality place and they have a free boat trip around the bay available that I definitely recommend. The first night of our stay we had a major mosquito problem and must have killed about 50 inside our mosquito net - they seemed to live under the bed. The staff do however come every evening and spray the rooms and after that the problem went away except for the odd mozzie. Tap water is not drinkable but they do supply a big bottle of water daily. Food was awesome and they definitely take pride in their meals, with the occasional supper being served in the outdoor boma, which is great for meeting a few of the other guests. Also loved the sunrise-watching on the beach every morning along with the coffee that they have waiting for you. It sure makes for some awesome shots.
Personally I preferred staying on the North-west coast of the island as the beaches dont have seaweed and you can swim all day long. Here you can only swim during high tide. But since its so beautiful and different from the north west, I'd suggest doing both as we did. Kendwa Rocks is a good option to compliment this stunning resort. You would be limiting yourself to only stay at this one place, as nice as it is. Unless you are only in Zanzibar for a very short time.
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Review 5 of 14
Reviewersamantha gudger
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date6 Oct 2009
Visit duration4 nights
Review Date20 Oct 2009
 
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Chilled Matemwe
The four days we spent here made a great start to our honeymoon. Accommodation is fairly basic and the cold showers definitely wake you up! but there are nice touches in the rooms - like sarongs, hats and their own home-made soap.

Location is great, pretty much had the beach to ourselves and it was great to relax on beds in a shady hideaway and watch the local fishermen and women go about their work. We also had a free short trip on the lodge's Dhow boat which was a good experience. Along with a few other guests we also made the morning sunrise on the beach - (tea and coffee provided) - albeit on just one occasion.

The staff are pretty friendly and certainly very attentive. Food generally is good - and it was great they moved the dining area around to make things a little more interesting at meal times and create a more sociable environment. Of the four nights we had one "interesting" meal - (BBQ at the pool). There's not a lot of activity in the evening - and everyone tends to be in bed by 9.30pm! - but for a few nights of relaxation- I would thoroughly recommend.
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Review 6 of 14
Revieweramy baxendale
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date3 Oct 2009
Visit duration4 nights
Review Date13 Oct 2009
 
Overall 
 
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Great to arrive at Matemwe after safari and loved our stay

Some great touches- such as the lucky dip prize on arrival and 4 hours of happy hour cocktails every day! The pool is lovely, the food great and we really enjoyed the outdoor dinners which also allowed opportunity to eat with other guests

The diving with one ocean is really well arranged and the snorkelling was great

The only thing we did feel was that the staff just didnt seem very happy!! The service we experienced everywhere else was excellent and everyone was so friendly and just seemed so pleased you were staying with them- we just didnt feel the same at Matemwe

We really did enjoy our stay- the beach is beautiful
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Review 7 of 14
Reviewergeorgina maclean
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date24 Sep 2009
Visit duration5 nights
Review Date6 Oct 2009
 
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We arrived at Matemwe after a tiring safari and this hotel was exactly was we needed. We stayed in one of the incredibly beautiful suites for 5 nights and could easily have stayed another 5! The design of the suite was just amazing, we especially loved the seating area upstairs with its beautiful views. The staff at the hotel couldn't have been friendlier or more attentive and as we were on our honeymoon they made sure we had a really memorable and special time. The food was excellent and the traditional BBQ by the pool in candlelight was a real highlight. The hotel was perfect for honeymooners and we often had the beach completely to ourselves - apart from a few local fishermen who were fascinating to watch! The diving and snorkelling here was also superb, we got to see lots of beautiful sea creatures that we have never seen before and we were even lucky enough to swim with dolphins.
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Review 8 of 14
Reviewerjan gracia
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit duration4 nights
Review Date6 Sep 2009
 
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We spent 4 nights here as part of a 10 day holiday on the island which we really enjoyed.Our son went diving everyday and he rated it as excellent, the staff were very friendly and the food was good, we liked the laid back casual atmospher, our only disappointment was our son sleeping area, we had one of the new round huts, the bedroom and bathroom are fine but the shower the upper terrace and the sitting room area ( which our son bed was in) did not have roofs on so all the mosquitos and insects ect. could get in,luckily it was not thr rainy season, the first night he was biten quite alot and we discovered holes in the mosquito net, we told the steff and they did change it straight away.Had we have been told about that part being open we would have taken a seperate room for our son.
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Review 9 of 14
Reviewervic blake
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date31 Aug 2009
 
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Weather very cloudy/overcast but resort and surrounding area excellent.Food was exquisite.Staff very friendly and helpful-thoroughly enjoyed our stay!
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Review 10 of 14
Reviewerlouise caswell
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date30 Aug 2009
Visit duration4 nights
Review Date5 Sep 2009
 
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We arrived at Matemwe Beach after four hectic days on safari at the poshest of camps, Sand Rivers, so here was very low key and budget in comparison! Children were in a standard room, which although clean and with two large beds was very basic. We had suite 1 with a seaview. The bedroom was fine but other areas being open had quite a few mosquitos and you had to live out of a holdall as nowhere to put your clothes! This is a very low key resort, mostly honeymooners there and nothing to do after dark. There was a small bar by the beach area which was quite dark after 6.30pm but otherwise nowhere to sit and have a drink in the evening which would have been nice. On the more positive side the staff were all very nice and chilled. If you got up early enough there were tea and biscuits provided on the beach so that you could sit and enjoy the sunrise and watch all the locals coming down to the sea to harvest the seaweed and octupus and clams. This was a highlight and a true taste of Africa. In fact the beach was better for observing local life than swimming as quite tidal and seaweedy! We went snorkelling which was great, well organised by Ocean Dive. My advice is to take Matemwe Beach as you find it. It is not luxurious, but once you have settled down to the pace of life there you will enjoy!
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Review 11 of 14
Reviewerchiara mellucci
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromAfrica
Visit date22 Aug 2009
Visit duration6 nights
Review Date1 Sep 2009
 
Overall 
 
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Matemwe is a lovely place... both the beach and the lodge. We really enjoyed ourselves there and we would reccomend this place to people. The staff was friendly and helpful, the lodge is nicely decorated, the pool area is very very nice, the food is good and the the fact that this is a small size place makes it even better as you do not have the feeling of being in one of those very touristic resorts. The tides were a bit disappointing but we understand that this is everywhere in zanzibar - though less in some aeras. It was anyway nice to enjoy the beach, look at the local women harvesting seeweeds or enjoying the pool. The rooms are good (we stayed both in a suite and in a standard room) and very clean. There are some details we found very nice: 1) they provide you with a pareo and hat to go to the beach as well as a bag to carry your staff 2) staff was preparing your bad, mosquitoes net and leaving an African tale for you to read everynight 3) the soap were made by a cooperative of handicapped people and the money for the loundry goes directly to the local employees... we thought these were nice ways of helping out the local community. Things at Matemwe are well price and it is indeed good value for money! The diving was also very good and it's nice to have the opportunity of doing it without moving around too much... the dive centre is just there! :)

Just few comments though...
Our room windows had no shutters. This is ok but not ideal since there was a lot of wind and sand coming through every night. They should really put up some shutters! :)
The lounge area should be better illuminated - i.e. more bulbs. In the evenings it was very dark and impossible to read. Pity since it would have been nice to enjoy more of out time there.
The food was good but less eggs dishes in the morning and a vegeterian choice at dinner would be appreciated. We are not vegeterians but eating meat or fish every night gets boring!




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Review 12 of 14
Reviewerbill lodge
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUK
Visit date16 Aug 2009
Visit duration5 nights
Review Date28 Aug 2009
 
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Pity about the Dala Dala
We specifically chose this resort because the Dive Centre on site had access to Mnemba Atoll. What we didn't know was that due to the tide situation each day the trip to meet the dive boat in one direction involved a VERY slow 45 minute ride over VERY bumpy roads in a local bus (Dala Dala). We had planned to dive/snorkel every day for 4 days during our stay but in the end only went 2 days. The actual diving/snorkelling was excellent (apart from the jellyfish stings!) and swimming with dolphins was a highlight.

The resort was good overall and the beach stunning with the finest white sand we have every seen.

In the end because of the disappointing dive situation, average weather and my wife's reaction to multiple jellyfish stings (choose the FULL wetsuit if you are susceptible) we left a day early so we could spend 2 nights in Stonetown.
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Review 13 of 14
Reviewerballison
 
Reviewer typeguest
FromUSA
Visit date22 Jul 2009
Visit duration3 nights
Review Date21 Aug 2009
 
Matemwe Beach
Matemwe Beach was, of course, a very different and much appreciated change: water water everywhere after a dry safari!! We wound up with 3 separate suites (could have done as well with 2 since each had 2-3 beds) which were amazing, with swinging beds upstairs with a view of the ocean.

Swimming was great at high tide, and watching the local women collecting and farming seaweed at low tide was wonderful. Coffee in the mornings on the beach for sunrise was a highlight. The food was good for the most part, and the chef seems to care very much about controlling the quality that did vary once or twice. They had a grand barbeque one night, with local foods as well, that was really great.

We thoroughly relaxed here.
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Review 14 of 14
ReviewerPumba
 
Reviewer typeatr staff
FromRedhill, Surrey, UK
Visit date16 Nov 2007
Visit duration4 nights
Review Date19 Aug 2009
 
Flying from the Serengeti to Zanzibar on our first 12 seater plane was a great experience, a few bumps here and there but some amazing views to be seen. As we left mainland Tanzania and flew out across the azure blue sea I started to get really excited as to what our first trip to Zanzibar had in store.

Upon arrival at Zanzibar Airport we were met by the transfer company and within an hour we had arrived at Matemwe Beach.

We were greeted by very friendly staff, and shown to our room, we were booked into suite 1, which has an ocean view.

The suite was very spacious, although it turned out we were hardly ever there so didn't really use the lounge or the upper level.

As you walk into the suite there is an area to make tea and coffee, snacks and a mini bar that you can buy at an additional cost, this opens up into a lounge area, to the right is a fantastic shower, and the entrance to the bedroom, to the left is a door leading to the toilet and stairs leading to the upper floor where there are great swing beds which look out towards the sea.

The room was very clean and the bed so comfortable,. I did struggle with the mosquitoes in the toilet as the roof was open to the elements, but from what i understand this has been fixed now and the roof is no longer open air.

The beach was amazing, so peaceful, with the most beautiful sand and wonderful views, i got up to watch the sunrise on a few occassions when the beach was so quiet, it was just me the fishermen and the ladies collecting seaweed, sometimes all i could hear was the ladies singing as the sound of the sea. The staff from matemwe bring out a table with coffee tea and biscuits to enjoy as the sun rises, it was a great way to start the day.

The pool area was also lovely, very clean and never busy i always felt like i had the area to myself, a great place to relax, read and sleep while my husband went diving.

My husband took his PADI openwater while at Matemwe beach and had some amazing dive experiences, since then he has dived at other sites around the world and still says that One Ocean were the most professional & friendly he has been with.

We also enjoyed afternoon cocktails at the pool bar and and had some great meals in the restaurant. There is a good vegetarian selection available for breakfast lunch and dinner, and some wonderful wines to enjoy with, before and after your meal!.

We spent most nights in the lounge area at the front of the restaurant, feeling the sea breeze and enjoying some drinks whilst chatting to other guests.

The staff were great, always helpful and happy to chat, it was nice to get to know some of them and they really were a great bunch.

On our last night they organised a suprise romantic meal on the beach for us, a wonderful way to end our stay at Matemwe beach .

We had a wonderful stay and hope to go back soon



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