If you like all the comforts of a luxurious beach resort hotel with a few personal touches, Breezes Beach Club is an excellent choice. We think Breezes is one of the most romantic of the large resorts in terms of décor, service and style. It’s also ideally situated on the east coast, so endless white beaches; shady palm trees and a dazzling blue ocean lie in wait. You’ll find all the expected beach resort facilities to keep any hint of boredom at bay - dive centre, watersports equipment, fitness centre (with a gym, aerobics classes, African dance classes and massage rooms), themed dinners and even a floodlit tennis court. There’s a band playing most evenings. You can slip into that little black dress and boogie the night away at the disco or kick back and sample cocktails in one of two bars. Life is, after all, a breeze.

The atmosphere of the main lodge is romantic with flowing fabrics, draped from the makuti (palm-thatch) roof, fluttering in the balmy shore breezes. Hand-carved furniture, spice tables and antiques add a touch of Zanzibar charm. The hotel has recently been given an interior decorating facelift and is looking beautiful. The Eastern side of the island is influenced dramatically by the tide. At high tide you can plunge into the warm water and swim out from the top of the beach. At low tide the water recedes towards the distant, fringing reef, so you’ll need to walk out far in the shallows looking at the starfish and sea cucumbers (and minding you don’t step on a sea urchin). The gloriously large swimming pool is a welcome alternative for cooling off during low tide.

This family-owned hotel has been awarded a five-star grading and strives towards the philosophy of providing a home from home (if only home was this good). Families with children are catered for. Although this 70-roomed hotel is smaller than some, it can get pretty crowded over peak season. So if you’re desperate to escape the human race, best choose a more intimate and exclusive guesthouse setting during the busy months. If money is no object, the hotel’s next-door residence, The Palms, provides the ultimate in luxury and exclusivity.

 

Bluebay is one of the newest and largest beach resorts on Zanzibar, able to accommodate more than 170 guests. Appropriately named, it’s set along a beautiful stretch of idyllic palm-fringed white beach with deep-blue sea in the Kiwengwa area on the northeast coast. Unfortunately, the beauty of this region has attracted several other big resorts and Bluebay is almost in the middle of them. If you’re a fan of luxury beach hotels, with all the bells and whistles, which could be located in any tropical setting this won’t faze you one bit. But, for the adventurous traveller,there are wilder, more remote lodgings to choose from on Zanzibar which are more in tune with local village life.

That being said, the hotel itself is fantastic. Run and owned by Kenyan hoteliers (known for their professionalism) this is a slick and efficient hotel. The kind of place where everything runs as it should. You’ll find all the usual facilities and activities, including a state-of-the-art watersports centre, high-tech PADI-affiliated scuba centre, fitness centre, kiddies club, tennis court and disco. It’s also an ideal place to access some of Zanzibar’s best diving sites around the magnificent Mnemba Atoll. There’s also good snorkelling for non-divers.

This side of the island is greatly influenced by the tide. We found a pleasant sandy strip at the top of the beach where we sunbathed and plunged straight into the water. At high tide you can swim far out in the safety of the coral reef. However, at low tide we found the water receded dramatically, leaving only shallow water in which to wade. No problem, the sparkling swimming pool is only a few paces away. There’s a pleasant patch of lawn under the palm trees with sun lounges.

The makuti-thatch bungalows are set on a slope some distance from the beach and main lodge area. They’re well appointed with all the necessities you’d expect from a top beach hotel. The service is outstandingly polished and, in true Swahili character, warm and friendly. The hotel has 176 staff which equals one staff member for every hotel bed.