Travel reviews by Miss M & Mr D from Kent

"Anna of Zanzibar surpassed all our expectations of a villa resort. Being only 5 villas made it feel very exclusive, and ideal for couples wanting some privacy. The food was outstanding, with a great variety of fresh fish, fruit, homemade bread and local ice cream, with plenty of choice, and served wherever we wanted to eat be that beside the pool, on our veranda or by the beach. The waiting staff were attentive and genuinely friendly. The decor is stylish and tasteful, with fresh flowers in our room each day.

Both the owner, Michael, and manager, Nikki, were extremely welcoming, making us feel that nothing was too difficult. A deep sea fishing excursion was great fun, and tasty on the barbecue that evening. Thankfully we saw a pod of dolphins, which then dissuaded us from organising a separate excursion to swim with dolphins, which we feel we would not have enjoyed given the number of boats and the harassment of the dolphins.

We have absolutely nothing less than 100% positive to say about Anna of Zanzibar, and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a relaxing, quiet and luxurious stay on the island."

"Our 2 night stay at 236 Hurumzi was disappointing after our first leg. We were first shown to a room resembling a prison cell with no windows, generally grubby, and in the adjoining building. With a maisonette kitchen, it felt like a youth hostel, certainly not what we wanted on honeymoon! We then spoke to reception about our room and were offered a similar room next door. Finally we were begrudgingly offered the West suite which was a beautiful room. Unfortunately by that stage the experience had been tarnished by this poor start. We got the distinct impression that unless you knew to request one of the nicer suites, you would be put in the far less impressive part of the hotel.

Our stay at Hurumzi was so disappointing because you could see that as a hotel it had so much potential. Unfortunately, despite the good views and ideal location in Stone Town the overall experience was poor. The food was uneventful, overpriced and at times rather bland with very slow service. The decor was beautiful in places but starting to look shabby and unkempt. Large numbers of staff who loitered around the hotel gave it a strange and rather unrelaxing feel at times. The service was very average and not particularly friendly."

"For our first safari this camp was ideal, and was a nice balance between luxury and simplicity, and really gave us an outdoors experience. The tents look amazing inside, beautifully clean, well kept and decorated. As the camp was at full capacity and one vehicle down, we had to share game drives, but luckily we all got on well! The food was of a good standard, but the portions a little on the small side. As it was our honeymoon, the manager Alex arranged for us to have dinner on our veranda on one evening with 'champagne' on the house which was a lovely touch.

Our safari driver and guide were incredibly knowledgeable and clearly experienced, and great fun at the same time. Alex was very welcoming and attentive, and gave us the end tent which afforded us great views down the old riverbed of plenty of animals which often wandered within several feet of the tent.

As it was a honeymoon, we would have preferred not to have communal meals, although this not a problem, and was enjoyable to share stories of which animals we had all seen that day."

"We are so happy that we finished our honeymoon here, as it is a definite step up in luxury. The food was fantastic, and a lot of thought has definitely gone into the decor of the tents and communal areas. The views are fantastic, and the activities offered on the river are a nice variation. Again the guide and driver are friendly and extremely knowledgeable of both the animals and the area.

On the first afternoon, Barbara and Andrea had arranged for a boat safari as a different experience to a game drive for us, which finished with a champagne surprise at a fantastic viewpoint for a spectacular sunset. This was much appreciated, and all the staff here were lovely and welcoming."

"This hotel was exactly what we were hoping for as a stopover on the journey home. A modern, western style business hotel, it is clean, well equipped and has a good restaurant meaning we didn't have to leave the hotel!"