Reviews of Pongwe Beach Hotel

"We stayed at Pongwe Beach Hotel as part of our 2 week honeymoon in Tanzania. We chose it because we wanted somewhere that was remote, romantic, high quality without being too flash and we were delighted with our choice.

It's set on a virtually private powder-white sand beach to the east of the island. It takes around 45 mins from Stone-Town by car - and you pass through villages - many with mud-huts on the way.

Unlike some other beach resorts around the world - we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of rubbish. The team clean it every morning at sunrise to reveal the talcum powder white sands and shallow clear blue water - which was usually safe to swim in, although there was the occasional spiky sea urchin to watch out for.

The infinity pool was bliss and sitting by it and looking out from it, as it merges with the cobalt sea in the near-distance is something you never tire of.

We went out in kayaks and had a go at paddle-boarding. Equipment is a bit tired but perfectly ok for having fun with.

Food was superb. We were half-board, and ate fresh fish and seafood almost every day and night, prepared with panache. Some lunch courses may seem a little pricey at first sight but portions are massive and of excellent quality, so one dish between two with snacks was plenty for us.

The staff also brought fruit or fresh coconut water to you when you were on the beach in the afternoon.

Snorkelling trip, arranged by the hotel with One Ocean out to the Mnemba island reef was well worth it. Sped out in a really good quality powerboat with a very well-organised dive team. Reef was still full of fish and colourful coral on the whole - which seems to becoming rarer wherever you go in the world, so highly recommend.

It's not a hive of things to do, so if you're looking for a more active trip then it might not be your thing. It's much more of a sunbathing, chilling, reading a book, chatting to other guests, laying by the pool and unwinding kind of place.

Service was excellent. Very friendly and witty staff, who worked hard all day and night with smiles on their faces. Credit to them all.

Wi-fi was more hit than miss, but then who wants to spend all day looking at your phone when you have a view across the Indian Ocean like this to enjoy!" See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"We had 8 nights at Pongwe and loved it so much we didn't leave the hotel! It is very peaceful and quiet: the only activities you can do from the beach are snorkelling and sailing in the hotel dhow so there is nothing to disturb the peace and quiet. The beach is very quiet and totally private at high tide. There are no beach vendors; we didn't get hassled once during our stay.
The beach is lovely: swept clean of seaweed by the staff in the morning and full of ghost crabs by night. The colours of the sea are incredible: every shade of blue and green you can imagine. Snorkelling off the beach in the hotel's boat was fun; not the most amazing snorkelling but plenty of interest.
We had the family room with a lovely view down the beach and a large private deck. The room was relatively basic but was clean and with good A/C.
The food in the restaurant was good. The bar does great cocktails. It's fun when the bush babies come into the bar at nightfall to be fed bananas.
The staff are very friendly and efficient.
The hotel does not feel busy - perhaps especially if like us you'd rather swim in the sea than the pool. We were able to swim morning and evening as the tides fell perfectly. But even when the tide is out the view is beautiful and beach combing is also quite fun.
For somewhere to spend time reading, sea bathing, eating and drinking I would say Pongwe would be hard to beat." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 7n in Tanzania

"Loved the hotel and the staff - could have stayed for months.

I hate big resorts, so the size of Pongwe was ideal. I don't think of myself as a beach person, but to go to sleep to the sound of the waves, and to walk along the sand to the restaurant, was joyous.

A lovely room with loads of space - and everything worked!" See all these reviews: 6n in Zanzibar

"Brilliant, we were upgraded from a Garden view to a suite with private pool and made the best use of it for our stay.

The beach is spectacular and the hotel grounds are lovely, All of the staff were very friendly and helpful.

The food and facilities were excellent." See all these reviews: 13n in Zanzibar

"An unbelievably stunning view of the beach and ocean from the room which were only a few steps from your terrace. Sea and pool were lovely and warm. Staff and service were great.

Felt totally relaxed the minute we arrived. Very casual atmosphere. Room cleanliness was amazing - they must have spent over an hour every day remaking/decorating the beds, mosquito nets, replacing towels, cleaning floors, bathrooms etc.

A party was put on for New Years Eve with dinner and dancing on the beach which all the staff attended. Made us appreciate how many staff were involved in looking after the 19 villas. Was a great atmosphere.

Staff regularly organised football for the children on the beach." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"A really pampered chill-out! The location is beautiful. The staff were so friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. Our room, with its plunge pool, was very comfortable (we could have stayed on the patio by our pool all day, had the rest of it not been so amazing too).

The swimming was good – fun swimming in the sea when the tide was up, and a great pool when the tide was out. We had a really low tide when we were there, and walked a really long way out onto the reef. It was fascinating. Lots of locals were out there too, picking up stranded fish and crabs and poking octopus out of their holes.

We had dinner on the beach one night when the tide was up – beautiful. The seafood platter is out of this world – two sorts of lobster, octopus, squid, prawns and crab claws. We love seafood but there was so much we couldn’t finish it all. The set menu dinners were very appetising, always a choice of two dishes for starter and main, and always a fish choice for both. The food was beautifully presented. The breakfasts were good too, so we never sampled the lunch menu, just having a bar snack instead. Too much great food!

The bar did lovely cocktails too – the Pongwe Sunrise was our favourite, closely followed by pina collada made from fresh coconut.

The hotel organised a very good spice trip for us (to the Union Spice Farm). The taxi driver (Jomo) that took us there and back was great – showed us lots and told us lots about the local people and culture too.

We were very sorry to leave Pongwe Beach." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 8n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya

"This was a real find. It is not a luxorious lodge but this was more than made up for by the staff, the service and the location. It is a very comfortable well positioned.

The lodge was spotlessly clean including the communal areas. The staff were very friendly and helpful and would remember you by name, room number and favourite drink!

The restaurant and bar area had a lovely view of the beach and sea. The choice of food was good and there was plenty of fresh fish, shell fish, fruit and vegetables. The choice of wine was good. I have a shell fish allergy and this was no problem.

You had a flag which you could use on the beach for waiter service. At 4pm the waiters would come round with fresh fruit and tea and coffee was provided free of charge throughout the day.

There are no facilities in the room to make tea or coffee but when you checked in you were asked if you would like it and each morning by 7:30am there would be a vacuum container of hot water, milk, tea (fresh coffee if that is what you preferred) left outside your room for you which was a nice touch.

There was plenty of shade on the beach as well as sun beds. The beach was for the exclusive use of the hotel. When the tide went out you could walk for quite a distance in either direction as well as out towards the reef.

There are also hammocks dotted around the property which was ovley as they were in the shade so,could be used during the day and at night.

I booked an aromatherapy massage and found Sophie to be very good, I had the massage in the bed outside my room which was lovely.

My 2 comments fro,improvement would be:

1. The mattresses on the beds in the room very very firm. I like a firm mattress but found it too hard for me but after a couple of days I did get use to it.
2. The sun bed mattresses some of them were torn so could do with being replaced.

These 2 points are not meant as criticism but just a couple of things worth noting.

I would definitely recommend and would sago back and stay again.

Besides the massage I did not book any activities through the hotel so cannot comment." See all these reviews: 10n in Zanzibar

"This was a lovely place to relax and unwind after a safari and recharge.

A lot of thought has gone into the layout so there is plenty of privacy and it is very quiet even if all the rooms were full.

All the staff were very welcoming and we had a really nice stay." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 5n in Tanzania

"We were ready for a rest by the time we reached Pongwe - especially given the long journey there from the Mara. But we think it was worth it. It's an absolutely stunning place.

We loved the personal plunge pool and day beds we had outside our villa; and the fact that it's a reasonably small place so doesn't feel 'resort-y'. There were always sunloungers to relax on by the pool and on the beach - and having a library is a nice touch, which we took advantage of.

Heidi the manageress was excellent and we really liked the rest of the staff ('hakuna matata' being the name of the game). The food was good and the service was pleasant if sometimes entertainingly idiosyncratic - the language barrier meant that it was necessary to point to things on menus otherwise random things turned up (e.g. ordering 1 x tea and 2 x coffees turning up). The cocktails were good - the fresh pineapple in the pina coladas was welcome!

We enjoyed a day's trip to Stonetown via the Spice Farm - but wouldn't have headed into town more than once because it was over 100 USD for the car alone. Also the massage facilities nextdoor seemed overpriced to me (140 USD for a massage... more than London!) but maybe that was because of the need for a car.

Overall we loved it - pure relaxation in an idyllic setting. The azure sea and powder white beach were spectacular - and the fact that you can get away without wearing shoes while you're there (the path to the bar is sand) means you can't help but kick back and relax. Brilliant spot to end our honeymoon." See all these reviews: 8n in Kenya; 5n in Zanzibar

"I loved the Pongwe beach!

It is a nice simple resort on a beautiful, quiet beach. It also has a nice pool. The rooms were very clean, the staff very friendly and the food was very good.

It is a quiet place and there are not a lot of activities, but it is perfect if you are looking to relax.

I would absolutely recommend it if you are not looking for a party or too many activities." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar