Reviews of Unguja Lodge

"From the moment you arrive until you depart you are treated like a valuable guest and friend. The villas are spectacular, and only made more so by the excellent quality of the accommodations and service. If you like an on the water outdoor experience in the lap of luxury this is for you - best of both worlds.

Located near fishing village of Kizmakazi, this lodge is a divers destination. Pretty healthy reef and some good wall. Swim with dolphins is a trip. Snorkel until you fry your backside. Kids love the pool. We really enjoyed meeting family of staff in the village and learning about local life there. This is something the lodge can help arrange but is essentially self initiated if you like that sort of thing.

The food was excellent - their chef could work anywhere he wanted. We don't go anywhere twice - we like adventure,, but we'll probably go back here because its hard to turn your back on paradise. While it does not have extensive miles of pure white beach, it has enough beach to be pretty and satisfy beach bum desires." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"Food was very good in choice presentation and taste.

Rolfe and Elise were very pleasant and welcoming. Elise in particular was very helpful in treating a nasty skin rash that one of our children got on their face.

Accommodation was very stylish. In the bedrooms it would have been good to have more cupboard or shelf space.The only negative was the problems we had with the monkeys.
As we had children sleeping in the open roof space the monkeys used to come in and disturb the children as early as 5.30am in the morning. This meant the children were woken up very early, after they had got very tired on the safari the several days before. During the day the monkeys bounced around on the mosquito nets and the beds. As a result the beds were made up every evening after the monkeys had left. Also it was not very pleasant as they dirtied clothes that they played with and on occasions soiled around the beds and tore the mosquito nets. The open spaces in the roofs are not suitable for sleeping in given the monkeys tendency to use them as play areas.

That being said we would recommend anybody staying in the enclosed bedrooms in each villa to visit Unguja.
The village tour organised by a senior local employee of the Lodge is well worth the time.
The diving school instructor Nick was very good. Very articulate in several languages he explained things really well." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"After 7 days of safari, this was just the change we needed. Excellent planning. The location was beautiful. The staff and services were fabulous. Really not much else to say." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"Great place to take a break without being wholly disconnected from the world. Best to enjoy the lodge and local activities." See all these reviews: 10n in Zanzibar

"Here, the owners/operators really made a great impression, and between them, and the "rooms" - actually 3 or 4! - made this an excellent experience.

The snorkeling was good without being great right off the lodge, but it was still lovely, and accessible. The snorkeling spots reached by boat were wonderful. might not be so good in high season, but great for me, on my trip.

I would return, if going back to Zanzibar." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"We arrived in Unguja lodge as our first stop in Zanzibar following our Tanzania safari.

The accommodation is quite luxurious and the bandas/lodges are very spacious and a very interesting design, blending in to the environment successfully. Our banda overlooked the beach area and afforded a very good view of the sea from the front seating area.

The bar /main lodge is well appointed and a good central meeting place. right next to this is the large swimming pool which is a very good place to relax. The food was of a very high standard with good choice, and plenty of fresh fruit always available. Prices were also very fair.

We were primarily here to relax and only undertook activities on two days.

One afternoon we took the guided village walk of neighbouring Kizimkaze. This is very worthwhile and realy brings home the contrast between the lodge accommodation and the living conditions of the local population,with whole families living in tiny houses. We saw the fruit plantations that sustain the local economy and presumably supply the lodge, as well as the fishermen at work. The children particularly all seemed very happy and were very keen to have their photos taken. Most of the beach is actually here in front of the village.

On another day we visited the Josani forest reserve with its remaining indigenous groundwater forest complete with red colobus and columns of army ants. There is also a very interesting mangrove area with a boardwalk around it, where we saw several turtles and terrapins as well as many young fish. On opur way back we dropped in at the Zanzibar butterfly centre, which is an interesting project where farmers are encouraged to rear butterflies for sale overseas and many fly wild in a large netting enclosure.

The beach at the lodge is an extension of the one at the village and rather small. At low tide it is possible to walk its length and there are interesting rock pools and coral formations. At high tide when the beach is covered it is only possible to swim safely, with foot protection such as flippers, as there is lots of quite sharp coral rock near the steps which you will have to negotiate.

Although facing west and therefore theoretically perfect for a view of the sunset; at sundown even if clear skies were overhead, there was always a persistent low cloud bank ,presumabely over the east african coast ,on the horizon ,which somewhat spoiled this..a minor point though! We also had the same in Stonetown so this is presumably a seasonal effect.

Overall it was an enjoyable and relaxing time in Unguja lodge, and we would certainly recommend it." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"We enjoyed the beautiful setting of Unguja Lodge, its talcum-powder sand and warm sea! I originally felt a bit concerned about the lack of a proper beach (as other reviewers have mentioned), but this was never a problem (we are more into swimming and snorkelling than sunbathing anyway!). We found it always possible to swim and the coulour of the water was just undescribable!

When the tide was out, it felt like having your own private little beach. Snorkelling was not always good due to the wind, but we did see some nice marine life. The sea-view villas were huge and beautifully designed, and the food (especially the fish/seafood) very nice. Also very good breakfast with a good range from tasty exotic fruit to cooked breakfast. Service was quite relaxed.

Good mix of guests, British, French, German, Dutch. Ralph and Elies are very friendly hosts." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"Set within the Menai Bay conservation area and within walking distance of Kizimkazi village, Unguja Lodge is in a great location. After spending 5 nights relaxing at Pongwe it was great to have various activities available to us.

The rooms at Unguja are just unbelievable! Huge open spaces with fantastic views of the indian ocean. The design is very unique. Large curved white wash walls seperate each room whilst still creating a very open feel to the whole place.
The shower room and toilet are both open air. I still miss being able to see the indian ocean whilst showering.
The bedroom is the only room that is completely 'inside'. This adds a great sense of comfort during the night.

The food at Unguja was similiar to most place we stayed in Tanzania. Great taste and good size portions.

There are a number of activities on offer at Unguja. We chose the guided village walk and the robinson crusoe day trip.
Our robinson crusoe trip started after breakfast. It took around an hour by boat to get to our snorkelling point. The menai bay has some beautiful coral and an abundance of diffrerent tropical fish.
After snorkelling we had lunch on a nearby sandbank. Then an hours trip back to the lodge.
We felt the trip was fairly expensive $110 each I think. Snorkelling was good but only lasted 20 minutes and thought we could of visited a few different places maybe. The lunch was fairly basic aswel and couldn't help but be envious of another couple that turnt up with a bbq lunch!

The guided village walk was a real highlight. The guide Rachid is a charming man and we loved learning about his village and their way of life.
Everyone we met within the village were very welcoming and they loved having their pictures taken. We could not recommend the village walk enough. Especially as your money goes straight to the village.

The staff at Unguja are very helpful and welcoming. The owners would always ask how your day had been and are often seen at the bar at night chatting to guests. This helps create a great atmosphere at Unguja.

Overall we would definately recommend Unguja. We would of loved to have stayed longer!" See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 5n in Tanzania

"What a delight to stay here! It is an extremely high quality hotel with delightful staff. The owners, Ralph and Elies, were charming and very professional, with high standards. All the staff were lovely too - the people serving at dinner and behind the bar were friendly, polite and attentive, and Mwona the receptionist was really nice.

The villa was out of this world - we had one of the sea view ones which was a few metres from the sea - accessible by a few steps. Others have described the villas probably better than I can. Huge thatched roof which overlaid the solid structure containing an enclosed bedroom (mosquito mesh on open windows), open sitting room, bathroom with huge shower, separate toilet, and then another open-air bedroom upstairs. It was all most beautifully furnished with cushions made from local fabrics and artwork on the walls from local materials.

We had been on safari for a week and so were looking to relax here for our 4-night stay, and that is what we did. It is very quiet. The pool area was comfortable with good shade.

We did venture on a snorkelling trip which was a little disappointing. The visibility was not great and although we saw some fish it was not as good as we were expecting. Unfortunately we also got stung by jellyfish - it wasn't major and the crew had vinegar to put on it immediately but it was enough to put us off a bit. We did see a couple of dolphins on the way back though! We decided not to do the classic dolphin sighting trip as we did not want to contribute to the harassment of these animals. Apparently the Lodge does do their trips carefully though, and leaves the dolphins if too many boats turn up.

The other activity we did was the tour of the local village with one of the villagers who is employed by the hotel as Head of Security, lamp lighter and general factotum! We really enjoyed the tour - it costs $5 per person which is actually a donation to the village fund, and gave us a bit of an insight into how the locals live.

The food here was excellent - quite a bit of seafood and also good vegetarian choices. Good use of local spices and coconut. At dinner there was always a choice for each course, and the menu was chalked up earlier in the day so if you wanted something different you could ask for it. Lunch (not included in the price) was either a set 3-course meal with choice, or you could have other dishes such as sandwiches or pasta. Cost was between $5 and $15. The other lovely touch was that they had made a cake for my birthday (presumably alerted to this by Ellie) and brought it in with candles, singing 'Happy Birthday' and banging a saucepan for rhythm!" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"Family villa huge and comfortable lots of space inside and out

Wonderful time with the dolphins-the crew were magnificent

Excellent pool but difficult to see steps getting in and out.

Spoilt by Moya's fall. Ralph and Elise very kind and efficient in dealing with her" See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar