Reef and Beach Resort

We are so pleased we chose Reef and Beach resort for our first trip to Zanzibar. My husband had a problem walking due to his knee swelling up and although we were initially put in a room on the 3rd floor the wonderful Margaret custom liason, went out of her way to find a perfect ground floor room easily accesible to everywhere. Suleyman the food and beverage manager was very helpful and friendly, we had a table reserved everyday close to the wonderful buffet, he always had time to make sure everything was perfect within his smiling friendly team of waiters and waitress including the ever smiling Theresa. The resort has three bars, one by the natural pool, one by the smaller pool where they have great nightly entertainment and one by the jetty our favourite spot where we watched the sun go down each evening, it has a lovely breeze there and it was great to see the tide go out uncovering a array of sea urchins, cucumbers and star fish, where little pockets of water were left tiny fish swam, when the tide came back in it was like swimming in a warm bath. Three restaurants are included in the AI the main restaurant with lots of choice to choose from as well as a live cooking station where you could get pasta, pizza and what ever that days dishes were, the other two restaurants italian and indian just need booking at the customer imformation room with Margaret. One trip not to miss is on a wednesday with mary from entertainments who took us to a local school where the infants entertained us and we left pencils and writing books for them, this was followed by a trip to a local village and ended up at a beautiful beach all this for 12 dollars. We were lucky enough to be there on valentines day and paid 50 dollars each for a feast of lobster, tiger prawns, king fish etc as well starters marvellous desserts and a bottle of sparkling wine all served by Daniel our personal waiter for the evening, another attentive and amusing member of staff. We are going to miss all the staff and the greetings all day long of jambo jambo, polle polle and hakuna matata. Dont hesitate to book this beautiful resort.

When I arrived, i was warmly welcomed at the reception. The room they gave me, I can only speak for myself, was nicer than I expected it to be. I loved it, and felt home and safe and could really enjoy and relax every day of my stay, even a lazy day, staying at the hotel only. Please see my pictures. They show the surrounding of my room and the view I had. As a woman traveling by myself, I found great help when I needed it (got sick, lost my room key) very much in the reception staff, especially in Ali M. and Emmanuel. They very helpful, friendly and competent. Thank you!

May sound crazy to some but we picked this hotel based on the wildlife! To be able to see the monkeys and bush babies in their own environment! Not to mention, cats and kittens, the plated lizard, bats and crabs. Obviously we wanted a nice hotel on the beach and somewhere away from the crazy crowds and hassle of the beaches in the north. ROOMS: We booked an ocean view swim up room as it was all that was left as we booked relatively late on from the UK with TUI. It was a lovely room. We stayed in room 804 on the left of the Jetty. Given a choice a would have preferred to the right of the Jetty for an uninterrupted view of the sea but it was still beautiful with a huge very comfortable bed and comfortable sofa. We had no fridge on arrival but asked for one to store cans from the shop and it was delivered. You don't get a stocked mini fridge which could have been nice. When we took a shower though there was a nasty smell from the drain but hey no big deal. Lovely large room. STAFF: The staff are absolutely lovely, we got asked every day if there was anything that we needed by Mostafa and the head of customer relations Layal. Bar staff were great and Abu in the Jetty bar was fantastic at teaching me Swahili and it went a long way with the rest of the staff and the Masai on the beach. Super friendly warm people and some of the nicest I've ever met. TRiPS: 100% recommend a trip to the local village of Makunduchi to see the school and meet the kids of the village and the village chief mama Africa followed by a short stop at the dreamy Mtende beach which is like paradise and an Instagrammers dream although without the crowds. Book through Mary or Yassine from the animation team, they go every Wednesday. You could take stuff from home for the kids such as excersise books, pens, pencils, toothpaste, clothes or buy it at a shop in the village which they call at on the way - this also supports local business too. This trip was a highlight for me and will forever live in my heart. It made the whole Zanzibar experience feel more real than just staying on the resort, if you do one trip, do this and it's the cheapest and best of them all. Outside the hotel gate there is a shop called Fatimas. Cheaper than inside the resort and some nice souvenirs and even tobacco, drinks and snacks. ALSO Fatimas husband is a Taxi driver and he gave us the best price to go to Stone Town for the day 75 usd with a guide who was a family member of theirs and very, very good. (2 people including everything from 8am to 3.30pm) He will also do other trips for you and has a little book for you to look at. Lovely honest guy. MASAI: The security is run by the Masai on the resort and they are very friendly. One has a small stall at the Jetty bar and he is cheaper than the Masai shops at the side of the resort, however you can haggle there. In this area there are about 20-25 of the living next to the hotel not like Nungwi. They wait for people to come on the beach and offer walks to see starfish etc. This is how they make money but they are super friendly, genuinely nice guys, they love a chat and will leave you alone if you just want to walk by yourself. We used Mario (Baresa) and Thomas (Kirendu) two young Masai boys on the beach to take us for a walk to show us the starfish and nemo and they were so much fun, after that we went to their shops and visited a few other shops and bought a few things from them to support them. We swapped numbers with them and stay in touch with them on WhatsApp and they are truly lovely lads just trying to make a living to take home to the mainland. ENTERTAINMENT: You have the ocean and pools what more do you need!! There's pool tables above the main restaurant which I only found at the end of our 12 night stay! The animation team have a daily programme watching how they use coconuts was pretty cool! Every night from 9 til 10 there is a show of dancing, acrobats, traditional drums which rotates on a weekly basis, it's pretty good but after a week you have seen it all. The acrobat show, drums and Masai were great. Masai night on a Friday or Saturday with traditional dancing and selling their wares was brilliant and a highlight for me. SNORKELING: I wasn't expecting anything and didn't see much at all apart from the masai showing us nemo and a few trumpet fish. The afternoon is very choppy and visibility is poor. FOOD: You're in Africa try Swahili food it is very tasty. Try the spinach in coconut! We tried all 3 restaurants and preferred the main restaurants food. Although the Indian was a nice change of environment it was not the best Indian food that I was expecting but still good. Great salads on offer but don't expect outstanding food, it is good but if you want western food go elsewhere. No bacon and no pork you're in a Muslim country and they keep it real! Drinks were plentyful but not strong at all. Lots of choice I liked the Irish mule best and I'm not even a whiskey fan. Final thoughts: Would we return? No, I don't go back to the same place twice but if you want quiet, access to the red colobus monkeys - (do not touch or feed them for goodness sake) the chance to see bush babies - out of 12 nights searching for the we saw them 4 times and once 4 at the same time and they came up to us face to face!! A rustic feel with views of the Indian ocean and warm ocean (28 degrees sea temp) with the chance of local interaction then you won't be disappointed. Also you can get tuk tuks to Jambiani very reasonable if you have shillings.

This hotel relies on false advertising and a deceitful name to attract people. There are neither a coral reef nor a usable beach at the resort. In order to go snorkeling it cost $60 per person to drive to the main town and catch a boat to the snorkeling reef. The travel took 1 and a half hours by bus and 45 minutes by boat to get to a fairly mediocre coral reef for 45 minutes of snorkeling. Total travel time nearly 5 hours and wasting a whole day! Although the staff at the hotel were friendly, service was not a concept they practiced. The hotel brags about 24 hour service, but to get it you have to walk 400 metres to the jetty bar which is the only open facility after 10 pm. A crazy place to go when all you have is a saltwater swimming pool and mediocre food. I could go on, but you get the drift.

Absolutely shocking service. We booked this hotel almost 2 years in advance through TUI and on arrival was turned away to a sister hotel. After travelling from the U.K. via Dubai on two separate flights this is the last thing anyone wants. Frustratingly other guests were being checked in whilst we were turned away. It was our preferred location and the sand / sea was just what we hoped for. However it was just the beginning of a nightmare holiday. Some of the staff were helpful whilst others just laughed in my face. Do not use this chain, they cannot be trusted.