Isla Bonita Zanzibar Beach Resort

The hotel is situated in a peaceful and quiet place, right next to the beach. All windows overlooking the beach and ocean. Food very good, lots of fish and seafood. The service was fantastic and very helpful. I highly recommend it.Nice pool. The perfect place to organize birthdays, engagements and weddings. I highly, highly recommend this place.

You can't dream of a better hotel - cozy rooms, extraordinary location, great swimming pool, fabulous meals and, most importantly, wonderful staff and managers - great team!!! Everyone is helpful and nice, creating a homely, relaxed atmosphere. The rooms are very comfortable, clean, with dreamy view of the ocean, not to mention how wonderful it was to sleep at night with the sound of the waves. Fabulous! Thank you to everyone at the Isla Bonita Hotel. Thanks to you, we had a wonderful time in the climate of Zanzibar. See you soon!!!

The resort was wonderful! Mr. Achmed, Elizabeth and the other staff took very good care of us. The resort was very relaxing and the beach is beautiful. I have never seen ocean water so gourgwoua. We really enjoyed watching the locals play soccer. Great stay, great experience!

As soon as you enter the hotel, you will be greeted with the most beautiful view of your life, leaving you at ease. The place is exceptionally safe with a fantastic staff. The hotel owner, Mustapha, is truly amazing and has extensive experience working in 5-star hotels in Dubai and Egypt. The chef prepares an incredible coconut curry sauce, and the beach is simply stunning. The tide goes out for about 2 kilometers, creating warm and shallow pools where you can relax and observe starfish and other sea creatures. It was so enjoyable that I didn't go on any excursions because I was extremely happy with everything the hotel had to offer. The hotel rooms were impeccably clean, and the air conditioning worked perfectly, and there were barely any bugs. Additionally, it was mango season, and the villagers were very friendly, making my stay even more delightful. I had an amazing time overall.

We had a horrible experience at this hotel. It was poorly managed during our stay, which was during low season. Their only redeeming qualities are that the breakfast was good, the hotel is clean and they hung up balloons for my Mom's birthday. The acting manager, who is not from Zanzibar, tried to bamboozle us. His quote for taxis and archipelago experiences was $20 - $30 more than the island's going rates! I'm from South Africa so I'm no stranger to power outages, but we arrived to no electricity at Isla Bonita at 1pm. And we were the only 2 guests at the entire hotel. I'm sure if you're coming here on your honeymoon or romantic getaway, this would have been ideal, but as I was travelling with my gregarious mother for her 70th birthday, this made us feel down in the dumps. With the heavy rain, we couldn't explore the Matemwe beach either. So we were stuck in a hotel room with no air con, no WiFi, no lights and no TV. It felt like a colossal waste of money for an important trip on Day 1. The manager assured us that the power would come on in an hours' time (so around 3pm) and that they had a generator, which would run the entire night. After sitting without power until 6pm, I had to WhatsApp him to ask for candles/light. The power only kicked in at 10pm, and yet still there was no WiFi nor TV. So we had NO power from 1pm to 10pm. I couldn't pay by card due to their card machine issues and he shouted across the courtyard, "MAYBE IT'S YOUR CARD!" It wasn't, as I used this card for our entire trip in Zanzibar. But that should give a glimpse into the kind of person he is. He was also rude to our driver. The next night (around 2am) the power went off again. At 8am in the morning, I messaged the manager to ask what was going on and he said that it was out of his control and that the entire island had been affected. I said that when we were in Stone Town the previous day, and that that the entire part had electricity and generators, and 20 minutes after my message - Isla Bonita's generator kicked in! Such inconsistent lies. I notified Bookings.com and checked us out immediately. I paid in cash for the 2 nights that we stayed and the taxi from the airport. The manager changed his attitude and suddenly became very humble and talkative, asking us not to give a bad review. There is no sense of customer service at this place. From personal experience, I felt that we were treated this way because we are 2 women. Don't waste your money here. Rather go to Stone Town during Zanzibar's low season and have a trip that's worthwhile & shows a true reflection of this beautiful place and its warm people.

A ‘motel’ on a quiet part of Matemwe beach in front of the village. Clean, simple room, nice pool, basic facilities, but all functional. Ridiculous waiting time for meals though - 2.5 hours - and several mistakes in the orders. No alcohol, but they can get beer for you. Breakfast was okay.

If you read this review and you love peace and quiet with an amazingly friendly staff, go and order Isla Bonita! The owner, Mustafa, knows a thing or two about running hotels and he is doing his absolute best to provide five star service. We, a family of four, ordered this hotel to relax after we had been on a busy safari. The hotel got in touch with us in advance and arranged cheaper pickup from the airport. Unfortunately our flight was delayed, but Mustafa called on the way to the hotel and told us that he had kept the buffet warm for us, even though we arrived very late. The dinner was very good! We had ordered a room for four, but we got upgraded to two adjoining rooms without cost, because Mustafa felt the room would be too small for us. A wonderful touch! The location is very calm and quiet and we had the whole beach to ourselves almost the whole day. What really makes this hotel an absolute must-visit is the staff. They will do anything and everything to make your stay absolutely perfect in a friendly, down to earth way. Food is the best we have experienced in Africa, with a great breakfast with loads of fresh fruits.

First time visitor to Zanzibar. My perferance for hotel stay is normally a 5* hotel, but I was late booking for the half term holidays. ISLA bonita was not 5* however the hotel manager was so accommadating with my needs and requests that I would 100% stay at this hotel again, the staff are willing to help and make your stay a great experience. What more can you ask for is that the hotel is on the beach. The pool was a nice size. If your looking for a holiday to chill and relax this is the hotel is for you. It Is a dry hotel but nobody stops you from drinking your own drinks you have brought in. Also less than 5min walk there is also a hotel close buy that is not dry. They also accommadate the best they can with any dietary requirements. Till my next visit.

I loved every minute of my stay at Isla Bonita. The staff, the location, everything! If you are looking for a little bit of paradise this is the place. This morning I left my room and walked into the ocean and it felt like heaven! Mustafa and Ahmed are fabulous hosts, they really care about their guests. I've moved on into Stone Town, it's loud, smelly and so busy - I'm already wishing I was back at Isla Bonita and it's only been a few hours! If you are looking for a tropical escape with good food and relaxation - look no further!!