Mahonda Holidays from AU$4,151

Some positives: Was clean and the rooms were amazing. The rooms are very big, and you have your own private pool (well our room had this not sure if all rooms do) and we even got to see monkey's whilst we were there which was awesome. Food at the buffet was okay - wasn't amazing, but wasn't horrible either. It was decent. Staff were really lovely too, however they are not as friendly as staff at a different hotel we stayed at in Zanzibar. Some negatives: I booked a couples massage at the spa. The spa was very visually pretty and staff were friendly and were able to accommodate to quite last minute bookings. However the massage services was poor. There was no relaxing music playing, the therapists were whispering between themselves during the massage. At one point the massage just paused although the therapist was there sitting next to me. I'm not sure if she fell asleep or what had happened. It was worth twenty dollars but I paid one hundred and fourty dollars per person, and so I was quite disappointed with the massage. The actual massage itself was poor, no techniques were used and I think staff here need training. Also, my sister found a snake in her shower. There are two showers, one inside and one that is outside but still apart of your room. The snake she saw was in the outside one. She raised this with the reception and it took 1 hour for anyone to come, at that point she had no idea where it went. Staff said snakes are rare and so we were even more worried.

The staff and grounds of this hotel are absolutely amazing! The buffet is perfect! Every dish is delicious! The main pool is clean and deep with a shallow lounging area. We didn’t visit the other 2 pools… why leave perfection! I wish we could have stayed longer. Two daisy was not enough!

The area leading to the property isnt great. But once you entre the resort, its a different ball game. No complaints about the beach, Staff and restaurants. These were all great. However, certain things for a 5 star resort just were not upto standard. -electrics kept going off on our side of the hotel. They kept blaming this on the electricty in zanzibar, but it seemed like a faulty electrics in the hotel. Ive asked for a partial refund for this. But not heard anything. - not enough buggies around the premises -no beach bag/in room slippers -i asked for room decorations/cake for my wifes birthday. Asked twice but nothing was done. Ive never had this issue before. Even with 4/3 stat hotels.

The hotel has plenty of amenities, friendly staff and amazing food options. The only improvement are options for kids clubs. Some of the activities my kids wanted to do either didn’t start or started late. The RIU art was awesome.

The overall experience was great. The staff is friendly and responsive. I particularly liked the food served at Aqua, which is why I was disappointed at the food quality from Carnivorous. The food was served luke warm at best and the meats did not meet the standards one would expect from a reservations only establishment. Maybe you should take a cue from the food consumption and wastage on a night by night basis at Carnivorous.