Zanzibar Retreat Hotel

I've stayed at Zanzibar Retreat multiple times, and it remains my top choice in Matemwe! The owners are incredibly friendly and helpful, making you feel truly welcome. The food is outstanding—always fresh, and you can tell it's made with love. They offer a daily special, which is always a treat. My room was spacious, with everything in perfect working order, from the air conditioning to the hot shower. It was beautifully decorated, adding to the cozy ambiance. This year, they've done an amazing job with the garden, creating a lovely pathway that adds so much charm to the property. If you're looking for a place to relax and be well taken care of, I highly recommend Zanzibar Retreat.

This is a lovely small hotel for those who seek to be outside the tourist masses. Maria and her staff are the kindest people, ensuring everyone has the best stay. We can only praise our time here, with a special focus on the food made by Hadija - some of the best we had on our entire holiday. We do recommend to take a cooking class if you enjoy cooking and getting to know the traditional way of food preparation. The hotel is located right on Matemwe beach, not even 2 steps away. Obviously the tides prevent you from being able to swim in the sea 24/7, but as we did our research we knew that about Zanzibar before. During low tide you can take a walk to the sand bank, seeing beautiful corals, fish, starfish etc (don't forget your water shoes and beware of the sea urchins). The hotel also helped us organise some trips, which was lovely. All in all I would 100% recommend staying here. A bonus was that our room (garden view) now has a balcony, which was not advertised and therefore a pleasant surprise. Do also to try out some of the local restaurants just outside the hotel, the food and the people there are also great. We felt safe inside and outside the hotel 100% of the time, even in the dark - so don't worry about safety in this area.

At the tail end of a long trip to East Africa, the Zanzibar Retreat hotel was a GIFT: exceptional hospitality from the owners, Jan and Salome, as well as from the excellent and thoughtful team—Naima, Lusekelo, Newton, Aisha and Bwite to name just a few—Great food and many thoughtful gestures. Beautiful design, charming setting and convenient to diving snorkeling and dining options along a magnificent beach. This resort is just exactly the right size. Big enough to have professional touches and great food. Small enough to feel intimate and like a "discovery."

This is a superb charmy, down-to-earth small hotell with excellent food and the best hosts you can imagine. After a week on safaris it was a true blessing to arrive here with its tranquillity and cues that really knew how to cook. I strongly recommend it to everyone who visits Zanzibar

Great hotel on the beautiful beach of Matemwe in northern Zanzibar. Owners and staff were very friendly and accomodating. But I would really recommend going to this hotel because of the food. delicious! We booked half board and the breakfast menu was amazing. For dinner we had a choice of two main courses and everything was really great. We were also happy with the rooms - we booked the two on the second floor with a beach view and balconies. The beds were good and we got extra pillows and duvets without any delay when we asked for it. The pool is not very large but never crowded since the hotel only has a few rooms. They also hepled us book taxi from and to the airport as well as a full day boat trip of snorkeling. Would defintelty go back again.