Travel reviews by The H family from Baldock
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
3
Excursions taken
0
Let down by Breezes
Tanzania and 1 other country between 10 Jul 2010 and 21 Jul 2010
"A really good trip overall but Breezes was very disappointing
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
As stated above. The holiday was not cheap and we did not think Breezes was worth the money we paid for it - definite budget hotel. Had we known, we would not have gone for a resort style hotel but opted for something smaller without the facilities as the facilities at Breezes were less than satisfactory."
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
As stated above. The holiday was not cheap and we did not think Breezes was worth the money we paid for it - definite budget hotel. Had we known, we would not have gone for a resort style hotel but opted for something smaller without the facilities as the facilities at Breezes were less than satisfactory."
Siwandu
"Selous Safari Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
11 Jul 2010
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Beho Beho
"Beho Beho review"
3 nights
Arrived
13 Jul 2010
"Amazing place - what more can one say? Very very special in every way. The rooms are superb. And the staff, management and guides are excellent.
The children (20, 19 and 17) loved this place although (and this is only a very small gripe and should not deflect from all our praise)they would have appreciated something a little more substantial to eat before the early drive - just a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit did not satisfy our boys. Our 6'5" eldest son found this hard, and the breakfast in the bush was not the best - just a roll and some fruit. The first real meal of the day is lunch - or brunch on the day one visits the hot springs. The brunch out in the bush is exceptional and very special.
And the food otherwise was superb and in wonderful locations. Andrew's wheat allergy was catered for once Tamlyn arrived back in camp - she was not there when we arrived. But this was not a big deal as there was plenty of food to choose from and we did not make a fuss about it to anyone - I am sure it would have been rectified had we done so, such is the special service here.
We would definitely recommend this place to others and we very much hope to return one day."
The children (20, 19 and 17) loved this place although (and this is only a very small gripe and should not deflect from all our praise)they would have appreciated something a little more substantial to eat before the early drive - just a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit did not satisfy our boys. Our 6'5" eldest son found this hard, and the breakfast in the bush was not the best - just a roll and some fruit. The first real meal of the day is lunch - or brunch on the day one visits the hot springs. The brunch out in the bush is exceptional and very special.
And the food otherwise was superb and in wonderful locations. Andrew's wheat allergy was catered for once Tamlyn arrived back in camp - she was not there when we arrived. But this was not a big deal as there was plenty of food to choose from and we did not make a fuss about it to anyone - I am sure it would have been rectified had we done so, such is the special service here.
We would definitely recommend this place to others and we very much hope to return one day."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Breezes Beach Club
"Breezes Beach Club review"
5 nights
Arrived
16 Jul 2010
"If you are going to suggest that your clients go on to Breezes after Beho Beho and Selous, you should warn them that they will be disappointed. Also it will be a huge disappointment to anyone who has spent time in luxury resorts in the Far East or elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. It just does not compare to what is on offer in the Seychelles, Mauritius or Maldives, or Thailand etc.
We had suites but you could not hear the ocean let alone see it, such was their distance from the beach. The rooms are very basic and not what we expected for the price we paid. The hotel staff were very unfriendly on arrival but got better as the holiday progressed. Its a package hotel - catering en masse. It was impossible to have dinner outside the hotel - nowhere to go.
We ate in the a la carte restaurant twice. The food was good but little atmosphere and we had to order out food from a menu in reception several hours before we ate. It took us the whole of the first morning to arrange this. Likewise we wanted to order drinks on our balcony. This took several hours to organise but was very good when it arrived. The lunches were very good. The buffet food was good if you like that sort of thing but it was very mass produced and not special. The breakfast was very disappointing and again mass produced. I just felt we were herded!
The beach is nice but again nothing special if you have travelled elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. The Spa was nothing special either to look at but the service was very good. Good massage and facial from Thai, Malay and Indian beauticians. There is nothing to see around the hotel and Stone Town is one hour away and you have to negotiate the endless police roadblocks - 12 in total on the journey to and from Stone Town for a morning's visit. The gym is not worth mentioning.
All in all it was a real anticlimax to what was otherwise a wonderful holiday. We would definitely not go back."
We had suites but you could not hear the ocean let alone see it, such was their distance from the beach. The rooms are very basic and not what we expected for the price we paid. The hotel staff were very unfriendly on arrival but got better as the holiday progressed. Its a package hotel - catering en masse. It was impossible to have dinner outside the hotel - nowhere to go.
We ate in the a la carte restaurant twice. The food was good but little atmosphere and we had to order out food from a menu in reception several hours before we ate. It took us the whole of the first morning to arrange this. Likewise we wanted to order drinks on our balcony. This took several hours to organise but was very good when it arrived. The lunches were very good. The buffet food was good if you like that sort of thing but it was very mass produced and not special. The breakfast was very disappointing and again mass produced. I just felt we were herded!
The beach is nice but again nothing special if you have travelled elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. The Spa was nothing special either to look at but the service was very good. Good massage and facial from Thai, Malay and Indian beauticians. There is nothing to see around the hotel and Stone Town is one hour away and you have to negotiate the endless police roadblocks - 12 in total on the journey to and from Stone Town for a morning's visit. The gym is not worth mentioning.
All in all it was a real anticlimax to what was otherwise a wonderful holiday. We would definitely not go back."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location
Poor
Service
Average
Facilities
Poor
Rooms
Poor
Food
Average
Feedback response
We are sorry that this family didn’t enjoy their time at Breezes, and have passed all their comments to the hotel.
Clearly this hotel wasn’t what these travellers expected, and Expert Africa must take some responsibility. This family included three teenagers, and they chose Breezes specifically because of its range of on-site facilities (water-sports, tennis courts, etc). We discussed with them smaller, more personal ‘beach-bungalow’ style places, but none of these on Zanzibar have the same range of facilities.
These travellers are quite right: Breezes does not compare with top-end 5 star luxury resorts in the Far East. In fact, few places on Zanzibar do apart from perhaps Baraza which is Breezes sibling and also 5 star property. Breezes is a simpler property but this is reflected in its rates which are good value and though all Breezes’ rooms are within two minutes’ walk of the beach - no room categories have a guaranteed sea-view.
When planning ‘bush-and-beach’ trips like this, travellers often want to splash out on their safari, to get the best guiding and game, and then spend less on their beach-time. We understand with this, and often design trips around this aim. In this case, these travellers went from Beho Beho, which is one of Africa’s best safari camps, to Breezes, which is generally regarded as a good “four-star” hotel which is reasonably priced. Though Breezes is still a very good property it is in a different league.
To put this in perspective, a night at Breezes costs less than a third the price of a night at Beho Beho. We do our very best to make this step-down very clear, and usually it isn’t a problem. However, somehow we were not clear enough in this case – and so we’ve changed the way that we do things to make these differences even more obvious for future travellers.
We’d never recommend Breezes as a ‘base’ to visit Stone Town; it’s a destination in itself and too far for a quick morning visit from the beach. For those that wish to visit Stone Town we would recommend that they spend a night there.
Clearly this hotel wasn’t what these travellers expected, and Expert Africa must take some responsibility. This family included three teenagers, and they chose Breezes specifically because of its range of on-site facilities (water-sports, tennis courts, etc). We discussed with them smaller, more personal ‘beach-bungalow’ style places, but none of these on Zanzibar have the same range of facilities.
These travellers are quite right: Breezes does not compare with top-end 5 star luxury resorts in the Far East. In fact, few places on Zanzibar do apart from perhaps Baraza which is Breezes sibling and also 5 star property. Breezes is a simpler property but this is reflected in its rates which are good value and though all Breezes’ rooms are within two minutes’ walk of the beach - no room categories have a guaranteed sea-view.
When planning ‘bush-and-beach’ trips like this, travellers often want to splash out on their safari, to get the best guiding and game, and then spend less on their beach-time. We understand with this, and often design trips around this aim. In this case, these travellers went from Beho Beho, which is one of Africa’s best safari camps, to Breezes, which is generally regarded as a good “four-star” hotel which is reasonably priced. Though Breezes is still a very good property it is in a different league.
To put this in perspective, a night at Breezes costs less than a third the price of a night at Beho Beho. We do our very best to make this step-down very clear, and usually it isn’t a problem. However, somehow we were not clear enough in this case – and so we’ve changed the way that we do things to make these differences even more obvious for future travellers.
We’d never recommend Breezes as a ‘base’ to visit Stone Town; it’s a destination in itself and too far for a quick morning visit from the beach. For those that wish to visit Stone Town we would recommend that they spend a night there.
Andrew had a wheat allergy which they really took on board. There was an alternative to anything with wheat especially prepared for him - fantastic. And the children [Ed: the 'children' are aged 20, 19 and 17] liked the later game drive and breakfast before they went.
The only slight complaint was that our guide (Mushaka) mentioned the tip we gave him when he took us on the transfer to Beho Beho. We realise that we may have undertipped him when we spoke to the management at Beho Beho but with no guidance, its hard to get that right. We tipped everyone quite generously we thought) rather than concentrating on the guide.
Game was plentiful. And the river cruise was very special. Would definitely return."