Reviews of Matemwe Lodge

"Glorious place." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar

"Cannot find any fault." See all these reviews: 5n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"Great staff, great food, comfortable accommodation all in a lovely spot." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania

"The bungalow was excellent, comfortable and well fitted out. The bathroom was a palace. There was even coffe and tea making facilities in the bungalow which was a surprise. The two pools, bar and restaurant areas were in top class condition and the gardens were beautiful.

The place was a bit of a surprise being a bit off the beaten track yet all the facilities you could ask for. There was so much at Matemwe bungalows for so few guests that we felt very special.

The food was good however I think we had been spoilt having just come from Pole Pole where the food was out of this world. The bay has a lot of stones and sea urchins thus is not suitable for swimming except with shoes and then only in one or two sandy areas at high water.

With restricted sea access we were a bit concerned at the high price for a boat trip to the corral bank for snortelling and the trip for lunch on the sand bank was priced far too high in our opinion" See all these reviews: 10n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"This was a fantastic location for relaxing after our safari. The room (room 11) was nice and large, although didn't have the finish of a top-class resort (e.g. showers and bathroom), but we may have been spoiled after the &beyond lodges! They were a bit hot at times, even with the fan going. We particularly enjoyed the veranda area where we

We liked the snorkelling in easy reach on the Mnemba reef and felt as though the guides enjoyed it as much as we did. The snorkelling was made even better by a lucky encounter with a group of dolphins.

We would have liked more advance indication of the cost of activities - some of these seemed quite high, and it felt like we were a captive audience. We were also a little unfortunate in the timing of our visit, as due to the neap tides, some of the activities were unavailable for that week.

We thought the communal areas felt like they belong to a bigger resort, so it never felt crowded. The gardens were really beautiful and well maintained.

We would have liked a fridge in the room or the option to have drinks delivered as we found that the large bottles of water that were left for us did not stay cool for long, and it was a long walk to the bar.

The food always good, although there was an odd mix of buffet and waiter service. It wasn't always clear what the service would be each night. We really enjoyed the freshly made fruit juices from fruits we had never heard of before!

On our last night, the staff arranged a honeymoon dinner for the two of us, which was absolutely magical. This was a perfect end to our time at Matemwe." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"We spent a very enjoyable 5 nights at Matemwe bungalows.

The room and its location were stunning and watching the sun rise each morning with the fishing boats going by was perfect. In hindsight 3-4 nights would have been ideal and as we were a little restless we opted to hire a car which the lodge helped us to do and at very reasonable cost. This was a great success and allowed us to see more of the island.

The lodge is very relaxed, the food was good and the staff extremely friendly and helpful. We very much enjoyed the reef walk and snorkelling over the Pemba reef. However, we felt other activities were relatively expensive hence the average rating. The beach by the lodge is lovely but the adjoining village beach has major sewage problems, which spoilt our walks along the beautiful coastline somewhat.

This is clearly not the fault of the lodge who are committed to helping the village and reminded us of the huge difference in living standards between the tourists and the locals." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"Matemwe was very comfortable, with excellent food and friendly staff. Its setting allows lovely views over the sea and reef , and I enjoyed watching the many fishing dhows going out early in the morning.

It is not possible to swim in the sea from the beach because of sea urchins and quite rough sea when the tide is up. When the tide was out , there are good walks along the beach and you can wade out to the reef ( carefully avoiding the sea urchins ).
To swim in the sea , we needed to go on a couple of excursions off the beach in the hotel's dhow. These were great fun ( although I thought they were quite expensive ). One was a snorkelling trip to Mnemba - excellent snorkelling with lots of fish. The other was a trip out to a white sandbank in the ocean, which was spectacularly beautiful , and where we also did some snorkelling and swam with dolphins.

We also went to Stone Town one day, which was very interesting ( in fact , I think if I had my time again , rather than 7 nights on the beach I would have a couple staying in Stone Town ).

One thing that did surprise me a bit was that Zanzibar was not as steamy hot as I had expected. This wasn't a problem ( it certainly wasn't cold ! ) , just a bit surprising. The Matemwe location is quite windy , especially in the second part of the afternoon ." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"Matemwe was very good all around. We wer particularly impressed that they organiozed a surprise romatic dinner for just us two in a candle lit grotto on the beach.

Our only downsdie was poor luck with weather - not much sun. One suggestion would to warn'advise your clients that there may be large numbers of sea urchins and that under no circumstance should enter the ocean barefoot. We didn't have any mishap but it could easily happen as they were very large in numbers.

Kitchen was very good" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"thank you jessica for sorting the wine out! what happens when she leaves?

great days bad nights due to misplaced fan position" See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania; 7n in Zanzibar

"Location and grounds very good for a relaxing break (albeit too far from, and therefore expensive to get to, Stone town if that was desirable). Quite "rustic" in feel which we found a positive advantage.

Staff and management very friendly and helpful (Sabine sat with her family at supper each evening and made an effort to get up and talk to everyone to make sure we were happy. She was also very open and honest about what she and her husband had taken on and were planning to improve). On one occasion other guests were playing music loudly and this was attended to quickly and diplomatically.

Beach and pool facilities were good. Village and reef visits were easily planned and well worth doing. We were welcome in the village with our guide. Had we had more time we would have taken the opportunity to do some other activities available from the "watersports" area inclduing dhow sailing and kayaking..

We were in one of the older style bungalows which was very spacious and was comfortable albeit the bathroom was adequate but uninviting. It could be better lit and the shower could be easily and cheaply improved with a better head. Maybe this is dealt with in the newer ones and will be done this Spring?

The bungalows being raised on a coral cliff away from the beach was good in terms of security.

Food of very good quality and a real effort made to make tasty menus. The dining room was attractive. We noticed when we got back, the website described coffee and cookies being delivered to your balcony daily but that wasn't done.

The only particular issue we had was that in the very strong wind the noise at night was disturbing and earplugs would have been welcome." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar