Reviews of Fumba Beach Lodge

"Great location away from the masses but we felt the management, who were very present at the bar in the evening were more interested in being a presense for the guests at dinner time, rather than paying attention to how the lodge restuarant was running. I understand language with the staff may be an issue but basic communication with guests from restaurant staff was not as expected.

There were repeated unnecessary niggles, like:
- at tea time (3-4 or 4-5pm, cant remember!) - not being allowed to sit outside as they wanted to set the tables for dinner. Dinner starts at 730. One day. we did to sit at an outside table for tea and 20 mins in were asked to move inside so they could set the table. It took them max of 1h to set the tables so why can't it be after teatime?
- repeatedly being asked by restaurant staff at end of dinner to sign for our drinks which we had either already signed for at the bar or had bought with. No joined up communication.
- breakfast - every day at least 3 of us had items missing or swapped on from what we ordered and then made to feel a nuisance asking for the item to be corrected. Also asking is spoecific item was in stock at breakfast (as we were told it had run out before), being told yes...so ordered...and then it didn't turn up on the plate as out of stock.
- first dinner - no soup course was served and we were repeatedly ignored when we asked for us. We gave up.

Our last day we had a private charter which had miscommunicated the meeting point. We were told one thing, the crew another. The crew liaised with the hotel reception and they said they would let us know if they saw us...but why did they not call us? We wasted an hour trying to track the crew down at the busy end of the beach.

We are not ones for entertainment in the evenings but it would have been nice to sit at the outside bar after dinnrer but it was closed so there was no atmosphere after dinner to want to sit and have a drink." See all these reviews: 6n in Zanzibar; 5n in Tanzania

"Fumba is in an idyllic situation overlooking the ocean with sunset views. It is conveniently placed for a shopping trip to Stone Town.. It was lovely to rest and relax after an exciting time on safari.

The cottages are quite spacious but rather dark and in need of some upgrading. The bathrooms particularly are pretty basic and the tiles in need of a good bleaching. The floor of the shower was lethal when wet and we had to put a bathmat in the bottom to prevent us slipping over.

The bar area was a converted dhow which was quite novel however the sides sloped and drinks were easily tipped over!! There could have been more seating available particularly at Happy Hour when lots of people tended to congregate and there were only a few seats in a line. A few chairs and tables in that area would have been nice.

Also around the pool only sun loungers were available which does not suit everyone.

The food was good but not exceptional, the staff willing but very slow (I know this is Africa but we were spoilt at Beho Beho)

However it was a lovely relaxing end to a busy holiday." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania; 5n in Zanzibar

"We visited Fumba after a week's safari and found it a wonderful place to relax. It's a short 30-minute drive from Stone Town on good roads.

The pool area is a delightful little oasis overlooking the beach. It's very easy to spend a whole day here reading, swimming, and watching the cheeky little blue monkeys who like to try their luck and scamper down to the "watering hole" occasionally. There is the loveliest little dhow bar that opens for sundowners at 5 pm and is the perfect place to while away a few hours watching the surf and the very beautiful sunsets that you get on this side of the island.

Last but not least, the staff go out of their way to make sure you're enjoying your stay. We felt very well looked after.

Fumba Beach Lodge is excellent value and highly recommended." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 7n in Zambia

"Beautiful and very accommodating." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar

"I greatly enjoyed my stay at Fumba Beach Lodge. There is a delightful Butterfly and Wildlife Walk area to watch birds, butterflies, elephant shrews etc. I appeared to be the only person using it as I never met anybody else there and went at least twice a day. I saw various species of butterflies, a pair of crowned hornbills perched on a tree, elephant shrews, sunbirds, lizards, monkeys, a goshawk?, yellow-rumped tinkerbird. The grounds in general are good for watching the wildlife there, such as the resident monkeys, red colobus monkey, bushbaby, squirrels, sunbirds, lizards, and butterflies. There is a particular shrub which lots of beautiful butterflies descended on to feed at.

I was unable to go on Fumba's Dive Centre's snorkelling trip as it was booked up on both days I wanted to go. However, one of the dive centre staff arranged for me to go on a snorkelling trip with Safari Blue and one of the Fumba staff very kindly gave up his day off to accompany me as my guide and chaperon! The snorkelling was excellent and we had a superb lunch at Kwale Island.

The Lodge arranged for me to go on an excursion to the Jozani Forest, which was very enjoyable, but I would have liked to spend a longer time there." See all these reviews: 9n in Zanzibar

"A good hotel in a beautiful location but the rooms could do with some renovation and the staff with more direction from the managers, who did not appear to spend much time with them or their guests.

Our boat trip/snorkelling excursion and the team who organised it for us were excellent." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar

"Arriving at Fumba Beach Lodge on my birthday (and as part of our honeymoon) was the start of the fabulous half of our holiday. The manager and staff identified my birthday immediately and congratulated us on our marriage and proceeded to treat us like royalty, arranging special locations for our meals (breakfast as well as evening meal) with sparkling wine laid on at their expense, a birthday cake with candles and the staff singing "Happy Birthday" and all of the waiting staff recognising who we were. We're not particularly demanding customers, tending not to strop out about things, and granted this was perhaps their low season meaning we had the row of lodges virtually to ourselves but following a generally reasonable, but perhaps lukewarm experience in Stone Town our experience in Fumba was magical.

The room/lodge was superb. The massive bed and double doors out on to our own terrace and then roof terrace from which to watch the Blue Monkeys, Red Squirrels and Elephant Shrews, outdoor showers and personal access down to the beach all made for a fabulous experience.

Being right on the beach give us some fresh air, with a large fan keeping the air moving - in high season the lack of air conditioning may be a problem? It was fine for us in March.

The main central area with infinity pool, Dhow bar and restaurant were all beautifully kept. The infinity pool was fabulous. And we were able to watch the evening antics of bush babies in the Baobab tree near the Dhow bar. The on-site diving team are able to provide a range of activities and we had he luxury of a snorkelling picnic trip for just the two of us, which made it extremely special.

Overall we cannot speak highly enough of Fumba Beach Lodge." See all these reviews: 9n in Zanzibar

"Fumba is a very peaceful and beautiful place to relax.

Service was excellent - we particularly enjoyed being able to sit in different locations and almost personal service so that we could get to know the waiters. One of the managers showed the kids how to scuba dive in the pool which was much appreciated.

The food was excellent too.

A small criticism is that the excursions were very expensive. we wanted to do some small trips out of the hotel as 'activities' but found the prices offputting. We also thought the snorkelling, whilst excellent, was expensive at $50 per person (there could have been more flexibility to price for a family trip)." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 4n in Tanzania

"Fumba Beach Lodge was great. Our suite was very comfortable with direct access to the beach. The bed was huge.

My husband did 4 dives and was very impressed with the dive school. The staff were great and instruction was good. The equipment was of a good standard. He was even able to dive when he was the only one diving that day.

We went on a snorkelling trip and picnic which was fantastic. Just the two of us and a guide and boat driver. We snorkelled for an hour and were then taken to a beautiful small island where lunch was prepared for us. We then returned under sail which was magical - so peaceful. We were able to visit the local village. The people were all very friendly and we felt quite safe." See all these reviews: 6n in Zanzibar; 3n in Tanzania

"Fumba Beach was chosen for its location close to Stone Town, rather than its quality and comfort.

That said the hotel is clearly in need of some investment. We had two luxury rooms. Both rooms had holes in their roofs (luckily it didn't rain). The sheets were stained, the towels had holes in and the toilets reeked of moth balls. We were there 3 nights and two of them we had to prepare our rooms at night ourselves - the third night we asked. At breakfast pastries and breads were uncovered and were covered in flies. We stuck to cooked food but still worried about the hygiene in the kitchen.

At sunset we went to the bar to order two (expensive) cocktails. We asked if there were any nuts only to be told we would have to pay for them as it was before 6:30pm (it was 6pm). The hotel is managed by a young couple in their twenties who tried really hard but clearly lack experience. It felt like the owners were running it as cheaply as possible.

On a positive note the setting is lovely and the food at night was very good." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 3n in Zanzibar