HOTELS & CAMPS

Meliá Zanzibar

SignatureZanzibar

Its strength is not one dazzling feature but the fact that it has everything a mature island resort should have, and runs it steadily. Arrive here off safari and there is essentially nothing left to organise — just several days of holiday.

Why we chose it

What Meliá does best is a complete, dependable resort stay. The grounds are large and beautifully planted, with pools, beach, spa, gym, restaurants and bars all present, and it is all-inclusive — so after a safari you need not plan anything further; a few days inside the resort is genuinely restful. The rooms are a strength too: even the entry category is spacious, with its own terrace, garden or sea outlook and a large bathroom. It does not win on outright luxury, but the comfort is thoroughly worked out.

The beach is good as well. The hotel has its own private Gabi Beach, with fine white sand and clear water, loungers and food service, plus the beach club’s water activities. The gardens and the Indian Ocean views genuinely feel like a holiday. And Meliá is an established international group, so service, cleanliness, maintenance and day-to-day operation are all reassuring.

What to know

First, it really is big. Rooms, main restaurant, pools and beach can be a fair distance apart, which is why the hotel runs shuttle buggies. If you like a large resort this reads as space; if you prefer somewhere small and private where everything is just outside your door, it may not suit.

Second, the tides on Zanzibar’s east coast are pronounced. At high tide the water is beautiful; at low tide it retreats a long way, so swimming straight off the beach is not an all-day proposition. That is not a Meliá failing but a characteristic of this whole stretch of coast. For most guests coming off safari, who mainly want to unwind by the pool and around the resort, neither point tends to affect the stay.

If it is full

TUI Blue Bahari Zanzibar — also a Signature-tier beach resort on Zanzibar, our usual stand-in when this one is full.

A timber jetty runs out from the palms and across the reef flat to two thatched over-water pavilions; the deep blue among the coconut palms to the right is the resort’s infinity pool. That white line in the distance is the surf breaking on the outer reef.

Private Gabi Beach: a full row of thatched parasols and sun beds along the white sand, palms behind, and water shading from pale green to deep blue. This stretch belongs to the hotel — it is not a public beach.

The Meliá Garden Room, the category we always use: a four-poster under drapes, a ceiling fan, a printed bed runner, and a carved wooden door onto your own terrace with the coconut palms outside. Not outright luxury, but the space and comfort are properly judged.

The pool area from another angle: a long pool lined with blue umbrellas and loungers, thatched public buildings beside the lawn, then palms, white sand, and the shallow reef water running out from the shore.

Official websitehttps://www.melia.com/en/hotels/tanzania/zanzibar/melia-zanzibar(opens in a new tab)

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