We spent a wonderful week in Matemwe Bungalows. The Retreat was overwhelming. Plenty of space, natural cosy furniture, such a perfect service (asante sana to Simon) and fabulous food. The manager couple Ingo & Sabine anticipate every wish. Their professionalism mixed with humour and cordiality could be perceived all over the place. Keep it up! An absolutely amazing experience was... more

We endorse all the superlatives in the other reviews. A truly fantastic experience. We unwound completely over five days and were very well looked after by John in Zam Zam. For the reviewer who says "if you like rats", you are completely mistaken. They are bush babies i.e. primates like you and me. One even came onto the deck to... more

My husband and I have just returned from a truely magical stay at the Matemwe Retreat. The drive there is a real roller coaster ride as there are no proper roads into the village and the resort so if you suffer from back problems, take plenty of painkillers! We arrived hot and tired and were greeted with cold face towels... more

While the roads to Matemwe retreat may be a bit scary for what may come, the actual retreat truly puts you in another place in the world. Upon arrival at Matemwe Retreat we were greeted by the butler Paul who was professional and took care of all our wishes. We had a quick look at the Bungalow area and truly... more

We booked the Retreat for a long weekend romantic getaway and we totally loved it. We had seen quite some of the lodges on Zanzibar before but this was absolutely the perfect place. The villa we stayed in, Zam Zam, has a perfect view of the ocean and the island of Mnemba. The beautiful palm trees, white sand and the... more

We booked a Safari with &Beyond (formerly CC Africa) and Zanzibar was the last stop before heading back to the United States. After being at 4 different "camps" -- Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, Klein's Camp, Serengeti Under Canvas, and Ngorongoro Crate Lodge, this was totally different. I cannot add much more than the previous review by Skibummer (London), that review... more

Matemwe Retreats consists of 3 white-washed, thatched cottages in a private setting North of the main 12 Matemwe Bungalows. The suites are extremely spacious and well-appointed with opulent bathrooms with a view of the Indian ocean and are adequately spaced to be very private. Each retreat is serviced by a dedicated butler and has a lovely and very large thatched... more

We chose this hotel for our honeymoon after extensive searcing throughout Zanzibar's options. The villa we stayed in was good - a highlight of the stay - however it was starting to get quite run down - there was serious damp problems from the rooftop pool which resulted in leaking down the bedroom wall. The linen also had rust coloured... more

In searching around on the web i found the report about Matemwe Retreat and 'the rats'. I stayed at the lodge in December 2007.......and there were no rats....absolutely no rats!! To be honest the lodge was excactly what we were after.....it is not 5 star pretentious glitz hotel, it is a safari lovers African hotel that really epitomises Africa and... more