Flame Tree Cottages — Hotel in Unguja

I recently stayed at Flame Tree Cottages for 14 days, and I can't say enough good things. We stayed in the beautiful Rose cottage, which had a wonderful view of the gardens (including some actual flame trees!) and the ocean. The room was air-conned and very clean, and we came home each evening to petals on the bed which was a nice touch. In the mornings, guests order breakfast on their veranda where it is bought to them. I loved the routine of having my morning coffee and fresh fruit whilst watching Nungwi wake up.

We ate lunch and dinner in the restaurant everyday which is right on the Nungwi ocean's edge. The beach itself is wonderful - white sand, clear warm water, and it felt rather private - it seems that tourists and sellers collect towards hotels a 10 min walk down the beach, which made things very calm where we were. The food itself was lovely (including starter, main and dessert), and always came with a delicious cocktail.

The biggest selling point of Flame Tree is definitely the staff. Everyone was so lovely - helpful, always on-hand, super friendly and just generally lovely. They always ensured we had space to relax by the beach during the day, and even taught us some Swahili! The hospitality from the managers Mr and Mrs Miskry was also amazing. Thank you for an unforgettable holiday.

Activities we did: Flame Tree has a nice swimming pool in the centre of the cottages, which gives a lovely amount of privacy, but allowed us to take in the wonderful gardens whilst swimming (they're huge).

They also have rooftop yoga at sunrise and sunset - this was one of the best things I've ever done, as we directly faced the direction of sunset which was just beautiful. Then the stars come out, and wow!

I also had a deep tissue massage which was great.

The staff arranged for us to go on an exciting snorkel trip on one day. I have never seen water this clear, and it was a lot of fun having food and drinks prepared for us on the boat in between snorkels exploring.

I recommend walking down the beach to the turtle sanctuary for an unforgettable swim with some huge (and tiny!)...

The hotel is in a perfect location with a gorgeous public beach in front where you can snorkel straight from the hotel. The pool is very nice and rarely crowded and there are nice beach chairs to lay on. Alternatively they have beach chairs and hammocks facing the ocean that you can lay on and provide beach towels.

The staff are very lovely and helpful and bring breakfast to your terrace every morning. The breakfast is not great and you have to order from a weird checklist, this could use an upgrade. There is a restaurant that has a great atmosphere but does not have the best food.

All that being said the communication between the staff at the hotel is very confusing. It is hard to get a straight answer about things, for example we got conflicting answers on when events were. We had booked two rooms but the hotel only allocated us one and we’re only able to fix the mistake the following day (we did receive a refund for the room) and they were very apologetic.

We did not have a good experience with booking tours directly through the hotel. We booked a snorkeling trip and there was a lot of miscommunication. The tour started 30 minutes late meaning more crowds. The people taking us on the boat didn’t speak English and did not explain to us what was happening. And then the worst part was that when we were unhappy about our experience the owner of the hotel suggested that it was our fault having a bad trip because we chose someone from off the street. Does the owner not know that her hotel staff is offering these tours? Is she denying responsibility for us having a bad tour? Very bizarre.

Rooms were nice and not outdated as some reviews suggest. If you get the apartment the third single bed does not have a mosquito net and will be unsafe if you have a third child. Ants can crawl under the door. Facilities were good but could use a spruce, for example the badminton net is broken and sagging and there is an...

We had a fantastic stay here for two nights. This is a small hotel (which we prefer), the rooms are basic but clean and comfortable. The beds are comfortable, the a/c works well and there are fans, the shower was great. There is a safe in the room. We had our own little cottage that slept three. We had a nice patio with a view of the ocean. We were served a good breakfast on our patio each day. We had bottled water for brushing our teeth but not much more. The beachfront area is fantastic, cozy, serene, peaceful, quiet, it has a wonderful view of the ocean, there are comfortable lounge chairs to sit on and hammocks. We thought the food was very good, we had all of our meals there. The menu has a very good selection. For dinner, they set up tables and chairs directly on the beach where you can put your toes in the sand. The views of the sunsets are fantastic. One night they had live music. The beach is great for swimming right in front of the hotel. There are other hotels (most seem larger) and restaurants along the beach and it is nice to walk along the beach. There is a small town in the area that you can walk to. We did a snorkeling excursion from there which was great. Because the hotel only has a small number of rooms, you have a lot of privacy here and it never feels crowded. The staff here are wonderful, warm and welcoming. One staff person, Agnes stood out. She went above and beyond to welcome us and make our stay comfortable. She is so warm and kind. This is not a fancy hotel but it is comfortable, well maintained, has good food, great staff and is small so you don't have to deal with many other tourists. It has a great pool which we never even used since the ocean swimming was so amazing. We loved our stay here and highly...