LUX Marijani, Zanzibar — Hotel in Unguja

This review covers a 7 night stay in February 2024 by a family of 2 adults and 2 young kids.

GRAND LUX SUITE: a sizeable suite advertised at 115m. I believe the bedroom and bathroom area of the suite are similar to that of a standard room, but the suite also offers a fully separated living area. The highlight of the suite is the outdoor area, which has a larger than expected private pool (albeit not exactly private as overlooked by other rooms), a ‘sunken lounge’ seating area, and a beachfront location. It is a nicely appointed suite with good air conditioning and comfortable bedding, although there were surprising signs of wear & tear given the resort is still new. We also weren’t a fan of the sunken lounge which is quite uncomfortable to sit in.

BEACH: very picturesque with white sand beaches and nice shades of blue water. Due to tides, actual swimming in the beach is only possible for a couple of hours a day, although exploring the seabed during low tide was interesting as well. There is a current in the water as well as seaweed and other debris, plus there were loads of buskers giving you the hard sell on tours, bracelets and other stuff, this was pretty relentless! Thankfully this was out of sight when on the property itself (which is at a slightly higher elevation), allowing you to enjoy those beautiful views uninterrupted.

MAIN POOL: well-sized with a small kiddies section (60cm depth). Sun loungers around the pool were limited, even more so if you wanted to be in the shade, but we did manage to find something whenever we visited. In the blazing hot weather, the water was usually at a pleasant temperature, almost too warm at times.

KIDS CLUB: pretty sparse with a TV and some arts and crafts, plus a small outdoor area with a slide and swings. However, this was more than made up for by the excellent staff working at the kids club – Norah and Fadhila – who went above and beyond expectations, for example coming out to the pool or popping up unprompted during the evening entertainment to look after our kids.

RESTAURANTS: a weak point. The main restaurant serves a buffet format for all 3 meals and the food was mostly average and uninspiring. The breakfast buffet was very standard, again nothing to get excited about. A meal at the newly opened Lebanese restaurant Samaa was worse than the buffet. Generally dry meat dishes and an order of lamb chops which was so tough it was almost inedible. In contrast, the poolside lunch venue was not bad. Other things to note: i) no air conditioning and limited fans in the restaurants; ii) not many local restaurants located within a short drive from the hotel, so non-hotel alternatives are limited.

SERVICE: we were pleasantly surprised by how friendly and genuinely happy the staff were. That said, while basic requests were dealt with efficiently, any request that was even slightly unusual would tend to result in long delays. For example when we asked for some sun loungers to be placed outside our suite, this caused mass confusion and ended up taking over 3 hours to materialise. Also note there is no concierge service at the hotel, they have outsourced this to a large tour agency who provided delayed, impersonal responses.

CONCLUSION: an enjoyable stay despite a few niggles. The beautiful aesthetics of the resort gave off tropical paradise vibes, and combining this with super friendly staff, it was difficult to be in anything other than a good mood! The price point of the rooms and incidentals are quite reasonable, so factoring in value for money, some concessions can be made on the occasionally confused service or other shortcomings. That said, the food offering is the one area where there is obvious room for improvement. I hope this is something that can be...

I am writing this review as a hoteliers in the luxury segment with more than 20 years of experience. Unfortunately, although this property presents itself online as a five-star hotel, it falls far short of that standard.

ARRIVAL EXPERIENCE Our stay began with a disappointing first impression. We had pre-arranged airport transportation through the hotel, only to find no driver waiting. After an exhausting day on safari, we were left to seek help from a kind local who contacted the hotel on our behalf. The car eventually arrived at 7 p.m.—an oversight that should not occur at any hotel claiming five-star status.

HOTEL & FACILITIES When evaluating a property’s star rating, we consider product, service, location, and value for money. While this hotel, like others along the coast, benefits from a magnificent natural setting, nature alone cannot justify five stars. The property itself is reasonably maintained, though signs of wear and deferred maintenance are visible.

Guest amenities are basic. While shampoo, conditioner, and soap are supplied, there are no grooming essentials such as a razor, toothbrush, or other personal care items that are standard at a genuine five-star. Likewise, thoughtful touches such as a daily replenished fruit platter or fresh juice—simple gestures that elevate a stay—were missing. Facilities are also limited: a small gym and a “spa” that is little more than a room with a massage bed, not comparable to what the term spa typically represents.

SERVICE & DINING The staff were warm and welcoming, as we have come to expect throughout Tanzania—whether from a housekeeper, vendor, or business owner. However, the food was far below the standard implied by the room rates. We booked on a room-only basis at nearly USD 200 per night, preferring to explore local dining, but did try the hotel’s Arabic restaurant, Samaa. Four mezze dishes and a prawn dish (USD 20 for just three prawns) left us highly disappointed. At that price point, one expects quality, creativity, and reasonable portions. Instead, we received three plainly grilled prawns, and mezze that were so sour that one dish had to be returned—yet we were still charged, with no effort to correct or replace it.

Poolside dining was equally inconsistent. Chicken wings were served so over-fried that they were inedible, though on a second attempt the dish was much improved. Consistency is a hallmark of five-star service; here it was lacking.

SPECIAL OCCASION We chose this property for my 40th birthday. My family had requested by email that a bottle of rosé be placed in the room on the day itself. Instead, it was delivered the day before. While this detail may seem minor, the correspondence clearly asked for precision. More importantly, there was no acknowledgment of the occasion from management—no card, no small gesture, nothing to make the moment memorable. In hospitality, such touches are a basic expectation, not an exception.

OVERALL IMPRESSION We must ultimately rate this hotel as three stars. The mismatch between quality and price is significant, and although improvements could be made without lowering rates, the reliance on all-inclusive guests seems to diminish the incentive. For travelers like us—coming from Southeast Asia, where even modest hotels deliver remarkable hospitality—this property was a disappointment and did not meet the expectations created by its...

I’m spending 100+ nights per year in hotels around the world. From my perspective a beautiful yet very poorly run and extremely overpriced hotel. The only thing luxurious is the price and the nice beach. Even though I wouldn’t qualify the cheap plastic beach chairs as luxury.

The hotel building is designed in arabic style which I’m very fond of. It features a beautiful garden and meticulous private beach. Pool could be bigger. The staff is very friendly. Everyone was lovely, welcoming and helpful at all times.

Beach very clean. Picturesque views of the sea especially during low tide. It’s a very tranquil place.

They have an espresso bar in the lobby. The coffee is sooo good and it’s free until 10AM.

Service at the beach very good. Even tough only water is free. Prices very high for what you get what you already paid in a low cost country.

Security is very good. Entrance and premises of the hotel are guarded. Beach is private so unless you leave this bubble you won’t be bothered by any hustlers even though even the local hustlers are very kind and friendly.

We didn’t have a good start. Despite the hotel having rooms available they had the audacity to assign us in front of a giant extremely noisy aircon facility. Extremely noisy. Contact the hotel to make sure you don’t end up somewhere near room 47/48. Or skip this hotel altogether if you’re seeking a luxury hotel.

It’s an outrage to even have such noisy equipment close where people live not to mention paying top dollar in a very poor country. This alone disqualifies this hotel from luxury.

Spoke to the general manager and he didn’t apologise which I felt was rude but at least they showed us a few rooms. Other rooms we were offered looked into bushes… a dark depressing hole they market as executive because of a bathtub. Thankfully the other room was overlooking the beach and even though it didn’t have a bathtub we went for it.

Rooms are nothing to write home about. Basic in all aspects. Most definitely not luxury. Bedding poor. Especially pillows. Mattress bearable at best. Sight protection in the bathroom already peeling off. No coffee maker. Tiny wardrobe. Basic amenities. I was glad I brought mine from my previous real luxury hotel. Aircon in the room was good and ok noise wise.

Other annoyances were very little animation and activities. Not even beach volleyball because the folded it for some wedding and didn’t set it up in a weeks time.

Our highlight was a water polo in the pool which was played daily.

One time there was a coconut presentation which was very good!

We expected more of that kind of experiences.

Food with the exception of local fruit lacks local items. Extremely poorly cooked western food. Cocktails, with exception of the ones on the beach which aren’t advertised and we found out about accidentally, are a joke. Wine selection very poor and outrageously priced. If you bring your own they’ll have the audacity charge you $25 to corkage fee!

Evening music consists of poor singing of western songs or 40-50 old songs. Nothing local despite a rich local music heritage.

This very very expensive and not worth it expensive hotel will help you experience very little about Zanzibar. You’ll get in touch with local staff, mostly from dares-lam, that’s about it. No local food, no local music, almost none local experiences of any kind. Very disappointing. First...