Mawimbi Bungalows — Hotel in Unguja

Very nice surroundings around the bungalows, full of green trees, fruit, bushes and flowers. I liked the names of the plants so people can learn what's there. It's separate bungalows even though when you make a Booking reservation it says ''room''. Grateful for that! That was definitely a plus. Wifi worked well at the restaurant and next to the reception. Nice room, pretty decorations, good shower. Mosquito bed around my bed. Most of the employees were very nice and smiling, I even made a friend while there. Good swimming pool. I felt safe there as there's a gate guard at the entrance to the hotel who only lets the hotel guests inside. I asked for fresh fruit for breakfast and got it without problems.

Although when booking my room, I asked for a ''quiet room with good wifi'' to be able to work online, the wifi hardly ever worked in my bungalow, and if yes I could barely send whatsapp/messenger messages but nothing else. And if I needed to do something else online, I had to or walk around the hotel or sit at the restaurant. Not sure if the wifi is better in the bungalow where I stayed at when there's less clouds/rain/wind but it was not fine, mostly non-existent during my stay. Before my stay I sent a message asking about how much my stay cost in euros/Tanzanian shillings to know which way to pay was the best for me. I got a reply that in euros it would be 252. But that was more than in $ so that's obviously wrong. So I sent a few more messages until I finally got a reply that in euros it was 252. Not sure if it was just a mistake or they tried to overcharge me on purpose thinking I can't count and check exchange rate on my own, but I did not even get a ''sorry about that'' from the owner. Not good trying to charge me 27 euros more without apologizing for that. There was construction all around the bungalows during my entire stay: building a new hotel across the street, finishing building another hotel or whatever it is right next door, and also the road was being repaired. That meant noise, and more noise all day long from all around. And not just that noise, prayers from the mosques were unbearable a couple of hours every single day, especially in the evening until 9pm. I truly did not do most of my online work while there because it was extremely noisy even when I tried to work with earphones/ear plugs. I believe they should have let me know about it when booking my room so I could have decided if I'd still like to stay or no as I really asked for a QUIET room. As the road from the hotel to the beach was being repaired, it took a couple of minutes longer to walk to the beach (due to big construction cars, huge piles of rocks, and also mud and puddles due to rain). The music at the restaurant was loud almost all day long. I was staying right next to the restaurant and could hear the music the entire day inside my bungalow even with the windows closed and ear plugs, and that was not ok in my opinion. I chose the accommodation based on ''quiet place'' reviews hoping that if it's surrounded by green landscape and they don't have a bar, it would really be quiet. Wrong. There was loud music also when there were 0 guests and I really did not understand why. There's plants, birds and other animals around, and it was already too loud with the construction and mosque prayers. Why to destroy such a nice place with loud music as well? I could not do my online work there

Smoking was allowed at the restaurant and another guest was smoking just a few metres from me every morning when I was having breakfast, and that was seriously NOT ok to me.

Breakfast was included in my stay - it cost 5 eur/$5 per day. Even before my stay I asked for only fresh fruit and water. There were also other things like jam, peanut butter, toast bread, some kind of cake, coffee, tea but I clearly stated I won't use any of those. I believe I should get more fruit for 5 euros because when I counted how much that 1 small banana and those few pieces of fruit they gave me every morning cost, that would never reach more...

Please see my review from September 18.

The owner replied.

I expressed to the owner a few hours after I arrived that I was UNHAPPY with the amount of noise coming from the property grounds including loud techno music that she admitted was coming from the Masai. I told her at dinner that I was considering going to a different hotel!

When I contacted booking that night, I was told that I could cancel the reservation, on the site it says that the property CAN waive the cancellation fee! When I mentioned this to the owner she refused, she said it was “impossible.”

I had not even spent 1 night there but in her response to me, she lied and said booking would not honor the cancellation if I stayed 1 night, by this time I hadn’t done so yet.

My issue with the owner, is she is not transparent. There is construction taking place. The windows to the bungalows are left open therefore you HEAR everything, including people walking around and talking before, during and after quiet hours. You hear the birds in the early morning, along with the sound of construction around 7:30 am -8 am.

If you are a light sleeper or have trouble sleeping do NOT book here.

My expectations were not “impossible” a word you use very often might I add, but full disclosure would have been graciously accepted.

As someone who travels a lot, and spent a lot of $ to travel to Zanzibar, this was by far the worst accommodation.

I went to a nearby hotel after my phone stopped worked on day 2, and the resort employee was so kind as to lend me their phone so I could call my phone company for 18 min to try and troubleshoot the issue with my phone - since I was traveling solo and had no way of contacting home.

Walter and another staff at the Z hotel were kind enough to share where I might find a technician in Nungwi to assist.

The owner at a previous hotel where I stayed in Nungwi was kind enough to sit with me in front of her mac to see if we could run an update on my phone so it would restart.

In all those instances, they went above and beyond! Nothing was “impossible.” They cared about my well-being and offered solutions.

My last point Carla is this: if a guest expresses dissatisfaction on day 1 of their arrival and wants to leave - be kind and waive the cancellation fee, rather than making excuses because it will not impact your bottom line severely. If they are unhappy and mention that, offer solutions or allow them to leave.

People who travel on holiday deserve to be happy for one moment of time. Be...

Bungalow is great but however only upon arrival they mentioned its eco friendly bungalows ||||Location is great near nungwi and kendwa||||||In general I was more upset with the owner attitude towards us as guests instead of the bungalow||||-welcome was rough however the manager who was more welcome to bungalows than the owner we felt like she doesn’t like us||-after taking payments, no help with bagages nor even dare to ask if we need help but its ok||-bungalows has no windows so we found cockcroaches everyday in bed||-no change of towels ||-breakfast, horrible!! Not expected better eat on street rather this breakfast - omelette or eggs no taste on a piece of toast bread hardly to cut, croissant was like a bricks, only good thing was coffee was ok||-on checkout more disappointed, I left the room key and safety box key and first reaction from an owner of bungalow would be “hope you had a nice stay” but no it was “did you take fish and drinks from the bar” I felt like i was buglar to her and for drinks and food we didnt even take as we were everyday out not even use one single time the bar or pool. I said no and thats it from her nothing else. Sorry but you can deal with hospitality not able to satisfy your customer just quit your position !!!||-on checkout not even a single help for bagages ||-i understand you have to wait when you order food but to get beach towels you still wait for ages ||-during the stay you have to leave your key at open reception but when we came back from day trip, there was a room key left at the door when we asked why? owner says...