mawingu lodge zanzibar — Hotel in Unguja

I booked two nights in a double room for USD30 per night for myself and a friend, without breakfast.||||On checking in, we asked whether a laundry service was available. After examining our load, the proprietor quoted 15,000 Tanzanian shillings (about USD6.50) and said it would be ready the same day or the next. It was by far the highest laundry price we'd seen in Africa, but we had flights to catch and it was important for us to get our clothes washed. So we agreed.||||The following evening we were sitting on the verandah reading, when the proprietor passed by and casually remarked "don't forget your laundry". She was pointing at a laundry tub with another one on top, functioning as a lid.||||When we looked inside, the clothes were absolutely soaked. We were shocked, and astonished at her indifference. We asked her why they were not dry and she replied that it had rained during the night. We reminded her that we had flights to catch the next day, so she reluctantly agreed to let us hang our laundry on the washing lines under the upstairs verandah (which is fully sheltered from the rain).||||We didn't understand why our clothes hadn't been hung in this dry place by the person who had done the washing.||||We had to wring a lot of water from our clothes. As we did this, our hands became sticky and clammy, and we soon realised that the clothes were not even clean, let alone dry.||||At check out, the proprietor insisted on collecting the full amount for the laundry. She absolved herself of all responsibility for the washing, except in being paid for it. Behind my back she claimed to my friend that I had entered into a direct arrangement with one of her staff, entirely beyond her responsibility. This was a shameful lie. The fact is that we never even met this staff member, and our entire experience was transacted exclusively through her.||||We knew that it was not worth insisting. She has a working relationship with the local beach boys (thugs) and we would likely have ended up having to pay them as well as her. ||||We had to check out with clothes that were still wet and stinking. They need to be washed properly before being worn. We felt disappointed and angry.||||She deliberately cheated us, so i would not recommend this...

I booked two nights in a double room for USD30 per night for myself and a friend, without breakfast.

On checking in, we asked whether a laundry service was available. After examining our load, the proprietor quoted 15,000 Tanzanian shillings (about USD6.50) and said it would be ready the same day or the next. It was by far the highest laundry price we'd seen in Africa, but we had flights to catch and it was important for us to get our clothes washed. So we agreed.

The following evening we were sitting on the verandah reading, when the proprietor passed by and casually remarked "don't forget your laundry". She was pointing at a laundry tub with another one on top, functioning as a lid.

When we looked inside, the clothes were absolutely soaked. We were shocked, and astonished at her indifference. We asked her why they were not dry and she replied that it had rained during the night. We reminded her that we had flights to catch the next day, so she reluctantly agreed to let us hang our laundry on the washing lines under the upstairs verandah (which is fully sheltered from the rain).

We didn't understand why our clothes hadn't been hung in this dry place by the person who had done the washing.

We had to wring a lot of water from our clothes. As we did this, our hands became sticky and clammy, and we soon realised that the clothes were not even clean, let alone dry.

At check out, the proprietor insisted on collecting the full amount for the laundry. She absolved herself of all responsibility for the washing, except in being paid for it. Behind my back she claimed to my friend that I had entered into a direct arrangement with one of her staff, entirely beyond her responsibility. This was a shameful lie. The fact is that we never even met this staff member, and our entire experience was transacted exclusively through her.

We knew that it was not worth insisting. She has a working relationship with the local beach boys (thugs) and we would likely have ended up having to pay them as well as her.

We had to check out with clothes that were still wet and stinking. They need to be washed properly before being worn. We felt disappointed and angry.

She deliberately cheated us, so i would not recommend this...

2 stars because it's a beautiful lodge, spacious/clean room and close the beach. The Masai and local people were sweet.

HOWEVER We left about 1hr after arriving in the afternoon.

Our arrival was a little awkward : Nobody introduced themselves to us so we didn't really know who worked there or not. (No reception desk) We received 0 information on the place, on the breakfast we had included or the location.

After a short interaction with a lady that took pictures of our passport (and seemed eager to go back to her appartment), we dropped our bags, went to see the beach and came back 30 minutes later.

While on the beach, for family reasons, we decided we were going to leave the lodge, knowing there would be a fee for leaving suddenly.

We went upstairs to the lady's appartment to inform her of our sudden departure. She simply said it was not her problem and asked us to pay for the room even though we already paid her in cash 1 hour earlier. (We were the only guests there, how can she already forget we paid?)

The things she said and the way she spoke made us feel like she was drunk (also seeing empty bottles of wine next to her bed).

The vibe of the place was a little off-putting from arrival to departure, not making us feel welcomed.

I hope other guests won't have this experience as the lodge itself seems like a good place to stay! We've been traveling in Africa...