Boutique Hotel Matlai

A great new addition to the island where service is everything

Five hearts from 18 votes

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Review

A superb new property on the south eastern coast of the island, Boutique Hotel Matlai manages to tick almost all of the boxes. The main feature here is the management and the rooms…featuring a menu of your choosing, stunning sea views from all of the rooms, beautiful open air bathrooms and great little features such as open air cinema, bar, restaurant. The only drawback for us is that the beach directly in front of the property is not as good as it could be.

Beach

As mentioned in our brief intro above, the only drawback to the property is that it doesn’t have the best beach on the island. Located on the northern tip of the south eastern coastline of Zanzibar, near the Mchamwi peninsular, the beach up here is nice and isolated. This being said, with space on the island becoming more and more of a premium, Hotel Matlai has had to set up on a stretch where the rounded coral bedrock has to be negotiated before you get to the soft sand for which the island is famous. For us, this is not a huge problem as this is not sharp rock, but it may put a few off.

Rooms

One of the really great features of the property is the rooms and the amount of thought and effort that has gone into making them nice and roomy. Each offers direct views out to the sea with full ceiling to floor French doors and private balcony. Off to the side of each are the open-air bathrooms which feature showers and baths that look out to the sea. Definitely some of the best on the island.

Layout

Llocated around a central, circular swimming pool, the layout is unconventional but logical at the same time. Sitting two by two on either side of the pool, the layout makes a lot of sense and really makes a feature of the pool and the fact that the property is slightly raised from the beach. The beach restaurant and bar also make a lot of sense and make the most of the beach front location.

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We have a price match guarantee on this property that means, as preferred suppliers, we can guarantee you the best rate available for the property.

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This property is also featured on our Top 5 Hotels for Honeymooners blog.

Feedback

We then moved onto Matlai which was lovely. We loved the room and the really cool bar. The staff here again were fantastic especially our designated butler, and the two owners Tim and his mother Ingrid. We did the spice and stone town tours while staying here which was ok but expensive for what it was. We also visited The Rock restaurant, what a beautiful unique setting but we were left a bit disappointed by the food.

- John and Josephine, June 2019
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After all that excitement, Boutique Hotel Matlai made for excellent R&R. While there, we caught up on our rest but also did some snorkeling in the small coral reef and got up early one day to go snorkeling/swimming with a group of about 20 blue dolphins. We made reservations and had a delicious meal at The Rock Restaurant which was only a 10 minute walk down the beach and a nice boat taxi out to the restaurant at high tide (you should consider adding this to your description of the Boutique Hotel Matlai, many of the other travellers were discussing the restaurant while we were there and we were happy that we had reservations!) The entire staff at BHM made us feel very relaxed and at home and sought after our every need and indeed we were sad to have to leave.

- Eric and Alison, November 2018
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Hotel Matlai was truly perfect. Really attentive staff and idyllic setting. The cooking class was great and one of the butlers even went out and bought us a special vitumbua pan so that we could make them at home! As there were only 6 rooms, we got a great level of service. They organised a private island trip and a visit to the local school for us, which was great. All transfers went smoothly.

- Alice and David, January 2018
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Above all else, the staff at Matlai really made it. Matlai is in the perfect location and the fitting end to a very relaxing trip.

- Ben and Mel, September 2017
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Arriving at Zanzibar, even though we had a nice time, it was probably the lower point of the trip. Even though the hotel was nice and clean, the food was not very good (in my opinion) and (as you mentioned) the beach was not up to scratch and was littered with plastic and other debris.

- James and Sarah, March 2018
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The Matlai Boutique Hotel was out of this world! Absolutely ideal for couples - we were so well looked after. We did the private island safari which we thought was fantastic and well worth it. This seemed to be incredibly popular as lots of the other couples staying at the same time did it - I would suggest booking this in advance if possible, or as soon as you arrive at the hotel. The food for the whole stay was amazing - I would highly recommend this hotel.

- Emma and Nick, August 2017
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Really cannot say enough good things about everyone. Zanzibar was beautiful-Hotel Matlai is the perfect place to detox and relax. The service was amazing and the views superb! We had some fantastic snorkelling.

- Charlotte and Spencer, September 2016
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Finally we flew to Zanzibar. The weather was a little disappointing - very windy and overcast. The Boutique Hotel Matlai is a small, and beautiful place. They had thought of every little touch. From the fresh coconut on arrival, to coral shoes to protect your get. As they knew we were on our honeymoon, we had many a lovely decoration (including bride and groom rubber duckies in the bath!!) We felt very spoilt by the butler service. Lovely view from our balcony. Food was great. Our private island trip was amazing. Snorkelling in the middle of the sea, before a beautiful lunch and a cheeky Moët! The hotel even arranged for us to have a private viewing of the lion king on a projector under the stars! One evening we watched the sunset on the other side of the peninsula. A taxi was arranged by the hotel. I would definitely recommend this. The water is very calm, and can watch a beautiful sunset whilst sipping a G&T. What more could you want.

- Lisa and Alex, August, 2016
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Really liked hotel matlai...

- Bill and Ben, September, 2015
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A pitch-perfect end to our honeymoon and we are so glad that we opted to do the honeymoon package. Personally, I feel like all couples should be offered this package by default, because it is more than worth the cost. Our private island safari and final "special dinner" were two of the highlights of the entire trip. The service there is incredibly polished (attentive without being intrusive) and thoughtful; and the hotel and grounds are amongst the most romantic we've seen.

- Tara and Kent, August, 2015
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Hotel perfect for rest/relaxation. Absolutely gorgeous!!
Looking straight out onto the Indian Ocean it was beautiful. The rooms couldn't be faulted, with everything you could possibly want.

The butler, Salim, was so friendly and helpful with nothing being too much trouble. We were given a mobile and told to ring him should we want anything. He arranged our meals, waited on us, arranged excursions and even helped us with new words in swahli!! He laughed with us and at us. What could be better.Had trips to Stone Town/ Spice Tour/ Prison Island. All very interesting. Rest of time spent just relaxing.

Perfect 5 days.

- Rob and Sue, November, 2014
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The Hotel Matlai in Zanzibar was total luxury.

- Brian and Sue, September, 2014
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The hotel Matlai on Zanzibar was fabulous and we had a lovely butler who looked after us well. Inge made us feel welcome and apologised for the error in the booking and we each had a complimentary massage as promised, and a bottle of decent wine, which was lovely.

- Bob and Kim, September, 2014
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