Mwendawima Villa, Sansibar - Vollbesetzte Strandvilla

What a lovely place to stay! We were 3 couples ending our 9 day safari with a 6 night stay in Zanzibar to rest and refresh, and had an absolutely wonderful experience. Let me start by saying that the owner, Raphael, answered all of my many questions promptly and had good advice for our arrival. Our plane in to Zanzibar was delayed by several hours and although communication was difficult, he was able to respond to a late e-mail. A couple of minor issues within the facility were resolved by the staff within a few hours. As an owner on VRBO also, I can truly appreciate his responsiveness and communication skills.

Mwendawima Villa is a beautiful place to stay, but what is most exceptional about it is the staff. Hatibu, the manager, greeted us at the airport, and even though we had a car rental, he conveyed one couple and some baggage to the villa promptly. I would not have wanted to negotiate it myself after dark. He had many good pieces of advice for us and met frequently throughout our stay to make sure that everything was perfect for us. Next came Chef Mohammed and his crew. Chef has to be the best on the island as his meals were just outstanding. One would be silly to drive out to an expensive restaurant and miss any of Mohammed's creations. We had lobster two nights by request. Two of our group grew up in Maine and one went every summer as a child and all three agreed his lobster was sweeter than Maine lobster. Every other creation was merely fabulous. One other thing about Mohammed...he is well-known on the beach. When you are being bothered by "Captain" Louis or whomever...just mention that you will check with Mohammed and they tend to disappear. And if you are encouraged to do so, you can bet Mohammed will vouch for that person. Then there were Saidi, Nasra, and Nihifadhi who waited on us, cleaned up after us, and were always smiling, pleasant, and patient. They all are indelibly pressed into our memory banks. We would hope to return someday, just to be with them again!

One last thing...tips are important to these folks. They earned every shilling that we gave them. If you can go to Mwendawima Villa, and I recommend it highly, be generous.

This place is incredible! It's literally right on the beach of crystal clear water. The property is lovely. Even though there is no AC, there are fans and the ocean breeze keeps it comfortable at night. I loved the firm mattress and the quality of the mosquito nets. There are so many different nooks to enjoy on the property from the upper deck to the private little outdoor seating areas. I've already been trying to spark interest with my friends for another trip back.

The property is nice, but what made the experience was the lovely staff. Mohammed and his team prepared a hearty breakfast for us. We opted to have him cook for us every night and even added in a lunch on the last day just because we knew we'll miss him so! He made us tons of fresh seafood... Initially, we had planned to go out to eat... But he surprised us every night with some new dish that we decided to not even both with the local beach shacks. If you can have 5 star service in the convenience of your own property, why not?

The daily housekeeping was a pleasant surprise. The property manager, Haribitu (spelling?) was lovely and always available. We recommend the Blue Lagoon snorkeling tour. If we had more time, we would have been interested in seeing the Spice Tour. I guess we'll just have to come back.

Thanks for a lovely time.

We stayed for 12 nights in January 2019 and rented to whole property. The house could not be closer to the beach, right on the doorstep, the bedrooms are comfortable and equipped with both ceiling fans and portable fans and there's was plenty of space for our 7 person party. We enjoyed the roof terrance and it was fabulous to eat breakfast overlooking the clear blue ocean, the view is amazing. There are plenty of beach bars and restaraunts within walking distance along the beach, and a few shops for supplies in Page. Most evenings we chose to eat at the property as Mohammed and his team were absolutely fantastic, I cannot shower enough praise on them, the food was wonderful and they even made me a birthday cake one evening. The staff were so friendly and welcoming we were really sad to leave them, Rapael was also great and was quick to answer any queries prior to our visit and contacted us whilst we were there just to check everything was going well, Kim the house manager was on hand to organise any trios or transport we needed, all in all we had a lovely memorable holiday and would recommend this property to anyone travelling to Zanzibar.

Vi har haft en underbar vistelse i Zanzibar. Mwendawima villa är ett underbart hus med plats för många. Vi blev så väl bemötta av alla när vi kom. Kim som ordnade skjuts åt oss närhelst vi ville se delar av ön men framförallt till vår trevlige kock Mohammed och hans team. Det var inga problem att laga högklassiga 3- rätters middagar till oss varje kväll trots att vår ena dotter är glutenintollerant/ celiaki. Vi hade med oss hennes mjöl, pasta och bröd men han fixade hennes pannkakor till frukost och samma mat till henne som alla andra i följet på kvällen. Det betydde så mycket för oss alla att Mohammed inte såg glutenintolerans som ett problem utan allt var lösbart. Vi hade printat ut kort från Celiakiförbundet på swahili som han fick av oss. Vi kan bara rekommendera "Mwendawima villa" till alla och kan varmt rekommendera att även anlita Mohammed under er vistelse.

// Jeanette

We can highly recomend Mwengawima Villa. You should absolutely let the chef Mohammed make your dinner in the evening. It tasted so good every evening, delicious food. Our daughter have celiaki and can't eat the same food as the rest, but it was no problem for Mohammed.

We recommend this place👍👍👍

The villa was perfect for our week-long stay in Jambiani. Muhammed, Said and the ladies were ever-attentive. The fenced yard was great for our puppy who enjoyed all the new smells!

Beds were comfy, views from the rooftop veranda fabulous and location can't be beat!

Highly recommend it!