Kilindi Zanzibar

The beach is a huge disappointment! Kilindi hotel has a beautiful territory. It also has a very friendly and helpful staff and a very good kitchen with diverse food. However, when you are on Zanzibar the most important is the beach and here we had a huge disappointment. The hotel shows very beautiful pictures of the beach with blue water, however, you need to be aware that it’s not always like that. During low tide which is between 9am and 15pm the beach is completely dry and there is no place to swim, unless you want to walk around 20 mins to the public beach or get back in the swimming pool. The sunset is at 18.30, so basically you can only swim for 3 hours during the day. See the pictures of what we experienced during our stay in the end of September. Besides that, there are lots of fisherman boats (which don’t look nice at all when there is no water) and you almost constantly hear how fishermen fixing their boats with some hammers. There is also quite often a smoke from the fire that fishermen make to repair their boats. It was very disturbing. But the worse part is that either due to the low tide or because fisherman don’t throw away dead fish- but the last 3 days we also had an absolutely horrible smell of dead sea animals or rotten fish coming from the beach. The smell was even at our villa, so we had to close all windows. Another thing is that the hotel has 5 starts, however, there is no gym. The quality and cleanliness of the public furniture (e.g. sunbed covers and towels) is not on the highest standards as there were lots of yellow stains (probably from the suncream) Also, the bathroom is located outside in the separate area. It has a cool view but not complete privacy and it requires you to climb a few stairs which is not convenient in the middle of the night when it’s dark and/or raining. So some improvments defifnitely needed to justify the 5 star rating and the price. Overall, I would give 4 stars to the hotel and 2 stars to the beach.

For me it is very rare to Write a Review, but in this case I could not help, I needed to let you Know! I have been to the best Hotels around the world (FourSeasons, Mandarin Oriental, SixSense and so on) but in my opinion there is no better experience than a really good Safari lodge. You have a Great Service, Great Food and the best of it is that it is a quite intimate experience. But what Kilindi gives you, I have Never experienced before! It is as if you are in a Safari Lodge on the Beach! The Service is so overwhelming (They will Know what you want and think Even before you do), the Food is absolutely astonishing and your surrounding is like paradise! I stayed for 10 Nights and i have to say it will be my number one Memory. I have to thank especially Saloum, who was my guest ambassador and has always been there when I needed him, but was Never TOO attentive. It was the Perfect Balance (which is very Hard to achieve). Thank you so much for this. Also thanks to the General Manager, who was always really and truthfully interested in the wellbeing and feelings of her guests. Even if i just mention those two, everyone is great! After mentioning all the above, I think I do not have to say, that the Food and the rooms are georgeus and yes, you have sometimes quite some tide, but when you have high tide there is no better (Most beautiful, calm and intimate) beach than this one. If you can, do Not hesitate to come here.

Staying at Kilindi hotel was an unforgettable experience. From the beautiful location, in a bush garden, to the uniquely designed villas, set on multiple levels, with separate bathrooms, lounge area and two plunge pools. One pool was accessed from the room. The room was very large, circular, decorated minimalist yet very functional. Everything very nicely maintained and very clean both the room and the entire resort. Thank you very much to our housekeeper. We stayed in villa 5, but next time we would like to stay in villa 3. We were visited daily by monkeys, eating in two trees nearby. The entire resort is all-inclusive and adults only. The food was excellent. From breakfast through lunch to dinner. Breakfast we generally ate in the villa, on the terrace only once during our week-long stay we had breakfast in the restaurant. Lunches and dinners are generally ordered from the menu, with daily catch of the day offerings. We had two exceptions to this rule, an amazing Valentine's Day buffet with lobster, seafood, and other great food. The second instance was a dinner on the beach also grilled seafood, chicken, lobster. A wonderful dinner. The restaurant itself also beautifully located and designed with a pool around which tables were set in the evening. And most importantly, what makes this hotel great - amazing people. from our maid Felisterto the buttler Saiun (sorry if I spelled it wrong), to the gardeners, the people cleaning the pools every day, to the chefs to Derren and Liz managing this hotel. Very friendly, helpful, smiling and trying to make your stay a memorable one. Especially thank you for your help with my wife's illness. Liz recommended us a hospital arranged transportation. so that after a few hours we returned with a diagnosis and medication. Thank you again to the entire Kilindi team for a wonderful and memorable stay. We will be back!!!! Derren for you with Żubrówka.

Kilindi is an oasis. It is where we ended our East Africa trip, and was the perfect ending for the hustle and bustle of our various safari stops. While we didn't love that it was a 90 minute drive to and from the airport, it was well worth it. I believe that there are 15 suites in the all-inclusive, adults only property. We were in one of the suites that was facing the beach (I don't think that any of the suites are directly on the beach), and it was stunning. We saw both our suite and the suite that our friends had (numbers 8 and 7, respectively), and both had multiple levels, spaces, and structures. There is an outdoor open large bathroom space with double sinks, rainhead shower, toilet, etc. Below the bathroom is an open lounge area. There is also a main structure that houses the bedroom. The bedroom is large and well-appointed. The suite also has 2 (yes, TWO) private plunge pools, of which we took advantage. The main area has a lounge, bar, dining area, large T-shaped pool, etc. The food was delicious. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the main dining area except for one dinner on the beach, and one breakfast in our room. The beach dinner was beautiful and quite memorable, not only for the gorgeous setting and sunset, but also for the grilled chicken and seafood that were served. This review HAS TO mention our personal butler, Lilian (Lily), who took care of both our friends and us. She was so wonderful and took great care of us!

We cannot speak highly enough about our time at Kilindi! From the moment we arrived, we were impressed by not only the beautiful property but with the welcoming staff. They gave us a quick, yet thorough, tour of the grounds (restaurant, bar, main pool) then showed us to our Villa which was perfect in every way. From our beach front vistas to the 2(!) dipping pools, it was everything we had hoped for and more. The A/C and oversized bed was also an added bonus! We can’t count how many good meals we had because every meal was fantastic / fresh! Breakfast typically consisted of perfectly cooked eggs or fluffy pancakes which were always accompanied with an assortment of fresh fruit & juice/coffee. The fish or calamari tacos & assortment of salads at lunch are a can’t miss and the pre-fixed dinners were always something to look forward to! (Fish, chicken, and a traditional Zanzibarian BBQ). Our concierge, Julius, was outstanding and extremely friendly. He arranged some wonderful meals / beverages and went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable during our stay. Chef Doris lead an amazing cooking class one afternoon where we helped cook a traditional Zanzibar lunch which consisted of steak & fish skewers, rice with chicken, shrimp curry, and Chapati! Darren, the assistant manager, was very friendly and not only handcrafted some amazing cocktails but also provided us with interesting insight into Zanzibar, the resort itself, and African culture we had not known! The house keeping staff (especially Hamis) was thorough and very flexible as our morning routine was not very consistent! They not only kept the villa neat & clean but also left wonderful flowers/fauna each morning and turned down the bed each night (along with a little bedtime snack!). The beach attendant was always eager to assist with a kayak, paddle board, beach towel, or cocktail! In short, if you have the opportunity to stay at Kilindi, you 100% should! You won’t be disappointed!

Loved everything about Elewana Kilindi. The staff were very kind, made our stay so pleasant. Everyone was so available to make it perfect. Anything you need, they manage to make it happen. You have your private villa, that makes you feel away from the rest, with an amazing pool. The front beach is breathtaking. And dining there was so special. Everynight a different menu. Such a good experience. Ideal for couples! Bucket list worthy!

My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights on our honeymoon and loved our time at Kilindi. The villas are stunning and we had 2 private pools that overlooked the ocean. The food was SO delicious! Our last night we had the most amazing grilled seafood we've ever eaten. The staff is great - special shout outs to Jacob, Deucen, Abdul, and the two managers, Lisa and Darren, for taking care of us during our stay.

After a long week+ receiving African massages in a land cruiser on safari in the Serengeti, a stay at Kilindi Zanzibar is the perfect way to relax, unwind and sleep in past sunrise. Despite some persistently rainy weather during our stay in early November, we enjoyed paddleboarding in the Indian Ocean, enjoying their amazing dining and being cared for by our thoughtful and immensely helpful liaison, Bariki. The private villas are so spacious and comfortable, with ample space to lounge and relax in private plunge pools, a massive rain shower and a beautiful bedroom with an incredible view from the balcony. Cannot recommending wrapping up a trip to Tanzania with a stay at Kilindi enough! Special thanks to Jessica and Dancing Zebra Safari Co. for connecting us with this amazing property and for planning the honeymoon of our dreams.

My boyfriend and I visited Kilindi for their beach BBQ dinner. The food was devine, the cocktails were delicious and the team were all simply amazing. We celebrated our anniversary and my boyfriends birthday, they made a special cake and sang happy birthday in English and Swahili, each team member gave a special greeting which I could see made my boyfriend so happy! Even though we were so full of after dinner, we couldn’t say no to cake and it was delicious. A special thank you to our waitress Julieth, she took such good care of us and is such a lovely lady with an incredible singing talent. This was my second time visiting Kilindi, the atmosphere is so calm and you’re really able to appreciate the sounds and tranquility of nature here. Can’t wait for our next visit!