Asante Sana Beach Cottages

I am travel agent from Lithuania and have seen many hotels in many countries (18 years expierence). I apologize for such a long and emotional story but there is no other way how to share the negative experience 1. The photos of the hotel showed sandy beach, which is non existant, it is just corals, the picture is fake. 2. Meals: breakfast and dinner was menu which was very long.There were 6 soups listed. I was a little surprised, because the hotel is small, I asked: "And you have all 6 soups?". He answered yes. Well ok, I think, let's say a great kitchen. The first evening, they brought soup - after eating, I felt like a thread between my teeth, like a hair. she already pulled out the whole string of "threads" from the soup. When the waiter was called, he explained that it was ginger. I say ginger is ok, but after cooking it for taste, you should take it out of the soup. Then they brought the tuna we ordered. I was really looking forward to enjoying the fish - they brought some practically black pieces - it looked like beef liver. The tuna was cooked in oil for about 25-30 minutes, all burnt and blackened. I tried to cut off a piece with a knife and fork, but it was difficult, so I pushed this "dish" aside while protecting my teeth, the other 2 travelers didn't bite the tuna "masterpiece" either. We ordered grilled chicken for my 10-year-old daughter. Brought a completely burnt half of a chicken. I asked WHICH child got half a chicken, which she tore through the entire plate, looking for a piece to bite... One evening - practically no food. Well, we think, nothing, maybe it will get better tommorow. Tomorrow morning we carefully ordered only boiled eggs and bread. We also asked for butter. They brought some kind of nut butter, curry completely and absolutely does not go well with eggs. The eggs were overcooked, black inside... :( There was a young and VERY nice waiter. We asked him, "maybe you can boil eggs for us, boil for exactly 5 minutes. And the child cooked them, very well... Simple tables lined up by the ocean - it was called the hotel restaurant. Empty, no food. We came around 8 p.m. and alone we sat down at an empty table. Finally, a girl appeared and brought water. My husband and I ate tomato soup. It had a strange taste, but it's still edible. I just suddenly pulled a hair out of my teeth. I got so angry that I got up and left. I didn't say anything to the French people who were sitting next to me and trying to eat. We returned to our cottage. The waiter came running to explain that I was extremely disrespectful, getting up from the table and not eating. I said that I was still very tactful and didn't say ANYTHING to other people. Christmas dinner. It's quiet. No music, no radio, nothing. My fellow traveler Milda almost cried, saying that she had never imagined such spoiled holidays (The evening before Christmas and Christmas day) in her life. we decided to leave the HORRIBLE hotel Asante Bea

My family stayed in the wonderful Baobab tree lodge. Fantastic place. The staff couldn’t be more friendly or helpful, organising tours and driving us to different places etc. A great place to relax and get away from over crowded touristy areas. We will definitely be returning here the next time we are in Zanzibar! Thanks again to Boniphace and all of the staff for making us feel very welcome.

We stayed there for 2 days during our honeymoon..oh my God the place is exceptional..we were treated as king and queen..we enjoyed every second we spend in the hotel! The staff (boniface,angel,hassan and lodrick) you guys will always have a special place in my heart The rooms are so clean..the pool is so big, the food is so delious the fresh fruits are out of this world ..i will surely come back again Asante sana

Amazing place! Everything was just wow! very beautiful views of the ocean,the sunset view was breathtaking. Cleanest pool,friendly and kind staff and were active all the time.I couldn’t get enough of the African food it was so tasty,clean rooms with very beautiful decor.I wish I had more time to spend here. Will be back soon definitely. If you want to get more than your money’s worth book this hotel

the food is very good, the swimming pool is good, the bedrooms and the staff are very cooperative and the beauty of the beach environment is very good, the drinks are also very good, reliable transportation from the port to the hotel

Our stay at the Asante Sana beach cottages was wonderful. The staff was soooo kind. The swimming pool is wonderful. The view is incredible. You can walk along the sea when it is low. The activities with the hotel are really nice. Breakfast and dinner are really good. Fruits and juices are delicious. You should just not be afraid of the bumpy road and there are some insects coming in the room even if someone put a spray in the room every day during dinner. It's Zanzibar it's normal ! :) I recommend this hotel 10000% and hope to see them again one day !

It was hard to leave AS – always a sign of a great stay. Thinking back of the experience, it feels like a dream. Thank you, Shasha, you and your team made us feel so at home. You have created a beautiful atmosphere there, so much human warmth. Thank you to toi to Hassan, Roderic (sp?) and Angel. The natural environment is stunning, and feels very authentic with no high-rises or large resorts within sight or earshot. Maybe it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but swimming at high tide is perfect, like in a massive wild pool. Just wonderful! Gorgeous swimming pool too, though. The bungalows themselves are lovely, right at the water’s edge at high tide. The setting is a bit far flung (which adds to the charm), but it does mean no other restaurants or shops unless you drive / get driven to Nungwi, which is not that simple. However, the restaurant on-site serves very good food. I almost don’t want to say this, because it feels like a well-kept secret – a boat trip across to Popo Island’s edge for snorkeling was a magical experience.

Stayed here for 10 nights. First night the cottage we stayed in had some issues with ants and a few geckos getting input our cottage. We immediately had a conversation with the host the next day to address our concerns and he immediately offered to move us into the next cottage over which was further from the trees. They listened to our concerns and I must say from that point on our trip was excellent! The cottage themselves are very beautiful, very clean, hospitality was incredible and food at breakfast and dinner was delicious! The host were very accommodating between coordinating our travel to and from the airport and to and from the best beaches on the island as many times as we wanted from the morning to 7pm. They also were very flexible if we came back past 10pm and had our dinner wrapped for us to eat upon getting back to our room. Best part was the complimentary excursions and how the host planned all of our other excursions for us as well which made this vacation way less stressful. All in all this is a must stay and I would 100% come back! Asante Sana!

Amazing place amazing people nice views thanks to all staff for making us feel at home. Our room was facing the ocean which provided us with beautiful ocean views, pool was very clean and food was delicious. The hotel arranged a half day trip to mnemba island and it was fantastic seeing dolphins and beautiful fish on this island. Thank you asante beach we will come back