Zawadi Hotel

Zawadi offers a choice of 12 luxury, ocean-front Villas, designed to capture the essence of Zanzibar’s white sand beaches and the lightness of the sea’s breeze in their pale colouring and open, airy spaces. The Villas feature en suite bedrooms, a spacious lounge area and private terrace surrounded by blooming flowers and palm trees. The interiors are lavishly designed and decorated, featuring beautiful fabrics, white polished floors and matching furniture. All Villas include amenities such as air conditioning, free WIFI, a satellite TV with a DVD player, a minibar and coffee maker, seating area and a private plunge pool.

Zawadi prides themselves on their creative and ever-changing menus that compliment the rich culinary cultures of Asia, India and Persia with Swahili cuisine. They showcase only the best of the island’s locally grown produce. Guests can enjoy breakfasts, lunches and drinks in the casual and cosy Mswakini Beach Bar & Restaurant. If you’re in the mood for some drinks in the evening, the Mali Mali Lounge & Bar opens just before dinner, serving cocktails while basking in the sea breeze. The Drift Wood Dining Room serves Zawadi’s award-winning dinners in a more formal and elegant environment.

At Zawadi, you can make the absolute most of Zanzibar’s beautiful beaches, reefs and ocean waters with a fantastic range of water-based activities. Being the only PADI five-star Gold Palm and RAID certified dive centre in Zanzibar, you’re promised a one-of-a-kind diving experience among the vibrant, colourful reefs. If you prefer a bit of lighter exploration around those coral gardens, snorkelling tours are also available. When the tide is out, set out to discover what’s left behind in the rock pools and enjoy the remarkable views of the low-tide coastline. There’s plenty to do above the waves as well as under them – push off from shore and glide through the azure waves in a kayak or on a paddleboard or boat for some sailing, windsurfing, and exploration of ancient mangroves.

The Zanzibar Collection has a clear sense of social responsibility to the communities within which they operate. They employ locally at every opportunity to do so and heavily invest in building the skill-sets of their employees, setting them up for long and thriving careers in the tourism industry. The Collection also supports its local community in areas such as education, healthcare, sanitation and local business.

The Collection has invested in a green sewage-treatment plant that recycles water waste into an efficient irrigation system. They only plant indigenous plant species, ‘which are chosen for their ability to absorb humidity during the day and release it into the roots at night’. By doing this, they have reduced their intake of water by 50%. They also maintain a far-reaching policy of laundry/bathroom water-use minimisation.

The Collection relies on its own marine biologist to ensure the barrier reef and its ecosystem along the shoreline is protected and thriving. Educational workshops on marine conservation are also available for staff members, while reef walks, diving and snorkelling activities are encouraged for guests.

The Collection has also taken care to make sure that their leisure activities reflect the principles of their social responsibility and environmental commitments. They financially support a number of local environmental programmes and supporting local villages helps in their development and financial stability. Also activities such as classes in cooking, Swahili and palm-weaving allow guests to engage with the rich cultural heritage of Zanzibar.

The Zanzibar Collection is already steadfastly committed to the full erasure of plastic use. Recyclable materials, like cardboard and paper, and reusable materials, like glass, have almost entirely replaced plastics. Any single-use plastic containers are immediately recycled into plant pots or construction materials.