Photo: It's All Inclusive
Why choose it: Reef-protected 300-meter beach
Keep in mind: Premium inclusions vary by category
More about this resort
Melia Zanzibar holds sixteen hectares and 300 metres of white sand at Kiwengwa, on the north coast. A natural coral reef protects the beach, which makes swimming calmer here than most of the island manages. Six restaurants and five bars sit across the estate, along with a spa of six treatment rooms and pools that include an adults-only one for guests over sixteen. The all-inclusive is real but it is tiered, and the tier is the thing to work out. The base package covers the restaurants, the kids club for ages five to twelve, and the beach activities. The Level, the resort's premium tier, is what adds the stocked minibar with alcohol, 24-hour room service and the premium drinks, and guests who felt the food and drink were poor value were mostly comparing a base rate against a friend's Level one. Spa treatments, diving, kitesurfing and the excursions are charged on any rate, and so is the airport shuttle. Our samples run from 343 dollars a night to a median of 417 for two, which is good value for this much resort, and the accommodation range is unusually wide: rooms from 50 square metres through romance pavilions to ocean villas with their own pools, the smallest of which runs to 350 square metres. Two things to plan for. Zanzibar's tides decide when the swimming is best, so ask about the tide table for your week. And the estate is large enough that a room near the beach is worth requesting.
