Bawe Island, Tanzania
October 2008
Assessment
Criteria
Satisfaction in %
Comments
Pool
90
could be a bit cleaner
Tent/ Room
90
a lot of edges where you can hit your self
Restaurant atmosphere
80
could be cleaner
Food
90
Management & Staff
70
manager 50, staff 70-80, chef 90
Hotel
80
missed painting and some fixes
Originality of reserve
80
nicely looking from the distance
Beach
50
if there would have been always water 90!
Bawe Island is a 30min boats ride west of Zanzibar. One flies to Zanzibar, take a taxi to the beach and from there a
boat taxi. This takes you in a slow and a bit shaky ride to the island. Bawe looks very nice and romantic at high tide.
The bungalows are standing alone nicely separated from the others. The terrace is located towards the beach, a few
steps away from the water. In your bed you can hear the waves. The bungalow is spacious just like the bath. It looks
a bit esoteric as there is lot of candles and colors which let you feel a bit on drugs. Okay, let’s call it a romantic place.
The main house includes a restaurant and a sunset spot. The pool is big enough for the island but clearly a must as:
On low tide there is no water and you can't go in as the swell is easily 2.5m. The sandy beach ends on dead corals.
This you can't see on the photos.
Now, the hotel has seen better times. First the owners don't market it properly and as a result it's rarely booked. We
were the only guest at that time and after we left, the resort fell empty for a couple of days. In other words: it doesn't
pay off and the owners don't invest enough money to maintain it. The staff has to wear one size fits all (XXL) shirts
which looks very sad for a "5-star" resort. By no means this is NOT a five star. The managers are unmotivated and
very frustrated too. The woman of the couple who works hand in hand with the general manager, her husband, is
very friendly. However she looks scruffy and is anything else but not a good motivator or archetype for her staff.
The chef however is a good one. Food was very nice and fresh even though we were the only ones who had been on
this island at that time. The arrangement of all meals was nicely done (at the beach, terrace or at the pool). The staff
was always smiling at you - and as always - there were smarter ones (more attentive) and others, which missed
training or so.
Would we recommend that resort: NO! It's expensive and doesn't meet a good ratio. Especially the problem with the
tides is a mess I think - the location is simply not the best. Nice, yes, but you go there to have a beach. And beaches
usually have water. Then another minus is - as already mentioned: one gets the impression that everything is going
down the drain: hotel (i.e. paintings, cleanliness - a lot of spider webs in the restaurant), managers, and parts of the
staff...). Good is, it will never be crowded even if fully booked, crystal clear water, spacious bungis, white sand, cool
sunset-spot, chilled drinks!
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