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! click here: BACK TO Kenya and Tanzania Main Page