Jafferji Beach Retreat

Tanzania , Zanzibar
Zanzibar, Matemwe
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20 reviews shown

10/10

Exceptional

02 Nov 2024

aisha

Lovely place to stay. Food was ok. Room very spacious and beautifully decorated. Massage was absolutely beautiful. The staff were very attentive and friendly, the manager was a bit of an opportunist and will try get extra $$ when he gets a chance.
Overall beautiful place. Would definitely recommend.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

30 Aug 2024

Ileana

We had a great stay and a wonderful time at J.B.R.
The property is well kept, cozy and very pretty; our room was clean, spacious and comfortable.
The restaurant is excellent! The service is a little slow (no issue for us), the staff is friendly, the food is delicious and not expensive.
Cherry on the cake: 1. We loved the shampoo & body wash offered by the resort; 2. The live band on Wednesday was a great surprise and so much fun!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jul 2022

Larno

Good holiday option for this part of Zanzibar. Very friendly and helpful staff. Good food and options.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

24 Jan 2022

Renata

The whole setup of this property is amazing. The staff from the manager to the wait staff were super welcoming and helpful. Best seafood pasta i have had hand down. The location is quiet remote however. If you're ok spending time with yourself totally do it. I will be booking again.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

03 Dec 2021

Verena

Nice place, beautiful beach. Extra plus for reusable glass bottles for water!

Business

10/10

Exceptional

23 Sep 2021

Chad

Property is well kept. Pool looks a little larger in the photo than in reality but otherwise everything is as pictured on their site.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

06 Aug 2021

Verified traveler

We were immediately upgraded to a huge suite with spectacular furniture with ocean view, because we booked with Expedia. MJ and the staff treated us royalty. As a boutique hotel, the menu was limited but fresh and the breakfast service choices were enjoyable.

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

I hadn't been to Zanzibar in many years and was afraid that the road from Stone Town (we took the ferry from Dar es Salaam) would be rough but it was a pleasant surprise to see the road was completely smooth, well maintained all the way to Matemwe. There were 6 of us staying at Jafferji Beach Retreat and were warmly welcomed on our arrival by manager \"MJ\" with a nice cool drink. Our rooms were very spacious and clean. The pool was very clean and nice to relax at. The breakfast each morning was excellent with a range of choices. We had dinner at Jafferji each evening and every meal we had was well-prepared - they have a great chef! Grilled octopus is a great choice as well as the prawns, if you like seafood. There are only small resorts bordering the Jafferji so this portion of the beach in Matemwe is very quiet. Most of the activity we could see were fishermen fishing with nets in the reef, which goes out several hundred meters. The reef is rough with a lot of sea urchins so if you venture out on the reef, make sure to wear thick diving boots or shoes you don't mind getting wet. If you head to the right on the beach, you will find a small fish market that is very active around noon. There are also a couple other resorts and restaurants down that way if you want to try lunch or dinner someplace else to mix it up. My wife had a pedicure and we all had a massage at the spa. Great massage! The masseuses come from Cinnamon Spa in Stone Town. MJ did a great job managing!

Leisure Family

4/10

Poor

20 Jun 2021

Verified traveler

nothing

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

08 Apr 2021

Andriana

The hotel has a great location and views. Spacious room, friendly staff, ready to assist with anything.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

01 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

One must travel a short distance on a bit of a \"safari\" road to reach Jafferji Beach Retreat, but this only adds to the charms of this remote gem! Once there you will be warmly greeted by Mr. Munisini (spelling?) who is the quintessential host--his answer to most requests: \"Why not?\" The room was splendid and the staff very attentive. The property is sheltered from a string of resorts up the beach by a coral outcropping and affords a view of Mnemba Island. The restaurant serves the best food in Zanzibar! I hope it never changes!

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

23 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

Unfriendly management but very nice staff

Our trip was spoiled by an overbooking situation. This was then handled very poorly by the manager, Anna. Overbooking is just unacceptable, and worse, our second night was somehow the one overbooked. So the proposed solution was to kick us out of the room that we were already in. Everything could have been handled much better, but Anna was not the person to do it. While she did accommodate significantly, and give us a better room for the first night, and eventually \"find\" a room for us for the second night, she left a very bad taste in the mouth.

Even after everything was agreed, she missed a detail in our agreement, and came to our dinner table to further accost us during our last night, after we had finally started feeling good about our vacation again. Accommodating, yes, but poor demeanour from Anna.

The property itself is not worth the price. I would put this at the upper range of the mid-level properties on the island in terms of price, but it was not in terms of amenities and interior comfort. The beach was not cleaned and had loads of seaweed buildup, while other properties had this cleaned. Even the sand area that is raised and not part of the public beach did not have pristine sand as it should. The food was simply tasteless, and we tried it all because it was free as part of our agreement.

Not to mention the shame on the owner, and honestly all of us staying there to have a place where we pay more per night than the locals 3 feet away may make in years.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

22 Oct 2019

Sherry

I really liked the property itself. The rooms were great, with an amazing aesthetic. I definitely knew I wasn't is some boring chain hotel! The grounds and pool were nice. The food was good and so was the service. Location was good but you are in the middle of a fishing village.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

10 Jul 2019

Clinton

Relaxing

The Jafferji Beach Retreat was a very relaxing place to visit. I was there for a weekend and it turned out to be an enjoyable experience. The retreat was quiet and comfortable, in fact at one point we were the only ones at the resort. The location was perfect, secluded and quiet. From Stonetown, it was about an hour and a half drive, costing roughly $45. Something to keep in mind as you go off the main road is that the road isn't finished at all and very slow moving, in most cases we were traveling 5 mph You travel through a village or two that's somewhat depressing and sets the picture from the have's and have not's.

Once we got to the resort it was what we imagined -- tranquil and beautiful. The room was out of this world. It was what you dream of in a romantic, retreat sort of room. It was clean and everything worked perfectly. The dinning area was on the beach and the view while eating was amazing. Also, the food was great and there was nothing on the menu that wasn't appealing. If you want to venture out, take a right on the beach and head to Zanzibar Queen hotel, about a 10 minute walk. They also have great food.

Lastly, Jafferji was unexpectedly amazing. I was blown away by the cleanliness of the resort and the rooms. The staff was always helpful and went out of their way to make the stay as enjoyable as possible. I highly recommend this resort and will stay in the future if we ever make it back to Matemwe.

Friends

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

gorgeous property right on the beach! We spent three nights here and loved it.

8/10

Excellent

02 Jan 2019

Toby

Off the beaten path, but comfy and relaxing

The staff at Jafferji is fantastic. They go out of their way to be friendly and welcoming. In particular we had a local guide for a snorkeling excursion booked through the hotel and he was amazing. We were able to swim with a pod of wild dolphins because he knew their habits so well. The people are great.

BUT. Jafferji really needs to work on nickel and diming. Things like charging two dollars for water with lunch or dinner really sends a negative signal. Thirty dollars for sunscreen is also pretty atrocious. Water and sunscreen are two things you can't really negotiate on and they seem to know it. I'm sure that these practices are par for the course in Zanzibar, but they left a bad taste in my mouth.

Other than that, a great trip and I do recommend it.

Friends

2/10

Poor

06 Feb 2026

agostino

La camera era discreta il bagno invece faceva schifo, sporco, maleodorante e mancante di tutti gli accessori.
Spesso è mancata l'elettricità e quindi anche l'acqua ed il wifi. Ristorante sufficiente ma carente sul menu. Personale attento e disponibile. L'Hotel ha bisogno di urgente ristrutturazione,

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

08 Jan 2026

Marie-Josée

Super belle place et staff incroyable. Merci à Munis pour nous avoir donné un si bon service. Je recommande fortement cette place.

8/10

Excellent

05 Jan 2026

Patrick

Very nice setting; friendly personnel; large and clean rooms; OK restaurant

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

15 Nov 2025

Christian

Nettes Hotel, nettes Servicepersonal, leider im Dachumbau, was den ruhigen Strandnachmittag etwas beeinträchtigt hat. Hotel verfügt über eigene Liegen und ist direkt am Strand. Dadurch ist man direkt am Strand und doch privat. Das ist auch nötig, da der Strand an sich zwar schön ist aber für die wenigen Touristen kaum nutzbar. Gefühltes Verhältnis Strandverkäufer zu Tourist 10:1. Das beginnt spätestens am 2.Tag zu nerven.
Zimmerreinigung ist sehr gewissenhaft und sticht mit ihrem Arbeitseifer heraus. Preise für Essen und Getränke, eher hochpreisig und für die Region übertrieben. Es gibt aber kaum Alternativen.

Leisure Self