Meliá Zanzibar
Kiwengwa, Zanzibar
Location
Kiwengwa, NE coast
The resort spreads across a 40-acre estate at Kiwengwa on the north-east coast, on a 300-metre white-sand beach ringed by a natural coral reef that calms the bay, around 50 minutes from Stone Town and the airport.
Transfer
A Zanzibar transfer
Around 50 minutes by road from Stone Town and Zanzibar International Airport — all road transfers, no bush-plane.
Villas
Around 134 keys
Around 134 rooms, suites, pavilions and villas — garden and sea-view rooms, adults-only cliff-side Romance Ocean-Front Pavilions, and one- to three-bedroom Level villas with private pools and butler service.
Best For
Who it suits
Families and couples after a large beachfront estate — a coral-reef bay, an over-water jetty restaurant and the VIP Level — from family villas and connecting rooms to adults-only pavilions.
Board Basis
Flexible
Flexible board — bed and breakfast, half board or all-inclusive — with premium all-inclusive on the higher Level tiers.
About the Resort
An over-water jetty and a coral-reef bay
Meliá Zanzibar is the island's largest and most mainstream resort here, on a 40-acre estate at Kiwengwa on the north-east coast, with a strong VIP tier laid over a big-resort base. Its 300-metre white-sand beach is ringed by a natural coral reef that calms the bay, and the signature is the over-water jetty restaurant. Of around 134 rooms, suites, pavilions and villas, the experience comes in two tiers worth understanding: standard garden and sea-view rooms and adults-only cliff-side Romance Pavilions, and then The Level — private-pool villas with a butler, premium all-inclusive and an exclusive lounge and pool. There is the large YHI Spa, three pools, and water sports run from a beach club. A couple of practical notes: the beach sits around a kilometre from some rooms, with a free shuttle, and the reef means swimming is best worked around the tide. With a kids' club in high season, family villas and connecting rooms alongside the adults-only spaces, it suits both families and couples, around 50 minutes from Stone Town.
Accommodation
Rooms, pavilions & villas
Around 134 rooms, suites, pavilions and villas — garden and sea-view rooms, adults-only cliff-side Romance Ocean-Front Pavilions, Beach Pavilions, Grand Suites, and one- to three-bedroom Level villas with private pools and butler service, with four-poster beds and indoor and outdoor showers.
Entry
Garden / Sea-View Room
Sleeps two to three. A king with a balcony or terrace, over the gardens or sea.
BalconyGarden outlook
Level
The Level Sea-View Room
Sleeps two. A king with The Level benefits and an ocean view.
Level benefitsSea view
Adults
Romance Ocean-Front Pavilion
Sleeps two. An adults-only, cliff-side pavilion facing the sea.
Adults-onlySea view
Villa
The Level Villa
Sleeps two to six. A one- to three-bedroom villa with a private pool, butler and premium all-inclusive — The Level.
Private poolButler
Food & Drink
Dining
Dining runs across six or so restaurants and bars, led by an over-water jetty restaurant — a highlight — with a beach restaurant and ocean-view dining around the estate.
Signature
The jetty restaurant
An over-water jetty restaurant — a highlight, dining above the lagoon.
Beach
The beach restaurant
A beach restaurant by the sand.
Ocean
Ocean-view dining
Ocean-view dining across the estate.
Wellbeing
YHI Spa
The large YHI Spa anchors the wellness, with three pools including The Level and spa pools, and a natural coral reef ringing the bay for calmer bathing.
YHI Spa
The YHI Spa, a large wellness centre.
Three pools
Three pools, including The Level and spa pools.
The coral reef
A natural coral reef ringing the bay, for calmer bathing.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
A big-resort estate with a coral-reef bay and a VIP tier. Dine over the water, bathe in the calmer reef-protected sea, upgrade to The Level, and snorkel Mnemba Atoll.
The jetty restaurant
Dining over the water at the jetty restaurant.
Coral-reef bathing
Calmer bathing in a bay ringed by a natural coral reef.
The Level
The Level — private-pool villas, a butler, premium all-inclusive and an exclusive lounge and pool.
Mnemba snorkelling
Snorkelling and diving at Mnemba Atoll.
Water sports
Water sports, with a golf-cart to the beach club.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By road
From the airport
Around 50 minutes by road from Stone Town and the airport.
On the NE coast
Kiwengwa
At Kiwengwa, on the north-east coast, on a coral-reef bay.
Guest Reviews
What Our Clients Say
★★★★★
“The most extraordinary place I have ever stayed. Nothing prepares you for the depth of the silence, the beauty of the reef, or the sheer generosity of the experience.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“We’ve stayed here three times now. The house reef has no equal. The stargazing was, genuinely, one of the most moving experiences of my adult life.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“I had stayed at Four Seasons, One&Only and Velaa before visiting Meliá Zanzibar. They are all magnificent. But this is different in a way that is hard to articulate.”
✓ Verified via feefo
Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Flexible board — bed and breakfast, half board or all-inclusive, with premium all-inclusive on The Level tiers.
Made for families
- A family-friendly estate — a kids' club in high season, family villas and connecting rooms — with adults-only pavilions too.
The beach
- A 300-metre white-sand beach ringed by a natural coral reef for calmer bathing — around a kilometre from some rooms, with a free shuttle, and swimming is best around the tide.
Getting there
- Around 50 minutes by road from Stone Town and the airport.
Book This Property
Start Planning Your Meliá Zanzibar Stay
Your HighStreet specialist will respond within 2 hours with a personalised quote and the best available rates — guaranteed.
1
Your holiday
2
Your details
3
Review
Step 1 of 2
Tell us about your stay
Dates, party size, villa preference and budget.
Destination
Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
Children
0
Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
Villa preference
Flights
You Might Also Consider
Other Zanzibar hotels you might consider
Zanzibar
Baraza Resort and Spa Zanzibar
Baraza is an ornate, intimate all-inclusive resort on award-winning Bwejuu Beach — 30 villas built in Sultans'-palace style, with arches, hand-carved white stone, brass lanterns and baraza benches, each with its own plunge pool. A Condé Nast "60 best new hotels in the world" property, it leans into culture: a resident Taarab band and Swahili dancers, Swahili lessons, palm weaving and the Bao game, alongside PADI diving, dolphin trips and spice-farm tours. The Frangipani Spa adds an underwater-music lap pool and a Sultan's Bath, and the all-inclusive runs down to sundowner cocktails. Bwejuu's SE-coast beach is tide-dependent for swimming — the design, culture and plunge pools carry the day.
Zanzibar
Zuri Zanzibar
Zuri Zanzibar is a design-led resort on Kendwa, on the island's NW coast — and its beach is the headline. Where much of Zanzibar is heavily tidal, Kendwa is a non-tidal lagoon, west-facing for sunsets and safe for swimming all day. The only African beach hotel in Design Hotels, built to a world-first EarthCheck Sustainable Design Gold standard, it spreads around 56 bungalows, suites and villas across 12 hectares of gardens, the villas with private infinity pools steps from the sand. A sunset sail on the resort's own LaPorte dhow, a spice-garden tour, a spa and Mnemba snorkelling round it out — distinctive, sustainable and built around its swimmable beach.
Zanzibar
The Residence Zanzibar
The Residence Zanzibar is the secluded, all-villa pick — 66 stand-alone villas, every one with its own pool, spread across a forested 79-acre estate at Kizimkazi in the island's quiet SW corner. The privacy is the point: large villas with private pools, gardens, living rooms and indoor-outdoor showers, a glass-walled infinity pool and a six-room garden spa, and complimentary water sports off the estate's beach. Kizimkazi is famous for its dolphin safaris, and Jozani Forest's Red Colobus monkeys are nearby. The beach here is shallow and tidal, so the villa pools are the focus for all-day swimming — a Cenizaro resort built around space and seclusion.