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Jafferji Beach Retreat

3.5 star property

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Photo gallery for Jafferji Beach Retreat

View from property
On the beach, white sand
Outdoor pool, sun loungers
Lobby sitting area
BBQ/picnic area

Reviews

9.2 out of 10
Wonderful

Popular amenities

  • Spa
  • Pool
  • 24/7 front desk
  • Room service
  • Laundry
  • Housekeeping

Explore the area

Map
Matemwe, Matemwe, 1111
  • Mnemba Island
  • Kigomani Beach
    ‪12 min drive‬
  • Muyuni Beach
    ‪14 min drive‬
  • Zanzibar (ZNZ-Zanzibar Intl.)
    ‪90 min drive‬

Room options

View all photos for Sea View Room

Sea View Room | In-room safe, soundproofing, iron/ironing board, free WiFi

Sea View Room

  • 258 sq ft
  • Sea view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Standard Room

Standard Room | In-room safe, soundproofing, iron/ironing board, free WiFi

Standard Room

  • 258 sq ft
  • Sea view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

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Apr 3 - Apr 4
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About this property

Jafferji Beach Retreat

3.5-star Matemwe hotel with restaurant
Spend the day relaxing on the beach or pampering yourself at Jafferji Beach Retreat's full-service spa.
Jafferji Beach Retreat offers 14 air-conditioned accommodations with safes and complimentary bottled water. Accommodations offer separate sitting areas. 32-inch flat-screen televisions come with cable channels.

Bathrooms include showers, complimentary toiletries, and hair dryers. This Matemwe hotel provides complimentary wireless Internet access. In-room massages and irons/ironing boards can be requested. A nightly turndown service is provided and housekeeping is offered daily.

Recreational amenities at the hotel include an outdoor pool.

The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.

The onsite spa has couples treatment room(s). Services include facials, body treatments, and manicures and pedicures.
The hotel offers a restaurant. Public areas are equipped with complimentary wireless Internet access. Jafferji Beach Retreat features a full-service spa and an outdoor pool. This beach hotel also offers spa services, a terrace, and multilingual staff. Concierge services and wedding services can be provided.

Jafferji Beach Retreat has designated areas for smoking.

Onsite venue - This restaurant specializes in local and international cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.

Languages

English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swahili

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transportation

  • No onsite parking available
  • Roundtrip airport shuttle (surcharge)

Food and drink

  • A restaurant

Things to do

  • Full-service spa
  • Outdoor pool

Family friendly

  • Laundry facilities
  • Outdoor pool
  • Soundproofed rooms

Conveniences

  • 24-hour front desk
  • Gift shop/newsstand
  • Laundry facilities
  • Luggage storage
  • Safe at front desk

Guest services

  • Concierge services
  • Dry cleaning/laundry service
  • Housekeeping (daily)
  • Multilingual staff
  • Tour and ticket assistance
  • Turndown service
  • Wedding services

Outdoors

  • Garden
  • On the beach
  • Picnic area
  • Pool loungers
  • Terrace

Full-service spa

  • Couples treatment rooms
  • Facials
  • In-room massages
  • Manicures/pedicures

Accessibility

  • No elevator

More

  • Designated smoking areas
  • Mosquito nets

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Bedsheets provided

Bathroom

  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer
  • Private bathroom
  • Shampoo
  • Shower
  • Soap
  • Toilet paper
  • Towels provided

Entertainment

  • 32-inch flat-screen TV with cable channels

Food and drink

  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Electric kettle
  • Free bottled water
  • Limited room service

More

  • Air conditioning
  • Iron/ironing board on request
  • Safe
  • Separate sitting area
  • Soundproofed rooms

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 2 PM; Check-in end time: midnight
Minimum check-in age: 18

Check-out

Check-out before 10 AM

Special check-in instructions

Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
Cribs (infant beds) are not available

Property payment types

Important information

Fees

You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property. Fees may include applicable taxes:

  • A tax is imposed by the city: USD 4.00 per person, per night

We have included all charges provided to us by the property.

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards; cash is not accepted

We should mention

This property does not have elevators
Reservations are required for spa treatments; reservations can be made by contacting the property prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation

Property is also known as

Jafferji Beach Retreat Hotel Matemwe
Jafferji Beach Retreat Hotel
Jafferji Beach Retreat Matemwe
Jafferji Beach Retreat Hotel
Jafferji Beach Retreat Matemwe
Jafferji Beach Retreat Hotel Matemwe

Jafferji Beach Retreat Reviews

Reviews

9.2

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 23 out of 34 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 7 out of 34 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 34 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 34 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 34 reviews

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

9.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

aisha

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Ileana

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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!
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2024

6/10 Okay

Daniel

Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Kelnor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 11 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Larno, Doha

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good holiday option for this part of Zanzibar. Very friendly and helpful staff. Good food and options.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Renata

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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.
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2021

8/10 Good

Verena

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place, beautiful beach. Extra plus for reusable glass bottles for water!
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Chad

Traveled with group, Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Property is well kept. Pool looks a little larger in the photo than in reality but otherwise everything is as pictured on their site.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with group, Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
nothing
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

10/10 Excellent

Andriana

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel has a great location and views. Spacious room, friendly staff, ready to assist with anything.
Stayed 9 nights in Mar 2021

10/10 Excellent

Nathan

Traveled with group, Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
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.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019

8/10 Good

Sherry, Dar es Salaam

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
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.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Clinton

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
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.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
gorgeous property right on the beach! We spent three nights here and loved it.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

Toby

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
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.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Arnaud

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We really enjoyed our stay in this hotel. The staff was really friendly and helpfull. Everything was easy there we book some trips with them and it was good. The breakfast is good and the restaurant part serve good food. The view on the beach from the pool is beautiful. I highly recommend this place to whoever want to go in Zanzibar.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Adriana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good hotel.
Good hotel. Clean, very friendly and helpful staff. I think the description of Boutique hotel does not correspond to reality, a good 3 star hotel, well decorated, but which has had its day, at the moment well used. The location was good for our purpose, scuba diving on the island of Mnemba. The beach in front of the hotel is full of boats and (this may change) full of sea urchins. Not the most pleasant place to swim. For breakfast you get a plate of fruits, juice, water, coffee or tea and you can choose a dish: English or Omelette or Porridge, etc. If you want anything else, you will have to pay US$10.00. Few good options for lunch or dinner outside the hotel, 1 restaurant very close, and another one you have to walk about 20 minutes by the beach. We ate a few times at the hotel during our stay, the food was good. Drinks reasonably priced, not exaggerated like other hotels.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2023

8/10 Good

Maxime

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Hotel calme, personnels adorables, cuisine delicieuse.aurait besoin d un coup de neuf, eloignement important

8/10 Good

Claudie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Sara

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I stayed in the hotel for two weeks in the off-season, I was able to fully enjoy the magical rest. I had a massage, swam in the pool and in the ocean with the dolphins and long walks on the beach every day. The staff always made me feel comfortable and never let me lack anything. Always courteous, smiling and helpful. The food was delicious. The room spacious, bright, with a special view directly over the ocean. I would highly recommend staying at Jaffery Beach Retreat to anyone who wants to get away from stress and enjoy days of absolute relaxation and hakuna matata! Thank you so much for your hospitality. Best regards from Italy Sara
Stayed 14 nights in Jun 2022