The hotel rooms and bathrooms are really great but communication with the staff from the housekeeping to receptionists to the conceirge was a real issue.

I had the opportunity to stay at Melia during their soft opening, and was thoroughly impressed with the revamping of the hotel. The staff are the shining jewel of this lovely hotel, taking every opportunity to be sure that our stay was comfortable, seamless and relaxing. Staff seemed to be able to predict your needs even before you know them - I traveled with my 10 year old daughter who is a bit shy but was embraced by the staff and encouraged to play in the kid's club and with other children by lovely Aisha. After the first day she rushed to the club as soon as she woke up! Gabi Beach is the second amazing feature. I've been to many hotels in Zanzibar and I must say that the beach and the set up at Gabi are fabulous. I felt as though I was on a deserted tropical island, yet able to relax in the bandas and be taken care of by the staff. The beach itself is deserted and lovely. Finally the food is extraordinary...we loved the sushi at the jetty and the seafood lunches at Gabi. All in all I highly recommend a visit to Melia - we will definitely be back.

My family and I stayed at this resort for 3 nights this past winter break and we loved it, though we had some problems with the service. I'll start with the good- the location is outstanding. The pool is close by but the beach is a golf cart ride away (somewhat of a hassle) but worth it because the beach club is great! They have beautiful beach cabanas for no extra cost (just get there early because people reserve them), nice lounge chairs and a good selection of tropical drinks. The water is gorgeous and the whole scene is quite exotic. Beware though- you can only swim at high tide (during low tide the water is full of sea urchins and jellyfish)- so make sure to pick up a schedule of the tides in the morning if you care about swimming in the ocean.
As for the service, the Melia was a Kempinski Hotel up until recently, which was apparently a disaster. Now a Melia, the owners are working hard to bring the hotel back up from its low point, but this takes time. This is one of the reasons the service is not up to par. All the employees are undergoing intense training, but it is a work in progress and many employees are not yet up to speed on how to treat and accommodate guests. There is also a language barrier- most of the staff speaks English very poorly which makes it unlikely that you will get what you ask for, particularly in terms of food and drink. In short, the service does not yet match the aesthetics, but I have a feeling the service is on the rise so don't dismiss it as a place to stay!

We are a family of five and the hotel was perfect. We stayed in a villa and the rooms were amazing, extremely comfortable and the service excellent. The buffet meal service was great for the children as there was no waiting around. And there is a top class smaller restaurant for the more intimate occasion.
Our butler, Kambi was so helpful and everything we wanted came promptly. The beach sports were really well organised and we had some great games of volleyball followed by kayaking.
The managers were always around making sure things worked well. Although we are home now we still miss this great place.