Zanzibar Queen Hotel

Zanzibar Queen Hotel puts you on the seafront at Matemwe, with the ocean, a year-round outdoor pool and a spa all part of the daily arrangement. It is the sort of base that suits divers who want the sea close by but also appreciate having somewhere comfortable to eat, cool down and let the legs recover without turning the evening into another expedition.

The hotel keeps things practical rather than overcomplicated. There is a restaurant, a bar, a snack bar, a coffee house and a small on-site minimarket, while the communal lounge gives you somewhere to sit when your room feels too quiet and the beach feels too sandy. The website is available in English, as well as French, German, Spanish, Polish and Russian.

You are in Matemwe, Tanzania, on the island's north-eastern coast and directly beside Matemwe Beach. The beach is white coral sand, and the Indian Ocean is the view rather than a distant promise. Pwani Mchangani Beach is about 3 miles away, while Muyuni Beach is roughly 3.5 miles away.

The setting is coastal and fairly self-contained, but you are not cut off from local places to eat. Seles Beach Bar and Restaurant is about 0.7 miles away, Bin Jabir Restaurant about 0.8 miles, and Garden Bob Swahili Restaurant around 1 mile. Zanzibar's main international airport is roughly 25 miles away, with the drive taking about an hour.

For two people, the beachfront bungalow with plunge pool is the obvious choice if stepping straight towards the sea matters more than having extra indoor space. It has a king-size bed, a private bathroom and room to make the accommodation part of the holiday rather than merely the place where the wet clothes are abandoned. The standard double room is the more straightforward couple's option, with a king-size bed and a pool view available within the room selection.

Families have a more workable arrangement than the usual squeeze around one double bed. The family room has two double beds, while connecting rooms are also available, giving you a little more separation when everyone has spent the day in heat, salt and sun. Children of any age are welcome, with cots and extra beds available according to the accommodation selected.

Air conditioning matters here, particularly when the day's heat has followed you back from the water. Rooms also have a fan, a refrigerator, a kettle, a mosquito net and a private entrance; some include a seating area, and some look towards the sea or the pool. There is daily housekeeping, a wardrobe, a clothes-drying rack and extra-long beds. In other words, the practical business of drying off, cooling down and sleeping properly has not been forgotten.

The restaurant works around an ocean-to-table idea, with fresh fish, vegetables and local fruit doing the useful work rather than being wheeled out as decoration. The menu changes daily, with à la carte choices alongside buffet dinners and barbecues held two or three times a week. Freshly pressed fruit juices are also available, which is a sensible answer to arriving back from the beach in need of something cold and non-alcoholic.

Breakfast comes as a buffet, with breakfast to go for days when the schedule starts before your appetite has caught up. The accommodation formula is half board, and there is also a snack bar for the awkward gap between returning from an outing and sitting down to dinner. One bar, plus a coffee house and in-room tea and coffee facilities, covers the basic post-water requirements without asking you to leave the property in search of a drink.

Special-diet menus can be arranged on request, and children's meals are available. Wine and champagne, fruit, a minibar and the bar service give you options beyond the main restaurant. The emphasis remains on fresh local ingredients and daily variation, which is preferable to discovering that every evening has been built around the same safe dish.

The outdoor pool gives you an alternative to the sea when you want a swim without sand, tide or a mask involved. The spa offers massages including Swedish, deep-tissue and Ayurvedic treatments, while yoga classes provide a gentler way to loosen shoulders and hips after a day carrying kit. A fitness centre is available too, although the sensible order of operations may be pool, massage, then a chair.

There is enough on land to keep a non-diving day from becoming a long argument with the ceiling. You can hire bicycles, join a cycling or walking tour, take part in a local-culture tour or cooking class, and explore Stone Town, the spice farms, Jozani Forest, Prison Island or Zanzibar's caves. Sunset cruises and trips through the mangrove forest by kayak or paddleboard are also offered.

Closer to the hotel, you can play volleyball, badminton, table tennis or darts, use the games room, or simply walk along the reef. Snorkelling, kayaking, paddleboarding and boat excursions add water-based options for a couple travelling together when one person wants activity and the other has sensibly chosen recovery. Evening entertainment, live music and themed dinner nights keep the day from ending the moment the sun goes down.

Abeid Amani Karume International Airport is about an hour away by car. Airport transfers to the hotel are available, either privately or as a shared shuttle, and should be arranged with the hotel. A shuttle service is also available locally. Free Wi-Fi covers the property, private parking is available on site, and the reception is open around the clock.

Check-in starts at 2pm and check-out is by 11am. You can use private or express check-in and check-out, leave luggage with the hotel, and use the tour desk, concierge service and currency exchange. Packed lunches are available for days spent away from the hotel, while laundry and ironing services deal with the predictable consequences of beach life.

The rooms and public areas include wheelchair-accessible facilities, including a lower bathroom sink. The property is non-smoking throughout, pets are not allowed, and cash is accepted. If you are travelling with children, cots and extra beds are available depending on the room selected; the family room and connecting rooms are the arrangements to examine first rather than hoping four people will develop a lifelong affection for sharing one mattress.