Romancing the Palms: Zanzibar Hotel With a Heart (Review)

Talk about romance!

An attentive butler.

A lavish 1,400 sq. ft. villa with silk-draped king-size bed and midnight-blue plunge pool.

Your own curtained cabana with daybed for relaxing on the beach.

And the most elegant candle-light dinners.

All-inclusive at The Palms, Zanzibar

The Palms on Bwejuu Beach on the breezy eastern coast of Zanzibar is oh-so-romantic.

We’ve been fortunate to bed down at many of the world’s finest hotels and resorts.

Some of the best have been gorgeous villa resorts with private pools.

Yet this most intimate of boutique resorts (with only seven villas in total) still managed to wow us big time.

The Palms is one of the world’s most romantic all-inclusive resorts, says Travel + Leisure.

We couldn’t agree more.

Certainly, The Palms ups the ante on “all-inclusive” – giving the term a whole new meaning.

It’s not just that pretty well everything is included (from brilliant cocktails, like vanilla-infused lime martinis, to reef walking and other fun things to do in Zanzibar).

It’s how it’s all presented, with such lovely attention to detail.

Romantic dining

Take the dining.

Breakfast and dinner are served on a colonnaded terrace in an elegant plantation-style house with dark polished wood floors and folding French doors.

At breakfast, a white plumeria blossom would be tucked into the corner of a small menu, written in script.

At night, the dining room gets all gussied up.

For an Indian feast, we arrived to find gold gauzy tablecloths, beaded napkin ring holders and staff in long white robes with turbans.

Another evening, waiters wore formal black pants and white shirts, and the napkin ring holders were mother-of-pearl.

For lunch, staff laid out a private meal for us one day on the beach under a canopy of weaved palm fronds, adorned with hibiscus flowers.

Of course, there was an ice bucket chilling a bottle of champagne.

And don’t get us started on the actual food.

With only seven couples (maximum) to cook for, the chef could really go all out, serving dishes a la minute.

Dinner was always a five-course affair.

Maybe an amuse bouche of tuna carpaccio to start, then a trio of avocado (whipped, sliced and guacamole-style), followed by hot Zanzibar crab claws au gratin, then snapper in Hollandaise sauce and finally chocolate fondant with homemade vanilla ice-cream.

Giving back

But enough of that (you shouldn’t have got us started on the food :-).

We want to tell you that The Palms is also a Zanzibar hotel with a heart.

It’s nice to know that – together with its sister boutique hotels in the Zanzibar Collection trio – The Palms has financed and built a dedicated maternity clinic in the local village of Bwejuu.

It helped build a new children’s clinic too.

The Palms, Zanzibar, review: Bottom line

What we especially loved

The impeccably maintained villas (if she was still alive, hotel magnate Leona Helmsley would be proud) and the warm personal service.

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Photo credits: 3, 8 © Janice and George Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase | Remaining photos The Palms, Zanzibar Collection

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