Konokono Beach Resort and Isaraya Over Water Villa

Where do I begin it was so much starting with the pick up from the airport. I wasn't informed the transportation fee beedes to be paid in cag. I would have been prepared with the cash if I were informed ahead of time. Once we arrived which was extremely late due to flight delays our room wasn't available. There was an unfortunate accident so that wasn't their fault but the room wasn't very clean. The floor was filthy and you can tell it was a rushed job. A short time after arrival the power goes out. This apparently is a thing because it happened frequently during our stay. The A/C & refrigerator wasn't working well. I complained for several days they were supposed to send maintenance. We never saw maintenance. We then encountered a rat in our room! This was the straw that broke the camels back. After battling the rat all night they finally moved us to another Overwater bungalow. They never resolved the issue and moved the next guests right in our old bungalow. The bungalows need a good overall sprucing up. I'm a frequent international traveler and the best part of this trip was leaving the resort for 3 days going on our safari in Arusha. The communication between staff was lacking and insufficient. The front desk miscommunicated transportation fees, they never informed housekeeping about the rat and why our room was in such disarray the next day, and maintenance never communicated with housekeeping.The maid drop the key in the ocean. We had a terrible experience. Don't go!

The staff was amazing

This was the worst experience I have ever had. I am quite use to staying in some rough places and don’t mind that if that is the expectation. I paid premium money for a supposed premium Villa “over the ocean”. It started with the taxi service from the port, the driver was great but, it was not conveyed that it was a private service not from the resort so, when we were dropped off at the resort he expected to be paid on the spot, so make sure you bring cash to pay the driver, it won’t be charged through the hotel. After sorting out the taxi service we were led to our “over the ocean villa” The “ocean view” was at least 200 meters away and nothing like the pictures when booked. I tried logging in on the WiFi that was supposedly available and there was no connection to internet at all, the entire night. I went to take a shower after the long journey to the resort and had abysmal water pressure and zero hot water. When my Wife went to take a shower the water completely shut off in the middle of her shower, the water didn’t come back the entire evening. We tried to make the most of it and have a nice dinner well, the entire time of the dinner we had to listen to cats incessantly whining and going around our feet, my allergies were not liking that whole situation. The wait staff was very kind and courteous but, the food.. it is a set menu with very limited options and the food at best is 2.5/5. The next morning we tried to take a shower and there wasn’t water again. No refund!!

This is the place for a wonderful, restful and lovely honeymoon!! My husband and I stayed in one of the Isaraya Villas, and these are a must. We loved the intimate privacy within the villa: own pool, access to the ocean, sunset views, short walk to the clean beach and restaurant (delicious, fresh meals made to order). We also enjoyed the facilities on the main resort as well. The staff are welcoming and helpful, they added to the serene atmosphere. We would visit again!

The hotel was not ready to accommodate guests. The room was not ready for check-in, there were two people in our room still cleaning. The doors didn't close properly so massive bugs were climbing into the room. The power went off repeatedly in the night, there were no back up generators, and then the water shut off for the entire resort. The lighting for the stairs leading to the beach was dark so you couldn't see where you were going, they were literally still installing lights in the dining area while we were eating. The staff are friendly but lost, a beautiful buffet was set for the guests without spoons for service. The waiters promise to serve the food to you and never arrive. Kono Kono has a team of well intended staff but very far from being ready to call itself a resort and accommodate any guests.

We stayed for 2 nights in the Beach Pavilion at Konokono during Valentine’s Day and it was an unforgettable experience. We had dinner at the over the water restaurant at Iysara (the conjoined hotel) on our first night and then an amazing buffet on the beach for Valentine’s Day with yellowfin tuna, a fire and and live music - the setting was divine. Both meals were included in our half board booking and they were easily two of the best meals of our whole stay in Zanzibar. The staff were attentive and cheerful and the beach itself is genuinely stunning. We highly recommend the beach pavilion as the view of sunset from the room is unparalleled. Thank you to the team at Konokono for a magical stay. We will definitely be coming back for longer in the future.

Nice private beach and very quiet and peaceful

The staff especially the restaurant staff were very poor. The Manager is never on site to resolve any issues

When we booked this hotel through expedia it was rated as a 5 star luxury hotel. We booked a 5 day, 4 night stay in their beach pavilion room and this was paid in full (Approx $1800). The pictures on expedia looked amazing and we were looking forward to spending our last leg of our trip at this property. Please see below the list of issues: - As soon as you walk into the room it smelled mouldy - The AC was not working so we immediately phoned reception and they moved us to the only other room on the beach, Pavilion 2 - When we first walked in, it was unclean as some just checked out - The bathroom and bedroom definitely need some updating - The bathroom sink faucets had no running water - The private pool was not swimmable as it was not to our standards - The main pool need some work as there was missing tiles - There was no beach towels - The beach had trash and rotting sea weed - Food was good but limited We did call expedia to see if we were able to change our hotel however we were told that the refund was not guaranteed therefore we did not have a choice but stay. However, The helpful and cheerful staff did make our stay somewhat better. I do believe that this property has great potential however there is some work to be done if this is to be advertised as a 5 star luxury resort. Overall the property and rooms needs some repairs and maintenance to bring it up to 4 - 5 star standard.

Room was nice, right on the water. There were power cuts and the room service was not the best. But overall a pleasant place and the staff were excellent!