The resort is about an hour and a half drive from the international airport (when we visited the road was being worked on so was worse than normal). The large property with bicycles and golf buggies to get around, runs along a white sand beachfront with large palm trees and tiered rooms set in tropical landscaping. The resort has the beach to itself (although there is a small village at one end of the beach, which allows you to watch the locals head out fishing etc).  The tide effects the beach a lot, at high tide the sand is white and soft, at low tide the water pulls out so far that it leaves the beach looking like a desert for several 100m before the sea edge. During these hours the locals walk out to fish but I tried and saw a few too many creatures in the sandy mud which put me off.  These hours make for excellent beach combing as with so much of the beach exposed you can find treasure! Purple and pink cockles shells and bit of coral are scattered across the whole beach.

The hotel is a lovely combination of a relaxed romantic vibe and a family friendly schedule. Every evening a daily program is placed on the bed to let you know what is happening the next day, from weather to food and activies.  I very rarely saw children or other guests around the resort even though it was 90% full, this was partly because many people stayed in their private pools and partly because the children’s club was so well organised. It was set a little away from the rooms and had scheduled entertainment everyday, from donkey rides down the beach to henna painting, pizza making, water gun fights and face and t-shirt painting. I don’t normally like ‘family-friendly’ resorts (not yet having children myself) but I really liked the fun low key atmosphere it gave the resort. It meant everyone was friendly and relaxed, there was no pretensions and you could relax in your flip-flops at supper. There were two supper options; the buffet, which followed a different theme every night and was very popular with families as it often included live music and open kitchen elements, and then a set menu on the beach front which was always delicious and tended not to include any young children.  I also loved that breakfast in the room was included, I think one of the most luxurious things about being on holiday is staying in bed late and having room service on your deck. We did this almost every morning, it was bliss.

A huge thank you to The Residence for hosting me. For reservations call +225 24 555 5000 or email reservation-zanzibar@theresidence.com.