Shooting Star Lodge

Shooting Star Lodge is another of the small, intimate boutique-style hotels/lodges at which Zanzibar so excels - and one of its best.

You can choose between Sea View and Garden Lodge rooms, each of which has fans and air-conditioning as standard, and comes complete with traditional Zanzibari furnishings. The two larger suites are set apart from the rest, and also possess delightful private swimming pools.

A delightful bar, restaurant and beach-side spa complete the lodge's facilities - aside that is from its remarkable infinity swimming pool, the only such on the island.

The usual excursions can be arranged from here, with watersports well catered for, with a professional PADI centre available at the nearby Bluebay Beach Resort hotel. You are also encouraged to visit the nearby fishing village of Kiwengwa, where you will be warmly welcomed, and can observe their largely marine-based way of life.

The beach here is perfect, although you can't, of course, swim when the tide is out. But the overworked word 'idyllic' can certainly be applied here.