The Indian Ocean idyll where a five-star hotel costs £95 a night

Zanzibar is the new favourite spot for celebrities like Idris Elba and Bill Gates, yet it’s still much more affordable than the Maldives

I spent the morning snorkelling off a tiny mangrove islet, exploring 10ft high corals swarming with electric blue fish. Now, I’m sitting on my own private sandbar eating grapes from a picnic hamper, as cyan-coloured waters lap at my toes.
Swap me out for a hot couple with newly minted rings, and you’ve got a rom-com just waiting to be shot. Toss in a couple of life jackets and some flotsam, and this treeless dot could be a scene from every survivor film you’ve ever seen.
Given such scenery, it’s not surprising that Idris Elba has announced plans to open a film studio in Zanzibar. This Indian Ocean idyll, off Tanzania, has everything a location scout could hope for. Its beaches and reefs could double as anywhere from the Caribbean to Cambodia. There are Omani forts and palaces – including some that have been romantically reclaimed by nature. And, if you drive beyond its tourist hubs, you’ll find banana groves and rice paddies, ox-carts and African villages.
This versatility has pulled me back to Zanzibar time and again over the past 17 years.
When I first came, it was somewhere only backpackers ventured. But in recent years it’s seen a slew of upmarket openings and recent visits have overlapped stays by everyone from the guy in the Dolce & Gabbana ads to Oprah’s inner circle – who booked the presidential villa at the hotel I was at.
What’s more, with celeb-favourites like Le Méridien and The Four Seasons set to open on Zanzibar’s main island next year, it looks certain to cement its newly found status as an offbeat place for Hollywood royalty to escape.
Tenders are apparently already out for the construction of Idris Elba’s film studio, as I discovered from Lisa de Lange, whose brother is vying to supply the solar panels for its roof.
I met Lisa while staying at Elewana Kilindi, a boutique hotel built by Abba’s Benny Andersson – and reminiscent of a Bond villain’s lair with its cabana-lined pool, whitewashed flying buttresses and waterfall behind the bar.
Kilindi, on the northern tip of the main island, is the sort of place that could have been purpose-built for Hollywood stars on a break from filming, right down to the open-to-nature bathrooms. Featuring private butlers, and catering to a maximum of 30 guests, this 50-acre cliff-side retreat is one of the most extravagant places I’ve ever stayed, with its expansive villas set within private gardens with plunge pools and bolted gateways for maximum privacy.
A night in one of its private hamlets is not strictly “cheap”, starting from £469pp, all inclusive. But it’s a fraction of what you’d pay for such opulence in the nearby Maldives.
Zanzibar does have some real blow-outs, though, like andBeyond Mnemba Island (£1,650pp, all inclusive), where Tom Cruise, Naomi Campbell and Bill Gates have stayed. There’s also the new private island at Bawe (villas from £1,310, half board), whose overwater villas you reach by speedboat (and soon helicopter), and which reminds me of the swanky hotels from the White Lotus TV series, with its staff lined up at the jetty in all-white uniforms.
The great thing about Zanzibar, though, is you can live the champagne lifestyle on a chardonnay budget. I stayed at a new five-star that’s just £95, room only. Right on the beach, and featuring enormous terrazzo-tiled bathrooms, walk-in rain showers and sumptuous chaise-lounges, LUX* Marijani has everything you could ask for of a Zanzibar hotel, from free kayak and SUP rentals to a spa with cinematic views of the palms and sands.
It may not be quite OTT enough to lure Hollywood actors on a break from filming. The same, however, cannot be said of The Residence, from where I set sail on my solo excursion to the sandbar.
Located in Zanzibar’s sparsely populated south, its 66 Mauritius-style villas combine the private lap pools and terraces former guests like Will Smith expect, with a price-tag non-celebs can afford – villas begin from £363, half board, or £181pp a night.
Each bungalow comes with a spacious lounge with dark-wood settee and desk; huge bedroom with four-poster bed and sunset views; and palatial bathroom with freestanding bath and indoor and outdoor showers.
The resort also has everything a Hollywood actor could need in a home away from home – from tennis court, library and spa to one of the most well-stocked hotel gyms I’ve ever worked out at.
Those looking for somewhere even more exclusive would probably prefer Fundu Lagoon (£238pp, all inclusive). Not accessible by road, this multi-award-winning retreat is so remote you have to reach it via a high-speed RIB, having first caught a 30-minute flight to the archipelago’s northern outcrop, Pemba.
It’s the sort of place a star could go to really escape prying eyes. I was one of only two foreigners on the Auric Air flight to Pemba (£97 each way), and the only guest staying in Fundu Lagoon’s 13 luxury safari tents on my first night there.
All coconut-fibre ropes and rustic decks, Fundu’s the fantasy project of costume designer Ellis Flyte and Brian Henson, of The Muppets fame.
It’s wild. There are flying foxes in the trees and monkeys in the restaurant (where I’m served sweet avocado bruschetta, Swahili curries and South African wines).
Each night, a friendly kingfisher splashes into my plunge pool for a wash, and a needy bush baby cries from my sundeck as I read in my king-sized bed.
Famous for its diving, I watch chameleon-like puffer fish changing colours while snorkelling at nearby Misali reef, and spot huge tiger fish as big as me.
There are caves reputedly used for voodoo rituals, and kayak trips down rivers that could double as Amazonian tributaries.
It feels like I’ve paddled into a scene from Rambo or some Vietnam War epic.
Idris Elba may be on to something.
Turquoise Holidays (01494 678 400) has a week at The Residence, including Heathrow flights, via Doha, and transfers in Zanzibar, from £2,895pp, half board. Alternatively, a twin-centre break, combining three nights at Elewana Kilindi on the main island with four nights at Pemba’s Fundu Lagoon, starts from £4,375pp, all inclusive, including flights and transfers.

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