Amani Beach

Located on Tanzania’s Ras Kutani coast, Amani Beach fronts a beautiful stretch of broad white beach and sits …

… in almost 0.5km² of manicured gardens and wide-open lawns dotted with palm trees.

Located on Tanzania’s Ras Kutani coast, Amani Beach fronts a beautiful stretch of broad white beach and sits in almost 0.5km2 of manicured gardens and wide-open lawns dotted with palm trees.

Its rather- eccentric previous owner built Amani Beach as a hobby. Together with his wife, he created a stylish lodge that has a real mix of European and Swahili styles, from the Spanish-style . The buildings are all crisp white washed stone with terracotta-tiled floor tiles to the traditional Zanzibaris, reminiscent of buildings you might find on the coast of Italy or Spain. Yet the thatched roofs and occasional piece of Zanzibari furniture remind you that you are in Africa and on the Swahili coast.

The 10 spacious cottages at Amani Beach have whitewashed walls and thatched roofs. Outside each, large, tiled verandas extend onto the lawn and house a hammock, which is the perfect place to relax and read a book. Through the French windows, you’ll find a spacious and airy bedroom, big enough to act as a triple, or even a quadruple for families. Air conditioning and a fan are standard, so the rooms are delightfully cool during the day.

Fittings and furnishings are a mix of European and Africa materials: most of the furniture, such as the enormous beds and beautiful Zanzibari boxes, has been sourced locally, while the tiles have come from Germany and Italy.

The tiles continue through to the en-suite bathrooms, accessed through a large arched doorway with shuttered doors. There is a bath and a separate shower, both with hot and cold water, and a separate door leads to the toilet and bidet.

The dining area at Amani Beach is set up away from the beach and extends inside and outside for different dining locations. The red terracotta-coloured tiles and white washed walls give the impression that you are in an Italian villa. Yet the arched doorways and furniture do add a Swahili slant to its style. Above the main dining room, up a flight of stairs, is the TV and games area. It has a pool table and satellite television – an ideal place to entertain the kids in the evenings.

Down by the sea is the beach bar where drinks are served throughout the day, and where buffet lunches are also served. It is a comfortable open-sided thatch area, with lovely views out over the sea. The simple wicker chairs and sofas are a cool place to retire out of the sun during the heat of the day.

Just adjacent to the beach bar is the large rectangular swimming pool with plenty of sunloungers and grass lawn around it. The large pool is great for kids, though its rather uniform shape is a little lacking in character. To one side there’s a lovely big garden filled with indigenous plants.

Activities offered at Amani include surfing, mountain biking, and horseriding.

It’s worth noting that since our last visit Amani has been bought by a large hotel chain.Whether this improves or takes away some of its character and charm remains to be seen.