Diamonds La Gemma dell' Est Hotel Zanzibar

We were a bit hesitant about booking Diamonds La Gemma dell’Est resort in Zanzibar as we don't normally like the all-inclusive type places,

but as this seems to be the norm on Zanzibar, we went with it and were not disappointed.

First, the resort itself in well layed out, beautifully landscaped with gardens and walkways overflowing with flowers.

It is set on a gently sloping hill so that you can view the sea from almost any point in the resort.

And the beach is so perfect - fine white sand and crystal clear turquoise water - like beaches in the Turks and Caicos or Anguilla.

One thing I was worried about when booking a hotel on Zanzibar is that some beaches appear to have an issue with unusually high and low tides that end up exposing the beach for part of the day and making it difficult to swim.

Other Holiday Hotels, Beach Rentals and Holiday Villas 

Diamonds La Gemma does not have this problem at all and you can swim easily all day and no seaweed to be seen at all.

I was pleasantly surprised with the food selection as well. Since this is an all-inclusive resort I expected very mediocre / poor food, but that was not the case at all.

We enjoyed all the restaurants we ate at and the selections at the buffet restaurant were overwhelming!

Also loved the pier out to the restaurant, bar and hookah lounge floating above the ocean!!

What is better than smoking a hookah, sipping oriental tea and gazing out over the Indian Ocean on a full moon night? I'm still dreaming about it.

The resort even had live entertainment every night with different bands and singers.

I guess the only so-so part of the resort was the room. It was fine, but nothing to write home about - though we spent very little time there since the rest of the resort was so awesome.

Did love that the room opened directly onto a very large shared terraced piece of land from where you could sit and have a bottle of wine while you watch the sun go down.

Bonus points for the resort facing west, making the sunsets over the ocean spectacular. Hope to be back soon!

All in all this is a great place to stay and you are well looked after while you're there and I would not hesitate in going back there, either to this hotel or to the lovely island of Zanzibar. And do not fail to go to Stone Town while you're there either - fascinating!