Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort

The hotel boasts comfortable beds, stunning rooms, and excellent air conditioning. Guests appreciate the exceptionally friendly and attentive staff, ensuring a comfortable and enjoyable stay.

It seems like people are paying 2 different prices for this place because we paid over $1000 US a night, the highest price we paid on a 5 week trip through Africa with a dozen different stays, and it was the least luxurious for the price. This was our last stop so we wanted it to be nice. We stayed 5 nights so we got a real feel for the place and I'm guessing if you only stayed 2 nights you might have a different impression. It was HOT (83* but felt like 93* with the humidity) when we arrived. The only AC in the whole resort is in your room. Our room had weak AC to start, that declined to nothing by the 3rd night. We found it hard to enjoy things when we were so hot, as we were sweating and lethargic. When we did call (nobody answered on the first call) they said "we will come put some gas in the AC unit for you" and it worked fine after. They had been servicing the room for 3 days and saw the AC was running out, but did nothing ~ not proactive and not 5 star service. The menu seems great until you are told that they don't have the tuna dishes and the pizza oven is not working, which remained true for 5 nights. The menu doesn't vary much at all, so 5 days of a similar menu is not 5 star. We were told drinks are included but only local rum or vodka drinks, that are made weak, are included. If you want a G&T, you pay $10. A bottle of white wine was $50-85 unless it was one of the 3 on the "included" menu. Drinks were not really 'inclusive' as implied when we booked. The spa was a joke! The spa has no working AC anywhere. In the women's locker room there are no chairs, blank walls with no art or decor anywhere, a smell of mold, hair blocking the shower drain, no shampoo at all, a sauna that didn't work, and the lockers don't lock in the changing area, so I had to go back down the hill to my room to shower after. The staff didn't pay attention to the forms we filled out with our preferences (they tried to rub spots I marked to be avoided so I had to ask them to stop). In the end, they overcharged us and then argued that we should pay the individual price X2 ($290) instead of a couples massage price we signed up for ($220). The management had to get involved and finally gave us the price stated on their own brochure ~ weird. We only went back for the second massage because it was the free one included in our package which they told us would be a "signature massage", not the Swedish massage we prefer, because no 'alterations' were allowed ~ ***? At these prices, $145 was the supposed value for an individual massage we were "gifted", that is nuts! They were purposefully unaccommodating. Sadly, we couldn't scuba dive because they said the water was not clear enough and they suggested we come back in April (not easy to do from California ;o). The horse back riding was great because they took us along the beach and through the small local village (paid extra). The small dhow boat sunset ride they included was nice. The waterskii

From our initial check-in to every morning and evening at meal times, the team could not do more for you. Their beautiful, warm smiles and excellent hospitality made you feel like you were staying with a relative / family member. The food was out of this world with the chefs surprising us everyday with their talent - were we blown away by the Mozambique seafood or what. Unbelievable - Those prawns - actually the size of Lobsters were ‘next level’ and sumptuously prepared. I was equally surprised on my birthday with a cake and warm Portuguese singing by the fabulous team which was the icing on the cake for me so thank you , thank you and thank you. We will definitely return. I would add they do need to promote the Spa a bit more as it is somewhat feels like an afterthought when asked about and this is where they could make their money.