You might be wondering why a hotel would write a page like this. It’s simply because we think you’ll feel more at home knowing who is welcoming you – and how. It’s knowing that the garden you’re wandering through was designed around permaculture. That the terracotta pots you’d love to take home were shaped by hand in a family workshop in Dar es Salaam. That the water in your shower comes from our own spring, not from the neighbouring village’s wells.
So here’s a closer look at what we stand for and how we put it into practice. It’s what you see and experience during your stay, and what goes on behind the scenes.
71%
of the land is kept in its natural state.
62%
of our furniture and décor comes from Tanzania and Zanzibar.
60,000 L
of wastewater is treated and reused every day.
95%
of our team is from Zanzibar or mainland Tanzania.
Stock up on snacks, tea and coffee at our Bulk Shop, where everything goes into glass jars rather than needless packaging. You’ll also have a reusable Dopper water bottle for the length of your stay, so you can say goodbye to plastic ones and top up from the water fountains around the hotel.
62% of our furniture and décor comes from Tanzania and Zanzibar. From the very first sketches, we worked with workshops, cooperatives and artisans from Rwanda to Lamu, and from Stone Town to Dar es Salaam. Some pieces were made especially for the hotel. Others were tracked down for the stories they tell.
Around the villas, we chose to protect nature rather than tame it. Our green spaces were designed on permaculture principles with The Permaculture Design Co. Africa. Here, the plants look out for one another: some keep pests at bay, while others keep the soil moist or feed it. And the icing on the cake? The garden is already giving us a few vegetables of its own!
That’s the idea behind our Marine Discovery Centre, right here in the hotel. It introduces you to the lagoon on our doorstep and everything that lives in it. Marine biologist Shadrack runs activities, including low-tide walks out to the reef. They’re in small groups, along paths carefully chosen to keep the coral safe.
Eating less meat is still one of the most effective ways to shrink your footprint. It also makes for a menu with something for everyone, whatever their diet.
To take care of you and the planet, treatments at Spa POZ are created in partnership with Terre d’Afrique, a brand built on African, plant-based ingredients. In the villas, our Healing Earth toiletries are natural, biodegradable and cruelty-free, too.
Zanzibar’s culture doesn’t stop at the hotel gates. Our Like a Local experiences have been handpicked to immerse you in everyday island life: its flavours, its rhythm, its crafts and its little daily rituals. Members of our team and local partners host every one of them.
Swahili lessons, live music from local artists, palm-leaf weaving, kanga workshops, cookery classes, dhow trips… There’s no better way to get to know a place than to live it like a local.
Explore all experiences
Matemwe Attitude grew out of a smaller hotel. Over 90% of its materials were reused, and the new walls were built from stone dug out of the ground right here.
Across 80,000m², some villas were moved on the plans to spare the caves, wetlands and mangroves, and to keep every single endemic tree.
The result: not one patch of untouched land was cleared, and just 29% of the site is built on.
And the pools? They’re topped up with brackish (slightly salty) water from the spring, never with drinking water.
Our goal: zero waste to landfill. To get there, we work with local partners.
The Matemwe Attitude team is made up of 208 Family Members, and over 95% of them come from Zanzibar or mainland Tanzania. They’re the heart and soul of the hotel, so looking after them goes without saying.
More than 100 team members live on site. The rest have a free shuttle from nearby villages, and meals and uniforms are provided. Every quarter, the team clocks up at least 832 hours of training. Paternity leave is 7 days, compared with the 3 required by law. These are just a few of the ways we look after our people.
Kigomani Primary School is just a five-minute walk from the hotel. We help its pupils stock up on pencils, exercise books, printer paper, dictionaries and more, based on a wish list that the school sends us.
This project is made possible by our guests’ contributions.
You’ve made it this far, so thank you. We won’t sign off by pretending it’s all done and dusted. Progress, by its very nature, is a work in progress. Right now, we’re busy:
This page grows with us. Last updated: 19 October 2026.
