Baraza
An all-suite Zanzibar resort styled after Omani sultans' palaces: brass lamplight, a colossal pool, an Arabian-themed spa and a celebrated dive site offshore.
Baraza is unlike most stays on Zanzibar, and the difference is one of register. The resort is modelled after the palaces of the Omani sultans, and it commits to the idea fully. White walls are lifted by brass lamps, brass fans and richly worked wooden furniture, while a colossal pool and a scatter of day beds speak to the relaxed, unmistakably lavish lifestyle the place is built around.
The setting earns its keep, too. Baraza sits close to one of the island’s celebrated dive sites, which makes it a resort that caters equally to the adventurous and the rest-seeking. Divers come away mesmerised by an underwater world that turns up whale sharks and turtles; those with other plans have the Arabian-themed oasis spa, a much-needed counterpoint to a day in the sun.
Dining keeps the standard high, with an international menu that the resort positions as a highlight for every kind of guest, whether you have spent the day beneath the waves or beside the pool.
What ties it together is a sense of occasion. Baraza does not aim for the pared-back, barefoot-luxury look that much of the Indian Ocean now favours; it reaches instead for something more ornate, more palatial, and wears it with conviction.
For a traveller who wants Zanzibar with a touch of theatre, and a genuine dive site on the doorstep, Baraza makes a confident, characterful case. Settle in by that colossal pool and let the days stretch.
