Boutique Hotel Matlai
The People Behind the Six Rooms
Matlai is the Swahili name for the first morning wind. It is the breeze that turns the sails and brings the fishermen safely home. We chose the name because we want arriving guests to feel looked after, and we have worked on that since May 2012. Today the hotel has two private villas, six rooms and one beach at Michamvi Pingwe, with a team that hosts each guest personally.
The story
Founded in 2012 and still run like a family
Matlai was founded by Tim Hennig and Inge Becker-Boost. Its directors, Inge and Dr. Ingulf Becker-Boost, live in Germany; Asili House opened in May 2012. It has four rooms named for the elements, built in the mud-wall and makuti style of the coast. Villa Kidosho followed in 2015. It has two large ocean-facing suites in the Arabic-Omani style of Stone Town, and an infinity pool.
We decided at the start to stay small, and six rooms is what the hotel offers today. That is why the kitchen can change its menu daily around what the fishermen bring and why the butler team knows every guest's name by the first dinner. It is also why the answer to "can you arrange that?" is usually yes. A staff of more than forty looks after at most a dozen guests.
Tim Hennig, the General Manager, lives on site and has hosted the house through the years that earned it the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award nine times (2014, 2015 and 2017–2023) and the review scores above. The full history and every score, with dates, are on the recognition page. Tim also writes the guides on this website, answers the WhatsApp messages and rehearses surprise proposals with the butlers. Every "facts last verified" stamp on this site comes from his own checklist.
Inge Becker-Boost is Tim’s mother. The two of them built the hotel together and, at the start, worked here side by side every day. Inge now lives in Germany and still looks after the hotel when Tim is on holiday. One of the two of them is always here.
What we believe
How we answer questions
Most hotel websites are written to close a sale. Ours is written the way we answer questions at the bar. The tide goes out hundreds of metres twice a day, and we publish a tide and seaweed calendar so you can see what that means. Seaweed arrives on spring tides in some months, and we will never promise you a beach without it. The island's power grid has bad days, which is why our WiFi routers run on batteries. We want you to book with true expectations. Guests who know what an east-coast tide does tend to enjoy it.
We are equally direct about what Matlai is not. It is not a resort. There are no buffets, no entertainment programme and no kids' club. Individually booked rooms welcome guests from 14 up, while whole-villa bookings welcome every age. We are not solar-powered yet. Two solar water heaters serve Villa Kidosho, and solar power is planned for the future, but nothing is decided. We will say so plainly until it is. What we do today is offer free drinking water without plastic bottles, clean the beach with staff every day, place starfish-protection cards in every room, give welcome soaps from the Mwani women's seaweed cooperative, and buy for the kitchen from local fishermen and Zanzibar farms.
One story explains how we handle accessibility. When Tim's grandmother turned 90, the team built her a purpose-built carrying chair so she could reach every terrace and the beach. The chair is still in use. It is why we answer accessibility questions in detail, and why Villa Kidosho, level from its entrance, is the room we recommend to guests with limited mobility.
The cast
More than forty staff, two dogs, two cats and nearly forty tortoises
The team makes the hotel what it is. Five butlers work morning and evening shifts, usually two or three on duty for both villas, from 7am to 10pm (with a 24/7 emergency line). The Zatiny kitchen crew runs two cuisines and a daily-changing menu. Gardeners keep the bougainvillea in flower, and housekeepers fold towels into animals with real competitive spirit. Bustani Spa operates in our garden as Maryam's own independent business, with her therapists and her treatments.
As for the tortoises: nearly forty of them live in their own enclosure behind the restaurant, behind a low wall, unbothered by checkout times. Come round at lunchtime, when the zucchini arrives, and you will meet most of them. Together with the two dogs and two cats they are the permanent residents of Matlai. Guests may not bring pets, but the residents welcome visitors, especially ones with zucchini.
If you are a journalist, editor or creator working on Zanzibar, Michamvi or the east coast, we keep a press kit with high-resolution photography and we fact-check answers the way this whole site is fact-checked. Write to info@hotelmatlai.com.
Why we write so much
Why this website is so detailed
You may have noticed this site reads less like a brochure and more like a long conversation at the bar. It has island guides, a safari planner, tide tables, etiquette notes and even the awkward subjects like rain and power cuts. That is deliberate. A six-room hotel cannot match the big resorts on advertising, so we explain things in detail instead. The people writing these pages walk the beach they describe every morning, and every claim carries a "last verified" date because someone checked it. If a page here helps you avoid a mistake on your trip, even a trip that never comes to Matlai, the site has done its job. If it brings you to our breakfast table instead, you will find the same plain answers there, with better coffee.
Writing about us, or booking for a client? The press page and the trade page hold what journalists and travel partners ask for.
Questions we're asked about us
The short answers
Who owns and runs Boutique Hotel Matlai?
Matlai is owned by Inge and Dr. Ingulf Becker-Boost, who live in Germany and are its directors. It was founded by Tim Hennig and Inge Becker-Boost and opened in May 2012. Tim is the General Manager and lives on site. The person answering your emails is the person who will greet you at the villa.
What does "Matlai" mean?
Matlai is the Swahili name for the first morning wind that turns the sails and brings the fishermen safely home. It is the breeze that starts the day on this coast. The hotel is named after it.
Will we actually meet the manager?
Almost certainly. Tim lives and works on the property, the butler team is on duty 7am–10pm, and with six rooms there is no lobby to hide behind. Hosting guests personally is the reason we stay this small.
Are the tortoises real?
Very. Nearly 40 of them live in their own big enclosure behind the restaurant, behind a low wall, alongside two dogs and two cats who consider themselves management. Walk round at lunchtime, when they are fed (often zucchini), and most of them come out. Guests may not bring their own pets, but the resident ones are always happy to meet visitors.
How do press and media enquiries work?
Write to info@hotelmatlai.com. A press kit with high-resolution photography is available, and journalists and creators researching Zanzibar, Michamvi or the east coast get honest, fact-checked answers, including about seaweed and tides.
Every fact about the hotel, from the address to the ratings, is on our fact sheet; the awards and the scores are on our recognition page. For couples: Matlai as a honeymoon hotel in Zanzibar, the honeymoon package and weddings at Matlai. For journalists: Press and media kit; for travel agents: Travel trade information.