Honeymoon Guide
Floating Breakfast Zanzibar
Quick answer
Order tonight. Float tomorrow.
The floating breakfast at Boutique Hotel Matlai in Michamvi Pingwe, Zanzibar works like this: tell your butler the evening before, order your normal breakfast from our breakfast menu, and next morning it is served on a tray floating in the villa's pool. It needs exactly 1 WhatsApp message to happen.
| How to book | Butler, the evening before |
| Where | Your villa pool — Kidosho or Asili |
| When | Breakfast hours |
| On the tray | Your normal breakfast, from our menu |
| Price | 110,000 TZS per couple |
| Occasions | Honeymoons · birthdays · no reason |
| Last verified | 1 August 2026 |
The setting
Two pools, one ritual
At Villa Kidosho, the tray arrives in the infinity pool set above the beach — the ocean directly ahead. At Asili House, it's served in the oceanfront pool, set above the beach. Both look out over the ocean.
What you get
Your usual breakfast, on a floating tray
There is no special floating menu. You choose your breakfast from our normal breakfast menu, exactly as you would for the terrace or the restaurant, and it arrives on a tray that floats in the pool.
The honest small print: it's a charged extra on top of half board, 110,000 TZS per couple. It is not a package inclusion unless your honeymoon package includes it, and we would rather say that than have it appear on a bill as a surprise. Order it the evening before, through your butler.
The breakfast
What is actually on the tray
The tray carries whatever you would normally order for breakfast. Breakfast at Matlai is served from 07:00 until 12:00 for hotel guests, and most mornings the butler sets it up wherever you like: on your own terrace or balcony, at the dining table in the villa lounge, at a table in the garden, or in the restaurant. The floating breakfast is the same meal, served in the pool instead. We do not print a list of dishes on this page, because the printed menus are the published documents; your butler brings the breakfast menu and you choose from it.
A few things apply to every breakfast here, floating or not. The kitchen is halal-friendly and many dishes are halal, although pork is offered on the menu, so tell your butler if that matters to you. Vegetarian and vegan choices are available and the kitchen is flexible. With every breakfast the butler brings a card with an African saying. For an early tour or an early departure the kitchen can prepare a packed breakfast instead; the floating breakfast is for a morning when you have time to stay.
Ordering
Four steps, one message
- In the evening, send your butler a WhatsApp message saying you would like the floating breakfast tomorrow.
- Tell him how many of you there are and what you would like from the breakfast menu.
- Agree the time with the butler, within breakfast hours (07:00 to 12:00).
- Next morning the tray is brought to the pool and floated for you.
If you want a particular morning, such as your anniversary, say so when you book the room, so it is noted from the start. Because the order is taken the evening before, please do not leave it for the morning itself.
The pool
Whose pool it is
At Villa Kidosho the breakfast is served in the infinity pool. That pool is shared by the villa’s two suites, Jua and Mwezi, and it is yours alone when you book the whole villa. At Asili House it is served in the elevated pool, which sits at the same level as the lounge between the two room blocks and is shared by the four rooms. We say shared because it is: neither pool is private unless you take all of Villa Kidosho.
Tell the butler which time you would like and whether you hope to have the pool to yourselves; he will tell you what is possible.
Who it suits
Who it suits, and what to know
Couples book it most for honeymoons, anniversaries and proposals, but it needs no occasion. Individually booked rooms take guests from 14; a whole-villa booking takes every age. A pool breakfast with small children is then possible, but the villa pools are unfenced and parents are responsible for supervising their children at all times.
- Come in swimwear: you are in the pool.
- The pools are unfenced. That is a plain fact, not a footnote.
- Order the evening before; the time is agreed with your butler within breakfast hours.
- The floating breakfast is for hotel guests and is served in the pool of the villa you are staying in. Outside guests reserve the restaurant and can have breakfast there from 09:00.
With the packages
The floating breakfast and the honeymoon packages
The Matlai Tano Superior package (5 to 6 nights) includes one floating breakfast. Saba Deluxe and Kumi Exclusive build on Tano and include it as well. The Tatu package (3 to 4 nights) includes one breakfast in bed, not a floating one; you can add the floating breakfast as an extra for 110,000 TZS. The packages are based on half board, and anything beyond the one included breakfast is charged as an extra. All the details are on the honeymoon package page.
Beyond breakfast
The rest of the day
Couples celebrating something bigger often add a private dinner on the beach or a treatment at Bustani Spa: each is one WhatsApp message to your butler. For the rooms and current rates, see rooms and rates; for the kitchen, the restaurant page.
A floating breakfast is part of the longer Matlai honeymoon packages, together with a candlelight dinner and massages.
Good to know
Questions travellers ask
The floating breakfast is one of the most asked-about extras before arrival. Here is exactly how it works.
How do we book the floating breakfast?
Tell your butler the evening before — one WhatsApp message. You order your normal breakfast from our breakfast menu, and it is served on a tray floating in your villa's pool during breakfast hours. It's a charged extra on top of half board; it costs 110,000 TZS per couple.
What's on the tray?
Your normal breakfast, chosen from our breakfast menu. There is no special floating menu: it is the same breakfast, simply served on a tray in the pool.
Where is it served?
In your own villa’s pool. At Villa Kidosho that is the infinity pool, shared by the villa’s two suites and yours alone when you book the whole villa. At Asili House it is the elevated pool, shared by the four rooms. Neither pool is private unless you take all of Villa Kidosho; both face the ocean.
When is it served?
During breakfast hours, which run from 07:00 to 12:00 for hotel guests. You and your butler agree the exact time the evening before.
Is it only for honeymooners?
It is booked most for honeymoons, anniversaries and proposals, but it needs no occasion. Individually booked rooms take guests from 14; a whole-villa booking takes every age. The villa pools are unfenced, so parents are responsible for supervising their children at all times.
What if we're not staying at Matlai — can we book it anyway?
The floating breakfast is for guests staying at the hotel: it is served in the pool of your villa. The nearest equivalents for outside guests are our private dinners in the sand and spa treatments, both bookable with a reservation.
How far ahead should we order it?
The evening before, through your butler. If your heart is set on a specific morning, such as the anniversary itself, tell us when you book the room.
Is a floating breakfast included in the honeymoon packages?
The Matlai Tano Superior package (5 to 6 nights) includes one floating breakfast, and Saba Deluxe and Kumi Exclusive include it too. The Tatu package (3 to 4 nights) includes a breakfast in bed instead. Any further floating breakfast is a charged extra.
Your stay at Matlai
Choose your dates and the booking page opens with them, showing live availability.
Bookings with children go by enquiry: the booking page books adults only, so send us your dates on WhatsApp and we reply with the options. Children under 14 stay with a whole villa. WhatsApp →
These dates are by enquiry only — please email info[at]hotelmatlai.com or WhatsApp +255772628833 and we will confirm availability and rates.
Indicative public rates — the engine shows live availability for your dates.
Welcome drink, kayaks, bicycles and snorkelling gear, free of charge.
Booking with the hotel itself? Ask us what we can offer for your dates.
Why guests book Matlai
- A team of butlers on call, 07:00 to 22:00. One message and it is arranged.
- Half board with a chef’s menu that changes daily: three courses, plus two à la carte kitchens at every table, Zatiny (Indian Ocean fusion) and Duyên (Vietnamese).
- Dine where you like: in the restaurant, in the garden or on your own balcony. A private table by the beach or a candlelight dinner can be arranged at an extra charge.
- Six rooms in two villas, a pool for each villa, shared by its rooms, and every room facing the sunrise over the ocean.
- Bustani, the garden spa; the sandbank in front of the hotel at low tide; a quiet beach lined with small, family-owned hotels.
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