andBeyond Benguerra Island

My wife and I just completed our honeymoon stay at the &Beyond Benguerra Island resort in Mozambique and it was the holiday of a lifetime! From the moment we arrived until our helicopter was lifting off to take us back to the mainland, the staff and management of the hotel were absolutely amazing, and we cannot wait to return to that part of the world again and combine a safari with a beach holiday at two &Beyond properties. Lucas, Zane, Shawn, and the rest of the team went above 'and beyond' to ensure we had a relaxing, adventurous, and 5-star visit. The property is perfectly located on the island, taking advantage of a small cove that provides the best water experience from horseback riding, to a dhow cruise, to stand-up paddle boarding, to kayaking, to simply swimming in the crystal clear water of the Indian Ocean. Our villa was exceptional and private, with all necessities (including USA electrical compatibility) one could need for a visit. The bedding was elite and comfortable, and made it hard to want to leave the villa. Our private pool was perfect for those morning and evening plunges, and our day bed and loungers were incredibly comfortable and made it too easy for that afternoon siesta! The food was beyond exceptional, and meals were timed out perfectly. All meals and drinks were included in our visit, so it was such a treat to check out without needing to review an extensive, itemized tab. And all adventures and excursions are also included with your stay, so it was as simple as finding the Activities Director to schedule our snorkeling excursion, private beach picnic, dhow cruise, and horseback riding in the ocean. Special thanks to Lucas, who made us feel so welcome and comfortable for the duration of our stay. We can't wait for our next visit to an &Beyond resort!

Excellent doesn’t begin to cover our stay at And beyond Benguerra. Sublime perfection and we had the most unbelievably special, memorable and perfect stay. The resort itself is stunning and no detail is left out but what makes the time here so phenomenally special is the people. From the time you touch down you are surrounded by the most incredibly warm, efficient and professional people that go above and beyond to make your stay perfect. Lucas and Sean were the hosts with the most and ran the most amazing team. Whether you wanted to dive/snorkle with Joseffa and Lorenzo or ride or head out on a sunset cruise, nothing was a problem. I cannot recommend this slice of heaven highly enough

I spent the last leg of my honeymoon after Cape Town and Kruger here, and it was a great way to unwind and relax The must-do activities to do among those included are the castaway picnic, sunset dhow cruise, and snorkeling (2-mile reef is spectacular). The helicopter ride over is also ultra scenic. The swimming with horses is also fun. The village tour gives you a better understanding of how the local villagers live. One thing to note is that the rooms can let bugs or even geckos in due to not being fully sealed off from the outside. So do not be surprised by this. The meals are high quality and the service offered by your butler is top notch. The staff does a great job of making you feel at home and catered to. It was a relaxing to just sit out on the beach (which your room is just a few steps in front of) or at the pool or at the swinging bed and read. Going in the July / August may be better and less muggy, but ultimately late February / early March was best for our timeline. At that time of year there was mugginess during the day. Tip: at night if you go in the water, you can see some bioluminescence.

Rating the hotel a 4 for the team there who tried very hard. However, we were disappointed. This was supposed to be a relaxing holiday at the end of 7 nights in the bushes. We ended up not sleeping for 4 nights and wishing we had stayed on the safari instead. ||I will split the review between accommodation (bad), service (good), location (excellent).||Accommodation: We were in room 10 and it was not worth the price. It was dark, damp, and FULL of mosquitos. Like, SO MANY MOSQUITOS. Every night they put the mosquito nets around the bed, and every night, we were sitting in our bed, within the net, killing mosquitos. I shared that feedback and Lucas after the first night (who I think might be the acting GM?) He got on it immediately and asked the team to do extra spray -- and they were basically doing that at least twice a day. It made ZERO difference. Yes, we saw more dead bodies in the sink / tub. But every night, we continued to kill mosquitos in the bed. 1 night, we killed 8 before we gave up (and got bitten in the middle of the night), another night, killed 6 before we went to sleep, and got upat 1 am to kill 2 more (and got eaten alive, again, afterwards). We didn't get any decent sleep for 4 nights. One the very last night, my husband bitten on his upper eyelid and he showed up at brekkie / left the resort with a swollen eye. Lucas kept on telling us that it's ONLY happening to us & not anyone else. If it's only happening to us, it means there was a very serious issue with room 10 and yet, they kept us there for the entire stay. I don't believe the resort was full when we were there. Also to add, the room was so heavily sprayed that when we got back home / opened our luggage, you can smell the spray on all of our clothes. I don't want to think about what we inhaled.||Mosquitos aside, ||a) there's no indoor shower, only outdoor. If you are comfortable taking shower w bees, giant centipedes showing up, this is not an issue||b) there's no charging station next to the bed so we can't charge our phones next to us while we sleep (1st world problem, i know. but this kinda needs to be a given in this day and age?)||c) Apparently, some birds have claimed room 9 and 10 as their home. Super cute. But it also means that we often found bird poop on our beach lounge chairs. We just put towels on top of it to cover it up...it really is fine. it's nature. However, perhaps i expected a bit more because it is nature at over $2k/night? ||This is not our first time staying with an andbeyond but this is the first time we wonder if there will be a next time. ||Service: ||The team gets a 5 star for trying SO hard. I appreciate the effort that Lucas put in to spray the room even though it didn't help. Our Butler Paulo is very thoughtful. On a windy evening when we went out for a sunset cruise, he prepped a hot bubble bath for us unprompted and that was really appreciated. He also surprised us with a bday cake (that wasn't too sweet b/c he noticed we weren't taking much sugar) on our last day. That said, it was quite stressful to deal w the endless "when do you want to eat your next meal?"||As soon as you finish brekkie: when do you want to have your lunch and where?|After lunch: when do you want to have your dinner?|After dinner: when do you want to have your brekkie?||For our first brekkie, we said 8am but ended up sleeping in. We both felt the "you are 2 hours late" vibe. After that, we set alarms to make sure we showed up "on time" for the meals.||There wasn't the option to go with the flow, and eat when you are actually hungry. We ended up skipping lunch after day 1 b/c we didn't want to think about what time we need to show up for lunch. The team then said "oh, if you want a snack, just let us know". However, when we did ask for snacks, then it was "what would you like to have as snacks?" It was a lot of thinking / decision making for what is supposed to be "let's not use our brain" 4 days. ||We had no room to just go w the flow and chill...||Location||it is SUPERB. the locals are friendly, the ocean is BEAUTIFUL, the beach is PRESTINE. You don't see people. It was SO nice and quiet. We heard the snorkeling is superb. We opted to not do it b/c it was early in the morning and it was a bit colder and windier than we expected. However, we did horseback riding twice and enjoyed it tremendously. also took a sunset cruise on the traditional dhow. ||Lastly, this is a weird one. We know of Benguerra because when we stayed at andbeyond Namibia in 2019, the GM there at the time was the GM from this Island. He was singing the island's praises saying everyone must visit. We saw him at the lodge this time on the first night and told him we were there because of that chance meeting 4.5 years ago. I suppose we received a response that wasn't very warm? Felt like he brushed us off with a "we'll chat more later". He hung out w his friend that evening in the lobby and we never saw him again. I mention it because in the context of paying for luxury price point accommodation, we probably expected a bit more? More personable? more warmth? and more excitement about brand loyalty? We gave up staying at Kisawa for this property. No idea if Kisawa is better but we can't help but wonder "what if"||To sum it up, we were disappointed. In the book of luxury travel/experience, this is not it. Or maybe andbeyond was never supposed to be in the same rank as some of the other options but we were fooled by our Namibia experience?||That said, thank you Lucas, Sean and Paolo for trying so hard. and thank you for the 2 massage therapist who gave one of the best massages ever provided by a resort.

This resort is spectacular: the staff, service & rooms are all to an extremely high standard. The helicopter transfer to the island is just the beginning of the magic - couldn't recommend this place more!

This was perfect beach oasis to cap off our African honeymoon adventure. The world is seemingly at your finger tips as soon as you set foot at this resort, with a chorus of woman singing local songs to welcome you. The staff truly knows how to make your feel special. The sprinkle meaningful details throughout your interactions with them and are very personal. Our butler Helder and activity leader, Carlos were particular highlights of our stay. They provided truly special service. The management staff is also very engaging throughout the stay in order to guarantee every detail is correct. ||In addition to the excellent staff, a number of activities are included in you stay including: Snorkeling the local coral reef (the BEST snorkeling i've ever done), traditional dhow boat sunset cruise, horseback riding, paddleboarding and private picnic. ||Lastly, this resort also fosters a deep connection with the surrounding island villages, creating a sense of pride in knowing that your stay contributes to the local community. This meaningful relationship adds an extra layer of purpose to the luxurious experience.

Amazing hospitality from Paolo our Favorite butler. This is the third time we have been to Ben Guerra and every experience is magical. Snorkelling, diving, horseback riding and just plain relaxing! The team at the lodge is A+++ |Please consider a visit.

What a magical few days. Best hotel we’ve ever been to. We have travelled a lot, and were expecting a lot from &Beyond Benguerra, but the lodge managed to exceed our expectations. Service is truly top notch, villa is fabulous and a huge amount of activities included in your stay (snorkelling, horse riding, private beach picnic etc). A very well run place. A special thank you to our amazing butlers Enia and Gelario who went above and beyond, housekeeping lady Aissa who remembered even the smallest things, snorkelling team Carlos, Macamo and José (who went to great lengths to find Dugongs), Josefa the activities manager who was just fantastic, Antonio and team at the bar, Nelson our butler during the romantic beach picnic, Victorino the fantastic chef who puts many 5 star hotels to shame, and of course Sean and Zané. Can’t wait to be back! Obrigada!