Bustani means garden in Swahili, and that is literally where the spa is — a separate building in the hotel garden, a short walk from the villas. This is the whole treatment list: what each one is, how long it takes, what it costs, and which to book if you are only booking one.
Who you will meet
Two therapists work at Bustani. Maryam Salim Hassan has led the spa since 2014, and a second therapist works alongside her, which is why two people can be treated at the same time on beds set side by side.
One thing worth knowing before you arrive: the building and the equipment belong to the hotel, but the spa itself is Maryam's own business. Treatments therefore do not go on your room bill. You pay the spa directly — cash or card at the spa, or a payment link in advance, which is how most people buy a treatment as a birthday or honeymoon present for someone who does not know it is coming.
Hours, and how far ahead to book
Open every day, 09:00 to 18:00. Ask your butler or simply walk over. Visitors who are not staying at the hotel are welcome too, subject to availability. In high season the late-afternoon slots go first, so book a day ahead rather than an hour ahead. Book three massages and 10% comes off.
If you book only one thing
The Matlai Massage — 60 minutes, 235,000 TZS. Coconut oil sourced from the garden, your choice of pressure, your choice of essential oil. It is the signature treatment and the one the spa would pick for you.
The full-body massages
- Matlai Massage — 60 min, 235,000 TZS. The signature: choose your pressure and your oils.
- Aroma Therapie Massage — 60 min, 235,000 TZS. You choose two essential oils from the selection.
- Deep Tissue Massage — 50 min, 185,000 TZS. Intensified pressure and deeper muscle work.
- African Wood Massage — 50 min, 159,000 TZS. Warm wooden tools worked over the muscle, in an African healing tradition.
- Zanzibar Massage — 50 min, 145,000 TZS. Medium-pressure kneading with plain massage oil, focused on circulation.
- Mchai Chai Massage — 50 min, 119,000 TZS. Mchai chai is Swahili for lemongrass, and the oil is what you will smell in the room.
Shorter, and more specific
- Men's Relaxing Massage — 60 min, 160,000 TZS. Begins with a facial treatment, then face, head and shoulders.
- Reflex Zone Massage — 50 min, 145,000 TZS. Reflex points on the feet and hands.
- Matlai De-Stress Massage — 40 min, 120,000 TZS. Back, neck and shoulders only.
- Indian Head Massage — 30 min, 80,000 TZS. Head and shoulders.
- Foot Massage — 30 min, 80,000 TZS. Feet and lower legs.
The two heated treatments
These are the ones guests ask for by name. The Hot Stone Massage — 60 minutes, 235,000 TZS — sets heated natural stones on the body while the therapist works around them; the technique has its roots in Chinese medicine.
The Konokono Massage — 60 minutes, 185,000 TZS — is the local answer to it. Konokono is the Swahili word for a sea snail, and it is their shells, warmed, that the therapist uses: they glide over the body rather than resting on it, which makes this the gentler of the two.
A third sits with them on the menu: the Bibi Harusi Body Scrub, 60 minutes, 265,000 TZS. Bibi harusi means bride, and the scrub comes from the Swahili tradition of preparing a bride's skin before her wedding. It is booked mostly by honeymooners and for anniversaries.
The baths, which take an afternoon rather than an hour
All three cost 399,000 TZS and follow the same shape: a foot massage to begin, the bath itself, and a 30-minute full-body massage at the end.
- Swahili Herbal Bath Experience — boiled healing herbs, with mbono leaves laid over you in the water.
- Floral Spice Fusion — dried flowers, sea salt, clove and cinnamon.
- Cleopatra Bath — milk and honey, with a soft back scrub of coconut crusts and milk.
Scrubs, facials, and skin that has had too much sun
- Body Scrub — 50 min, 159,000 TZS. Zanzibar spice, Tanzanian coffee, or sea salt and oil. Better before you start sunbathing than after.
- Natural Facial Treatment — 50 min, 145,000 TZS. Cleansing, a face mask, and a head massage to finish.
- Sun Burn Treatment — 60 min, 145,000 TZS. Natural aloe vera, finishing with head and face.
- Holistic Fitness for Men — 60 min, 199,000 TZS. Homemade clove and rosemary oil with dynamic stretches, before or after exercise.
Feet, hands and nails
Three short foot treatments, all of them soaks rather than massages:
- Mbono Leaves Treatment — 35 min, 90,000 TZS. Freshly cut green mbono leaves — Jatropha curcas — in a foot soak.
- Sea Salt Treatment with Lime and Vinegar — 30 min, 69,000 TZS.
- Herbal Compresses with Hot Spiced Water — 30 min, 69,000 TZS. Feet soak in hot spiced water, with compresses on knees and feet.
For nails: manicure 99,000 TZS, or 145,000 TZS with semi-permanent gel. Pedicure 119,000 TZS, or 159,000 TZS with gel. A polish change on its own is 119,000 TZS.
In your villa, on your balcony, beside the pool
Every treatment on this list can be done in your room instead of at the spa. The therapists carry a portable bed and set it up wherever you want it — bedroom, balcony, or next to the pool. Arrange it through your butler.
Two people at once
The treatment room has two beds side by side, so couples are treated together rather than in shifts. The same works in a villa or by the pool.
There is also a package. Romantic for Two is 649,000 TZS per person and runs to five hours: a floral bath for two, a 60-minute aromatherapy massage and a 50-minute facial each, and a candlelit dinner with sparkling wine. The five hours include the quiet gaps and the snacks between treatments, which is rather the point of it. The dinner setting and the wine are part of the package; the meal itself you choose with your butler and it is charged separately.
Paying
Prices here are taken from the spa's printed menu as it stood in August 2026, and are in Tanzanian shillings, which is how extras are priced across the hotel. A treatment list outlives the prices on it, so check with the spa if you are reading this a long way from that date. Three massages booked together take 10% off the total. And because the spa is its own business, you settle with Maryam at the spa — cash or card there, or a payment link beforehand — rather than at reception.
