My wife and I booked the final stay of our honeymoon at AndBeyond Benguerra. From the moment we arrived we were disappointed with our experience. The manager "warned" us that the weather was going to be miserable all week, even though it turned out to be 80 and sunny for our entire stay on the island. The manager also spoiled a surprise boat ride I had booked for my wife and myself. Despite the start to the stay we were willing to look past these incidents, but more issues arose as the day went on. The huts are not secure to the outside so we had multiple lizards inside of our room, specifically in the bathroom stall, around our laundry, toothbrushes etc.. After multiple attempts to reach the manager she came to our room and said there was nothing they could do about the lizards in the room, but they're good to have because they eat the bugs. Meanwhile, the room was filled with other bugs and the mosquito net was filthy. The manager then suggested on her own accord that we might be happier moving to a different resort.

We woke up the next morning without knowing that the manager had called the resort next door, Azura, and we decided to walk over there to check out the property. We were greeted by their manager and the tone was completely different. He informed us that our agent and andBeyond had already arranged for us to move and transfer our existing reservation with no additional cost.

We then went back to andBeyond to pack up our things. The same manager and other staff came up to us to say they were glad to hear the move was arranged and that Azura would pick us up in an hour. Shortly thereafter our agent called to inform us that andBeyond would be charging us for the five nights originally booked i.e. a full cancellation fee. We were shocked by this given andBeyond arranged the move.

At this point, we were disheartened and began looking at flights back to the US. We decided to sit down with a different manager to see if we could resolve our issue with someone new. She completely understood that we could not pay for two resorts. Within 30 minutes she had contacted andBeyond management, gotten us a documented letter acknowledging andBeyond would waive the cancellation fee, and organized our transport to Azura. We were very impressed and grateful to the other manager who sorted out the issue, but it was shocking that andBeyond would try to charge a full cancellation fee after suggesting we move.

We were very disappointed with our stay at &Beyond Benguerra. We arrived to our room and found multiple openings to the outdoors intentionally built into the windows and ceiling. Because of this, there were constantly insects and other living things in our room despite our best efforts to keep them out. Over the course of our stay we found a mouse, several cockroaches, centipedes, spiders and more in our room. Several salamanders seemed to live in the room and we would see them on the walls without fail each time we returned to the room. There were also bats flying around outside, but they never entered the room. My wife and I are both leaving with tons of bug bites and a rash. For a place advertised as a luxury lodge, it was unacceptable to us to have so many issues with insects and animals in our room.

Even if the above hadn’t been an issue, there were still several significant shortcomings at the lodge. The wifi was weak when it worked and would cut out completely all the time, there were no tvs in the rooms, no gym at the lodge, a tiny bathroom and no indoor shower. The outdoor shower was in the direct sunlight most of the day making it very difficult for someone with fair skin to shower when it was light out.

I will say that the staff was very nice and went above and beyond to make our stay more comfortable. They were there to help with our every need and truly cared about us having a good time. The snorkeling and castaway picnic were also great experiences.

At the end of the day, we paid $1,600 a night to stay at the lodge and really had trouble justifying how expensive it was. As a baseline, we would never expect bugs or animals in our room when traveling. Adding the other issues on top of that just made us feel like we didn’t get any value for what we paid. There are tons of other remote beaches around the world that are significantly less expensive and offer a better overall experience. Even if you are ok with insects and animals all over your room, you can find a better luxury experience other places for significantly less money.

We had a perfect stay with andBeyond at Benguerra Island. Literally everything is just perfect: the room, the decor, the staff, the food, the drinks, the activities, the transfer! We stayed for four nights to cap off a 2.5 week trip around southern Africa and only wished we could have stayed longer. Shout-out in particular to Isaac, Renoir, Sergio and Sarah for making our stay extra special and so so enjoyable!!!