Edit - the website is down and there have been no posts since November, so the assumption is that this resort has shut.

The Serena Zanzibar is the latest venture from the Batista family, which has run Second Life hospitality businesses for a decade, starting with a restaurant, then a bed and breakfast, and then finally moving onto resorts.

As the name suggests, this is a resort with an African (Zanzibar) type theme, complete with villas, a series of large pools, a bunch of restaurants, a spa, and various other activities such as a games area.

It's one of the most professional and RL-like resorts I've encountered in Second Life, with small touches you won't see elsewhere, and despite the price (we paid 4000L a night for a room), I recommend it highly.

Overall look and feel

The Serena Zanzibar is on a sim that's restricted to guests and staff. You get your group tag on check-in.

Checking in however is a bit different to elsewhere. You are first of all taken to an airport, after which there's a 20 minute flight in your own private jet to the resort. The Serena Zanzibar has its own landing strip, and one of the owners runs an airline

I went with my partner Muti over the Valentine's weekend and this aspect alone really wow-ed us. As well as the flight, the whole check in process involves several members of staff, and a welcome by the owner.

The resort is really well put together, and the level of service and attention paid to guests is really high. In fact, the whole emphasis is very much on vacation-RP, and on arriving you'll be given a schedule with spa sessions, dinner and guided tours.

Overall - 5 / 5

The villas

I deliberately chose a smaller, more intimate villa, the Kono Kono, which has a bedroom and bathroom, and a roof terrace. It also has a private garden, where you can order room service (600L). A giraffe watches you while you eat!

The overall design is on par with other high end resorts in Second Life, with a lot of attention to detail.

Our villa was 4000L a night, while there are larger ones, suitable for groups at 5000L.

Overall - 4.5 / 5

Features and amenities

Features and amenities include dining in the sky restaurant (which we did on the first night), a spa, a beautifully built breakfast area with a huge buffet, a series of four large pools, and a games area.

If you bring your family, the resort also has extensive play areas for kids.

The one area that didn't work for us was 'Stone Town', which sits next to the main resort on a separate sim. It seemed random, so much so that I wondered if this was a throw back to a previous iteration of the resort.

The real Stone Town is of course in Zanzibar, but here there are Italian village buildings, compete with things like 'Albergo' on them. I'm not sure this area adds anything, and my suggestion to the owners would be either to close it or turn it into something else.

However what we did love was the butterfly area, which is peaceful and beautiful, with seating and cuddle areas. It's perfect for photos and was suitably decorated for Valentine's Day

Overall - 4 / 5

The animations

As mentioned, the resort itself is family / kids friendly, but there are adult anims in the villas. In fact, one of the villas, The Melia, is specifically designed for poly couples, something I've not seen before in an SL Resort or hotel.

Some of the PG anims around the resort took a bit of adjusting, but nothing major compared to what you'll find elsewhere.

Overall - 4 / 5

Other things to mention

Check-in is in theory at 4:30pm SLT, which is of course very late if you are on a European timezone, but if you contact the owners on Facebook they will do their best to work around you, and shift various RP dining and spa sessions around.

Is the resort adult? See above, there are adult anims in the rooms

Privacy - It's a group only sim, so you'll only encounter other guests and staff

Lag - I encountered a little, but there are stones throughout the resort which you sit on to get rid of it

Prices - 3500 to 5000 a night, I think it's justified given the level of RP and service provided

Overall

If you want to RP your whole vacation from arrival to departure, then this place is for you. It has welcoming owners and staff, a really unique arrivals experience, and some beautiful features such as the butterfly farm. Highly recommended.

For bookings and more information, see the website and Facebook page