When you wake up in the Mbweni Ruins Hotel, the first thing you're aware of is the low, repeating crash of the waves, punctuated now and then by a bird call. It's a lovely sound, and you can lie listening to it for a long time. But eventually you realize that it will be even nicer to see those waves as well as hear them, so you brush aside the romantic mosquito netting around your carved Zanzibari four-poster bed and walk out to your balcony...and then down the 30 feet or so to the beach, where you can watch the water ripple gently up the combed sand. There may be a white heron in the mangroves if the tide is low, and, if you're up early, a flock of orange-headed swallows will be dipping themselves briskly into the swimming pool.
When you've looked for a while, you'll walk up the hill through the flowering shrubs to the palm-thatched restaurant for breakfast--a pristine buffet of tropical fruits, juices, and cereals, plus a full, hot breakfast. (The pancakes are thin crepes in a spice syrup, the French toast is very eggy, and the Eggs Benedict are wonderfully rich--but the real attraction is the Masala Tea, clearly made with local spices.) If you're not careful, you may linger a very long time over breakfast, watching the dhows glide by, but if you miss the shuttle into town, you can sit on the beach sipping passion fruit juice (served with safe ice!) or climbing through the ruins of an orphans' school on the grounds.
Stone Town is ten minutes away by shuttle. The hotel has five shuttles a day, and you can always get a private one for $5. There must be nice hotels in Stone Town, but if money's no object, it's hard to imagine a better place to stay on that part of the island than Mbweni.