The staff most guests meet — the butlers, the front desk, the kitchens — are only part of the team. Housekeeping, maintenance, gardening and security work mostly out of sight, and a stay at Matlai depends on all of them. Here is what each department actually does.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping is a small team, most of whom have been with the hotel for years. Tatu Juma Ramadhani was our very first employee, joining even before the hotel opened in 2012 and helping complete the room furnishings. Maryam Mfaume Omar joined in 2014, Yasinta Ferdinandy Sanga and Jenipha Revocatus Mwalika both in 2022. Their work is the daily reset of every room: fresh linen, laundry, and the small touches (fresh flowers, a bed made up a particular way) that guests notice without necessarily clocking who did it. It is detail-heavy work, and the team is genuinely proud of it.
Maintenance
Is-Haak Mansab Moh'd — known as Isaka — and Yussuph Nassibu Haji cover plumbing, electrics and general construction across the property — everything from a dripping tap to keeping the generator and solar water heaters running. Isaka joined shortly after the hotel opened in 2012, starting as a barman and moving through security before finding his place in maintenance. Both are on call outside normal hours as well, since a broken air conditioner does not wait for morning.
Gardening
The garden team keeps the grounds, the coconut palms and the paths in shape year-round, and it is heavier work than it looks: when the hotel closes for part of the low season, the gardeners do not get the time off — that is when the grounds are restored after the rains. Some have been here since the hotel opened; between them the team covers plant care, garden design and basic construction work like fencing.
Security
Security controls who comes onto the property, day and night, so that guests and staff can move around freely without thinking about it. It is a quiet job by design — the measure of it going well is that nothing happens.
None of these teams are large, and most guests will only meet a handful of the people in them directly. But the rooms, the grounds and the beach in front of them are the visible result of all four departments working together.