Zanzibar hotels near House of Wonders

Pros: The hotel is the most luxurious hotel in Zanzibar. It is very comfortable and welcoming. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The food was very good, especially the breakfast which had a great variety. Choose this hotel if you want to visit Stone Town and Prison Island for a couple of days or if you are there for business.

Cons: The Spa could definitely be improved. The beach is an open beach so dont choose this hotel if you want a beach holiday.

Pros: Breakfast was a fantastic spread! Many thanks to the general manager Nicholas for going out of his way to make us so comfortable. The staff was fabulous looking after us.

Pros: Terrific hotel with wonderful pool, views, right on the beach, good food selection and quality, superb staff. A bit pricey for being right in stone town (and therefore not on the nicest beach), but a great place to stay for those who don't have time to get out to the further parts of the island

Pros: It’s historical significance, architecture, cleanliness, upkeep, good air conditioning and comfortable bed. The room was spacious. The staff were responsive to our needs and recommended things to do in the areas and arranged for it.

Cons: Electricity outages were common during our stay but only lasted a minute at a time. Our room did not have hot water.

Pros: Excellent location, great restaurant

Cons: No hand towel in the main bathroom, only tissues (difficult to wipe wet hands with)

Pros: Location

Cons: We were promised a bottle of sparkling wine in our room on arrival as it was our honeymoon but this was not provided. No big deal. The service at the bar / restaurant was worst I have ever experienced in a 5 star hotel. 15 minutes between providing the menu and taking our drinks order. Red wine was being kept on ice so it was served ice cold. Our food took ages to arrive and when it did arrive it did not come with any of our side orders. They had forgotten. Side orders were provided 20 minutes after we finished our main meal. The restaurant was not busy. That evening we rang reception to ask about the sparkling wine and were told they would call us back. No response. We inquired on our way out to dinner and were met with a shrug of the shoulders. When we returned from dinner we asked again and they said they would send it to our room immediately. Unless we inquired again, the hotel staff would have continued to simply ignore us. 1 hour later and it still had not arrived to room. We had to call reception again. The next day we asked for some change at the bar as we only had large notes. We were told no. We asked at the reception and again were told no. This is meant to be a $500/night 5 star hotel but yet they could not handle such a simple request. We had a drink that night in the bar and ordered two glasses of red wine. 6 times the waiter returned to our table to confirm the order. Eventually he advised that the wine was not available so we ordered different wine. Again the red wine was served ice cold despite the hotels website boasting of their prestigious sommeliers. The robes in the room were torn and there was blood on the moaquito net around the bed. Despite all of the above, it is a beautiful hotel in an excellent location with spectacular views. Sadly the service is poor or maybe we simply weren't important enough guests as staff seemed to swarm to certain guests. It may be the most expensive hotel in stone town but definitely not the best.

Pros: Thank you for the birthday surprise cake. It was much appreciated.

Cons: Bed making needs improvement. There needs to be two sheets (linen) a fitted and flat sheet

Pros: Amazing location, highly recommended if staying in stone town.

Pros: The staff were very good and took a lot of time to get to know us and make us feel comfortable, especially our 8 year old granddaughter. The room was very well appointed (junior suite) with loads of storage space. The food was a nice mix of local and international style and fairly priced. Fabulous sunsets over the sea from our balcony.

Cons: TV remote and bathroom scales needed batteries and obviously hadn’t been checked before new guests arrived. TV choice very limited. Small problem with lighting that wouldn’t switch off too, though this was rectified when reported. So just a few small niggly things that shouldn’t really happen at the price level.

Cons: The price is high for the rooms

Pros: The hotel is beautiful. We had an ocean view and kept the door open all night and it was simply stunning. We woke to the local women doing bootcamp on the beach in their hijabs and it was delightful. The management were exceptional and introduced themselves individually to us in case we needed anything. When we wanted to send some of our belongings back to Australia they were so helpful. We loved the pool area and after 2 weeks on safari, we adored this hotel. It gave us the refreshment we needed to travel on to Egypt.

Cons: The bar staff were so slow! Over an hour to get a Margherita at the pool is ridiculous and beers always arrived warm. However a local from Dar gave us a great tip - ask for an ice bucket with your beer and all will be fine.

Pros: Welcoming and friendly staff. Very attractive room in a very nice house. Easy walking distance to all places of interest.

Cons: On-site parking chaotic. Not actually a hotel car park, only a couple of spaces. Had to move the car a few hours later. Worried it would be blocked in. No alcohol policy. This was not mentioned in the description but has been in place eight months. Were told we could bring own then this was contradicted. Told no wine glasses despite picture clearly showing this in details. Would not have booked if we knew about these issues. Description needs updating.

Pros: The place in downtown Stontown and the decoration of the hotel (old house).

Cons: My room was just down the kitchen and i could hear the noise of the fridge or the AC engine and people walking. The window insulation are not good also (old one). There was no decoration in the bathroom all the stuff were on a chair.

Pros: Much more than we expected! Wonderful architecture, tradicional and modern at the same time. Best location in Stone Town and a delicious breakfast. Staff extremely friendly!

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing

Cons: They declare the hotel has a private parking, but there is no parking. I had booked this hotel just for this reason, since I had to go to the airport at 3.30 am. They make you park in a narrow dusty street near the hotel (if you find a place), where the cars are parked one behind the other, with the risk that you cannot exit if you need.

Pros: It’s a beautiful old colonial house turned boutique hotel. If you like your hotels to have character and history, Kisiwa House is ideal. It’s beautifully charming and it’s located in the centre of stone town.

Pros: A lovingly restored traditional Stone Town building converted into a fabulous boutique hotel. The building was just gorgeous! The room was beautiful and cosy and full of charm and character. The staff were all very friendly and efficient. Breakfast was excellent with a great choice and served on the amazing roof top.

Cons: The only negative.......I didn't have time to have the evening meal in the restaurant and to enjoy all the nooks and crannies and little seating spots hidden around.

Pros: Mwanajuma was a great host & the staff was equally impressive.

Cons: The beef bacon shortage.

Pros: The rooms are very clean, roomie, the staff were very welcoming and nice. The breakfast was great! Just near Kenyata road where you can buy things. Near the clothes market and beach

Cons: Without elevator and the hotel has high stairs

Pros: Location of the hotel, roof terrace

Cons: additional charges on credit card to pay transportation

Pros: This is such a beautiful venue with a unique local flair, super friendly & accommodating staff and great food as well. Rooms are very spacious, comfortable & clean, everything you could ask for. As for Danielle, the new hotel manager, she is such a sweetheart and has quite the life story. Don’t even think about it, you’ve found the perfect place!

Pros: Interesting location, large room, helpful staff.

Cons: AC master control was centralized and turned off during the day making staying in the room extremely uncomfortable, even between breakfast and check-out at 11AM.

Pros: The staff is absolutely lovely and caters to your every wish. The place is absolutely clean and well furnished, so you can relax and enjoy your stay.

Pros: loved this authentic boutique hotel in the heart of old Zanzibar stone town

Pros: The room was comfortable and a good size for me as a solo traveler. The staff were very helpful and friendly, and I was able to book several excursions through the reception desk. I also liked having the cafe available for meals, and the breakfast buffet upstairs.

Cons: The location was fine, but I would have liked to be slightly closer to the center of Stone Town.

Pros: The hotel was helpful storing our bags, offering a nice breakfast and booking for us a van to take us up Island. They also have some interesting fair trade wooden items for sale. The staff were friendly, helpful and courteous. The rooftop terrace was very delightful for breakfast. Air conditioning was essential due to the humidity.

Cons: We had no concerns.

Pros: kind staff, clean and good location.

Pros: The hotel is top-notch. As the hotel is run partly by Dutch people, it has a good feel for European values and standards. Also the food is excellent!

Cons: The only downside is the location near the port. It is convenient if you travel by ferry (you can walk it in 5 minutes), but it is not the best neighborhood in town. But don't let that put you off. I will still recommend this hotel!

Pros: Beautiful clean rooms, extremely welcoming staff, excellent breakfast- this hotel definitely had the X-Factor: 10/10!

Pros: Central location, beautiful and spacious room

Pros: The staff were always helpful and friendly. Breakfast was great, with pancakes and fresh juices. Clean and comfortable. Cafe that is attached to the hotel is excellent with some good choice of food and milkshakes, ice cream etc.

Pros: Good location, Clean room, Nice staffs

Pros: Incredible breakfast. Super clean and friendly staff. Good place

Cons: Nothing really. All perfect.

Pros: Nora and the staff were very nice and welcoming. The breakfast was great! We did a prison island tour to see the giant turtles, and I HIGHLY recommend it! The giant turtles are honestly worth the trip to Zanzibar alien :)

Pros: The rooms were very comfortable and the staff was delightful. Excellent location.

Pros: Beautiful historical hotel with unique guest rooms. Loved the architecture of the building and the details of the room. Added bonus of a rooftop bar/restaurant with a panoramic view of the town and even a jacuzzi up there. We were one of the few guests in the hotel since it's low season but all of the staff were still very accommodating.

Pros: It was an interesting historic building centrally located. It was very clean, well staffed and managed. All of the staff including the very helpful Maria were most accommodating and actually made you feel truly welcome and sincere. They all went out of their way to please, educate and help us. A safe haven in a bustling city.

Cons: We were surprised that cars/ taxis could not drive right up to the hotel but if a place is well located in Old Stone City only bikes and motor bikes can make it thru the streets.

Pros: Nice location, Stone Town is the perfect location to get to every You need to go, great restaurant above the hotel with a beautiful view. Very helpful and nice staff in the restaurant and reception area.

Cons: The bed is an not comfortable.

Pros: Nice room, views.

Cons: The power kept going off and their generator also didn’t work. Water pressure not great and pump to the toilet didn’t work most days. No hot water so be prepared for cold showers all the time. Wasn’t until breakfast on the third morning we were offered cooked eggs. Other days the breakfast offerings got less and less but seems they worked it out in the end.

Pros: Great staff, food, ambiance

Cons: Very difficult to find in the labyrinth of Stontown, even with map. I did not have a GPS, which might solve the problem. Only issue I had was a laundered pair of shorts of synthetic fabric that had the imprint of an iron on it, which burned a small hole and blackened a small area. Not a big deal but would have appreciated a heads-up on that.

Pros: Old and classy. Beautifully decorated and furnished. Lovely staff.

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Great staff Beautifull house in the center of Stone town. I loved that the staff every evening would make My room ready for Night time, mosquito net down, regulated the aircondition and made the room smell of a Nice fragrance. This was the Best place i stayed. I would go back anytime.

Pros: - Unique style of the hotel - Roof top terrace overlooking the city - Friendly receptionist

Cons: - Bland and somewhat tasteless food at the restaurant, being on the spice island one would expect very tasty food. - bad WiFi connection - towels not rinsed properly and still full of soap - room without windows - service at the restaurant somewhat not very friendly

Pros: Location and staff were perfect

Cons: Nothing

Pros: bedroom was lovely however the bathroom is not as nice at the photos- more basic. the staff were friendly however there was a lady that never smiled at anyone. there was confusion over the price as we asked someone who turned out to be new who said a room is $80 for one night in a standard double. obviously very different to what is offered on booking.com. however when we checked out all was fine and we paid the correct price from booking.com. the restaurant is nice, we got a 10% off from being a guest there. As a vegan they had a few selections which were good. it’s very close to the ferry and i wished we had walked there when we first arrived instead of overpaying for a taxi. i would recommend to anyone but next time i’ll find somewhere cheaper.

Pros: Nice building and location.

Cons: The room had a strong smell of mould. It was advertised as 33 m² but was not more than 11 m². There was barely room to get into the bed on either side of the single bed. The room was advertised as having a double bed. Since my night there, I have had a persistent chronic cough.

Pros: Breakfast and coffee were nice.

Cons: Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience in this place, as they took money from our bags. We left the hotel to go for a quick walk but weren't planning on buying anything so I left my wallet in the room, thinking it would be safe. Since it was our last day in Zanzibar, before leaving we counted the money we had left, to make sure we didn't need to withdraw more before the safari and then just left everything in the room. When we went back from our walk, we noticed someone had come into the room to bring some bottles of water, we checked my wallet and notice money was gone. We went downstairs and asked the girl at the reception if someone went into our room and she kept saying nobody did. When we said we were sure someone did because they brought water in and money was gone, she said maybe someone was in but they didn't take anything. We are 100% sure they did. We stayed in so many hostels and hotels around the world and this is the first time this has happened to us. Such a bad experience! On top of this, wifi never works. Stay somewhere else!

Pros: Awesome location in Stone Town. We left our cR there for 2 days and the security ensured it was fine. Staff lovely and helpful with any requests and assisted with tour guides etc. thoroughly recommend.

Pros: We had chosen this hotel because we had visited for a coffee on a previous trip to Zanzibar and found it charming. We have been travelling in Africa for several weeks and wanted accommodation that was central and luxurious. We found both these qualities in the Beyt El Salaam. On arrival we were offered welcome coffee and introduced to some of the main staff and the chef. We were delighted to be able to check in early and shown to a lovely room which Very much met our expectations. The facilities, including the restaurant where we had delicious lunches and dinner , were in keeping with the elegance of the hotel. The nearby spa facilities were also good value with a 20% off the price for being residents. A benefit is also the situation as it is a quiet leafy enclave of Stone Town which is welcome after the hustle and bustle of the main tourist areas. It was also delightful to be near the beach area where we enjoyed sunset walks.The security guards were very present but also friendly, as were all the staff who did all they could to make our stay special. We have already recommended it to family who wish to visit Zanzibar.

Cons: Genuinely, nothing. It was near to perfect for what we wanted and needed.

Pros: The authentic decoration and atmosphere. The restaurant's food was really good

Pros: We like the location of the hotel the most. It is outside the hustle and bustle of downtown Stonetown and yet close to the main Street with all the highlights.

Cons: We booked the deluxe room, which looked great on the website. Yet upon arrival, the staff must have been confused about our early check in and gave us a standard room. We didn't want to negotiate the room after a long day so we stayed at the standard room. There was then confusion during check out about the prepayment. It was overall not chill and the value for money definitely off.

Pros: location.. heritage.. room.. cleanliness.. restaurant.. spa.. chic little boutique hotel with all rooms different and unique.. superb location..

Cons: staff were a bit uninformed but very courteous.. check-in was a hassle..

Pros: Its right in town bt far enough from the busy noisey streets

Cons: The rooms looked abit older bt nothing yo complain off.

Pros: Best location for exploring the Stone Town on foot. Clean, comfortable, good friendly service and reasonably-priced. Good mix of Zanzibari/Western breakfast. We didn't try their lunch and dinner menu, but it looked okay.

Cons: They need to put dampers on the feet of their furniture. If there is a floor above you, every movement of furniture above you makes a horrendous noise below.

Pros: The staff were welcoming and pleasant. The room provided was immaculately clean as was the swimming pool area. Well done to the cleaning staff!

Cons: the breakfast was poor in choice and quality. I have stayed here at this hotel many times on various short trips to Zanzibar From Dar. It feels that the breakfast has been neglected. Additionally whilst the skip area opposite the hotel has been moved (thankfully)- the smell of the waste remains when walking past - very offensive especially if venturing out for a meal/drink somewhere else

Pros: Sunsets on the rooftop

Cons: Place was great

Pros: The location of the hotel is great. The hotel is a lovely old building with surprisingly spacious rooms and good firm beds and pillows. The staff (with the exception of Reception) were helpful and friendly. The restaurant food was good (other than the gobi manchurian, which was awful) and the service was mainly prompt and efficient.

Cons: Our experience with Reception was uniformly poor. We had booked a car to meet our plane, but it didn’t arrive. We got a cab. When I showed Reception their confirmation email, she said that the person who sent it had left - then took a photocopy. She quoted a rate for the room which was higher than the booking.com confirmation. I showed her the confirmation - she took a photocopy and charged us the lower rate, but with a whooping 4% surcharge for using a debit card! When the eftpos machine finally worked (on the 4th attempt) it chewed up the merchant copy. She asked if they could keep the customer copy. We said no - so she took a photocopy, which the Manager then insisted we sign. We asked if they could change some money - she said no, but gave us (incorrect) directions to the nearest bank. We asked if they would need to see our passports and she said no - also incorrect, they needed the passports....

Pros: Nice view from the terase. Rich breakfast. Clean room.

Cons: We ordered the child´s bed and it wasnt prepared. I send there many emails about this and without any answer. I asked many times to transfer us from the airport to the hotel and anybody answer neither. I asked many times about our early check-in at 5 am and nobody answered, eventhough I kept sending emails from different email addresses. So - administation was very very poor!!!

Pros: Every thing you just mention it. Mr. Babu was very helpful and friendly not to me only but to all.

Cons: I didn't like to leave the hotel and continue our 5 remaining days, but we had to move to another hotel where our relatives were staying in.

Pros: The staff were not friendly and seemed disinterested. They did things the way they had been told to do it with no thought for customers.

Pros: Simple but friendly, good quality option in stone town.

Cons: Kayak's price was ~$30 less than booking at the hotel. The person at reception couldn't match the rate even though I was standing at the reception desk while booking.

Cons: I didnt like that i booked big room and they give us different rooms as per available not as per booked twice i got different room as per available not booked in booking