Mauwani Inn - Zanzibar Town

The Zanzibar Palace hotel is located slightly behind the port, a bit odd but actually it turns out to be convenient. The staff was incredibly nice and helpful, pointed us in the right direction looking for local amenities, helped us book a spice tour, and helped us trouble shoot when one of our transportation arrangements failed.

Overall I was satisfied with my stay at Ocean Paradise. I stayed for 3 nights after climbing Kili, and it was just what I needed after a grueling 6 day hike. I was a single female traveler and felt 100% safe. I booked a garden room which offered plenty of space and it was conveniently located next to the pool and very close to the beach. The food was a pleasant surprise as well; the pool bar had standard American options (sandwiches, pizza, etc) which were reasonably priced, and dinner was served buffet style and had tons of salad, entry, meat/seafood options. I'm usually a picky eater and could find something tasty. One thing to note: don't book your tours directly through the hotel as they are SUPER expensive. There are a few guys who hang out on the beach right outside the hotel that offer good quality tours for less than half the price.

Best thing about this hotel was the friendly and helpful staff. The receptionist upgraded us for no charge to a sea view chalet from garden view. The cleaning lady left a towel design on the bed with flowers scattered about every day, then turned down the bed at night. The breakfast was simple but adequate. Dinner was exceptional as part of halfboard booking -- whether a dinner buffet or we ordered off the menu. Note that the dinner buffet quality may have been due to the Christmas holidays. Pool was crowded around Christmas because the hotel allows locals to swim for a fee -- not a problem per se and made for more pool atmosphere, but the music was way too loud. Public beach is not very good due to the very narrow strip of sand, the rocks and barnacles past the sand, and the shallow slope which makes it is very tidal affected. The hotel's pool area would be enhanced if they replaced the rough grass along the area by the sea with soft sand -- since the beach is of poor quality, good sand is needed somewhere. The hotel had two kayaks that we rented for a very reasonable price. There is a small village next to the hotel and the variety of boats and people made for some great pictures. It is best to get the phone numbers of several taxi drivers you can call. The hotel does need to invest in continuing upgrades as some areas are showing a lot of wear and degradation. However, this was an overall a good place to stay as long as you find a 3-1/2 star hotel acceptable.

I stayed @ the hotel for the christmas holiday with my friends. I can say that the hotel is more than value for the money. Good points for us were the hotel condition & service, staff, meal, view @ the rooftop restaurant. Location is close to the beach but little far from the market, if you go on foot. We were 3 in a twin room, so the hotel put an extra bed but without a net. Though it seemed quite clean, we would feel more safe to have it equally for all beds.

Kichanga's staff is wonderful. The food was excellent and plentiful (and Breakfast and Dinner were included in our price). And of course the beach is spectacular. We enjoyed our bungalow, however, it was difficult to sleep in the humidity. A/C would have made all the difference. Other than that, maybe offering a shuttle service from Stone Town would have been helpful. Otherwise we had a great stay!