Hotels Near Sunset jump spot in Urban

Utterly enchanting- from our 5am arrival until our departure 3 days later we were looked after so incredibly well. The hotel organised our airport pickup and opened up with a gentle tap (you may need help to find it as it’s in the narrow streets of old Stonetown). The front of house was superb and Peter took care of us. The hotel has so much atmosphere, full of antiques and lush vegetation. Breakfast is in the roof balcony. Excursions can be organised. I had read a few unpleasant reviews but I can’t think why, cleanliness was first class and the hospitality was outstanding. I hope you are lucky enough to find a room - we stayed 3 nights it was so good.

I had the most unforgettable stay at the truly 5 star Neela Boutique Hotel in Stone Town. From the moment I arrived, Ayubu and Hossein were amazing and took care of us with such genuine hospitality, making us feel at home right away. The hotel is centrally located, making it incredibly easy to explore all the points of interest in Stone Town, from historical sites to the bustling markets. The architecture is breathtaking, blending traditional Zanzibari charm with modern elegance. Each room is a work of art, with meticulous attention to detail that makes every space feel luxurious and unique. The rooftop terrace was the highlight of our stay, where we enjoyed an incredible dinner with stunning views of the city and the Indian Ocean. The atmosphere was magical, and the food was nothing short of spectacular.I can’t recommend Neela Boutique Hotel enough – from the impeccable service to the beautiful design and ideal location, it’s truly a gem in the heart of Stone Town. A perfect place to experience luxury while soaking in the rich history of Zanzibar!

There are not many places to go shopping in Stone Town on Sand Island. The rooms here are relatively small. If you think you want to live at this price level, there are a lot of surrounding areas, but the conditions are more general and the price/performance ratio is not very high. The hotels in Africa are generally better than those in Southeast Asia. It’s quite expensive. The table in the room is dusty. As a Hilton, I shouldn’t. It can be seen that this hotel spent a lot of money in the past, but the decoration is outdated. Only the bed and pillows are very comfortable, because on the island, there are still some Humid, the hotel has its own scent, but I don’t like it very much, and there is no swimming pool in this hotel

I landed at Golden Tulip because Trip.com messed up my booking elsewhere, and I only found out about it at the last minute. The location is right by the port, on a side of town that feels quite sketchy. However, Stone Town is small and safe, so it didn’t matter too much. The rooms are nice enough. They have everything you need. People are friendly all over Zanzibar, and at the Golden Tulip no less. The pool is lovely, and service is okay. Sometimes I had to ask more than once, phone down because my towel had disappeared, or guide them through my own bill. The restaurant is pretty bad. I’m not a particularly fussy eater, but don’t feel the need to eat bad food. I ordered three tester dishes on my first day, and didn’t finish any. Another traveler had a similar experience. Breakfast is okay. There is fruit, yoghurt, pastries, omelettes on request, toast, cereal sometimes, and a variety of hot dishes. Nobody seems to notice when the table has no cutlery or when the coffee, milk or a given hot dish runs out. Most days, I found the cereal (if they had it), fruit, and at least one hot dish edible.

I had changed my plans to experience Stone Town at the end of my trip. I had chosen to stay at Verde Hotel but, whilst there, had a few regrets that I had not chosen a hotel right in Stone Town. As it happened, my flight ended up being cancelled and I had to spend an unexpected additional night in Stone Town so decided to book the Serena which I was quite excited about. It looked a lot more traditional than the Verde and more ‘quintessential Zanzibar’. First of all, they charge $40 for an airport transfer. Total rip off. Be aware of this. The Verde charged $25 and it’s much further away. Secondly, the rooms are very disappointing for the price you pay. Quite cramped and dark. I asked if I could change rooms as mine was the first on the corridor with no view at all. They couldn’t. Some of the staff on reception were more friendly than others but, overall, the reception service was poor. That said, Amina and ‘Big Joe’ were both lovely and very helpful. The pool area was nice and I enjoyed my swim after 8 hours stuck at Zanzibar airport going nowhere. It’s right by the sea so you get some great views of the ocean and the sunset. I dined in the restaurant - food (buffet) was good but the restaurant is quite hot. The worst aspect of this hotel was the noise at night. I woke up around 2am to someone shouting in the corridor outside my room. This went on for ages and I couldn’t get back to sleep. All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

- Amazing building and gardens overlooking the sea (west coast), you can’t believe you’re staying somewhere so beautiful for that price. Unbelievable sunsets! - Staff are so friendly - particularly Richard (front of house), Catherine the chef, and Joel the Masai guard - Service is brilliant - they will take in your bags for you and do all they can to help you - We stayed one night after a late flight from the mainland as it was close to the airport - great location and meant we didn’t need to drive into Stone Town which is not fun to drive in - Free and secure parking - WiFi - Incredible breakfast which is included (!) - So cheap for the level of service you get - We liked it so much that we decided to come here for dinner on our last day in Zanzibar which was delicious - The car we had rented broke down outside the gates, blocking the driveway. About six staff members all came to help us push the car up the hill and out of the way, which was so kind. The manager also called our car rental company for us to ask them to come and fix our car. While we waited, they gave us a welcome juice drink and took in our bags. They are amazing. Only cons are that the bathrooms are a bit tired and could do with updating - though for the price you wouldn’t expect much better! There’s also no air con but I didn’t get too hot.

The front desk provided a room that was already occupied. When we checked in at 23:00 late at night and opened the door, a middle-aged man was already sleeping on the bed. The man was frightened and very angry. Similarly, we were also very frightened and felt very embarrassed. For such a misunderstanding, the front desk only apologized to the man, but did not apologize to us. After changing rooms, our twin bed room was changed to a double bed room. The hotel did not explain this. Because it was late at night, we gave up changing beds and rested. There was a musty smell in the room, and a bottle of mineral water was empty, and it was not cleaned. There were many flies flying around in the restaurant during breakfast. I am very dissatisfied with this accommodation experience.

I have never stayed in a hotel where the service and experience progressively got worse each day. Everything just started going downhill during our second day you wake up in the morning and the first thing that happens is you are asked about joining one of the tours and offer through the hotel and they do that every chance they get and the moment they find out that you have a booking For a tour with another company and not through them, they will just little snide comments and make you regret your decisions. The second thing was the food you had to order lunch hours before and when you ordered for specific time you get to the restaurant you still have to wait at least another 30 minutes to get it, I ordered calamari on one of those days for eight and only got four small pieces of calamari and that was it just for small pieces of calamari and fried plantain so that was basically two dollars per calamari. There was an element of feeling unsafe because one of the mornings as I was walking up to breakfast there was a strange man just walking around and when I get to breakfast, one of the staff members there tells me that there’s a man who has been asking about me and looking for me and as I turned there, that man is standing right there and my question was, how are you letting this man on the premises, and what if you wanted to come to me and you guys are letting him walk around this entire place because I ran into him on the other side of the hotel so there was that as well which made me feel extremely uncomfortable and uneasy and unsafe. They didn’t spray any mosquito spray as it’s common in the area to in and spray the room with mosquito spray at the end of each evening they only did that first night and we had to keep them and each time it was met with just a sigh of inconvenience like we were inconveniencing them getting there difficult worth it and I think that is the one thing I can attest to being the better part of this entire establishment, but that aside the services awful. You will go hungry, we told the bar open a specific time but it wouldn’t open. Also they change their rules at one day. It’s OK to have a meal by the bar closer to the beach the next day you can’t do that but then you’ll see them. Send them food down for specific people so that was also extremely offputting, I can safely say I will never set foot in that place ever again. Also, the WiFi was bad