Best hotels in Zanzibar
The best hotels in Zanzibar, chosen by our expert, including luxury hotels, boutique hotels, budget hotels and Zanzibar hotel deals. Read the reviews and book.
All hotels have been independently reviewed by our expert writers, who are usually hosted on a complimentary basis. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating.
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Zuri Zanzibar Hotel
Telegraph expert ratingZuri, a high-design eco-resort, spills onto the best stretch of beach on the Tanzanian archipelago. Follow lantern-lit jungle paths to one of 55 thatched-roof villas gathered in clusters reflecting a traditional African village. The first Design Hotel in Zanzibar, Zuri serves sustainability with Afro-chic style. Read expert reviewFROM
£355pnCheck availability -
The Residence Zanzibar
Telegraph expert ratingDeep in the heart of what was once just bush and mangroves, The Residence Zanzibar is a tropical site to behold. With a fish tank-like infinity pool that pours into the Indian Ocean and palatial villas decked out in local furniture, guests will experience a true African hideaway in total luxury. Read expert reviewVILLAS FROM
£342pnCheck availability -
Xanadu Villas & Retreat
Telegraph expert ratingXanadu’s cluster of villas come with 24-hour personal butler service and an ‘anytime, anywhere’ policy on meals. There are nods to the spice island’s Arab history in domed buildings, alongside African art. Each villa has a private plunge pool, steps away from the Indian Ocean and Bwejuu beach’s soft, white sand. Read expert reviewFROM
£751pnCheck availability -
Park Hyatt Zanzibar
Telegraph expert ratingThe first five-star hotel in Stone Town with direct access to a white-sand beach and the Indian Ocean offers a delightful blend of Omani style and understated luxury in the heart of Zanzibar’s World Heritage-listed old district. Read expert reviewFROM
£303pnCheck availability -
Meliá Zanzibar
Telegraph expert ratingStraddling warm turquoise waters and pristine sands, Meliá Zanzibar offers an alternative Indian Ocean retreat, on an island still less discovered than the likes of the Maldives. A secluded location sees guests cocooned within the resort’s peaceful surrounds, yet Zanzibar’s buoyant capital is within easy reach. Read expert reviewFROM
£266pnCheck availability -
Emerson Spice
Telegraph expert ratingThis atmospheric 19th-century mansion, built in Swahili-Arabian style, once belonged to the last Swahili ruler of Zanzibar and has been carefully restored. Now it offers romantic, boutique rooms with latticed balconies overlooking the heart of Zanzibar’s World Heritage-listed old district. Read expert reviewFROM
£157pnCheck availability -
Matemwe Lodge
Telegraph expert ratingZanzibar’s original eco-chic beach lodge with 12 vibrantly furnished guest villas and two pools perched on a coral rag cliff. Just opposite is the Mnemba Island Marine Conservation area which is home to nesting green turtles and more than 600 species of coral reef fish. Read expert reviewFROM
£318pnCheck availability -
Bluebay Beach Resort & Spa
Telegraph expert ratingAfter days of mainland game drives, travellers seeking relaxation plonk down at this remote island resort. Bluebay pampers guests with spacious rooms and leisure activities including snorkelling and scuba diving – though most prefer to veg out in a lounge chair along the Indian Ocean’s sparkling blue water. Read expert reviewFROM
£201pnCheck availability -
Kisiwa House
Telegraph expert ratingA romantic boutique hotel set in a 19th-century merchant’s house in the centre of Stone Town. The 11 spacious rooms and breezy roof terrace provide a quiet retreat from the bustling streets below. Read expert reviewFROM
£109pnCheck availability -
Unguja Lodge
Telegraph expert ratingA boutique lodge with 12 organically designed villas offering barefoot luxury, built on a coral cliff beside the twinkling waters of Menai Bay, which teem with bottlenose and humpback dolphins. Read expert reviewFROM
£245pnCheck availability -
Essque Zalu Zanzibar
Telegraph expert ratingA quiet, modern luxury resort with thatched villas overlooking a sandy beach on the northernmost tip of Zanzibar, near the village of Nungwi. Read expert reviewFROM
£376pnCheck availability -
Green & Blue Ocean Lodge
Telegraph expert ratingA gorgeously designed beachfront lodge with 14 thatched villas set on a sweeping curve of white sand beach on the northeastern tip of Zanzibar, near the village of Matemwe. Read expert reviewFROM
£152pnCheck availability -
Zanzibar Coffee House
Telegraph expert ratingThe best value lodging in Stone Town: a sensitively renovated 19th-century Arabic house, located in its maze-like historic heart, with eight characterful rooms above a bustling café, and fabulous views from the breezy rooftop. It’s understandably popular, so book early. Read expert reviewFROM
£78pnCheck availability -
Kilindi Zanzibar
Telegraph expert ratingThe former getaway of ABBA’s Benny Andersson is now a boutique retreat, with 50 acres of forest and a secluded beach on the spice island’s popular north coast. Each whitewashed, three-room pavilion has plenty of space, a personal plunge pool and sea views, with fishing boats and dhows cruising by. Read expert reviewFROM
£800pnCheck availability -
Fumba Beach Lodge
Telegraph expert ratingThis independently-owned, rustic beach retreat is set in the heart of the Menai Bay Conservation Area. Its 26 thatched cottages are strung along a two-kilometre beach where you can launch yourself into the sea for reef dives and picnic on secluded sandbanks. Read expert reviewFROM
£138pnCheck availability -
Protea Hotel Mbweni Ruins
Telegraph expert ratingMbweni Ruins is a boutique hotel set within an expanse of tropical garden that runs down to a small sandy beach. Also on-site are the ruins of a mission school dating from 1870 for the children of freed slaves that gives the hotel its name. Read expert reviewFROM
£120pnCheck availability -
Zanzibar Serena Hotel
Telegraph expert ratingZanzibar Serena Hotel, Stone Town’s vintage luxury hotel, is perfectly situated at the tip of the Shangani Peninsula. Unusually for this compact town it offers a waterfront pool, 52 rooms and a rooftop restaurant from where you can see the dhows coming into port. Read expert reviewFROM
£273pn