Choosing accommodation in Zanzibar stone town really gave us hard time. It’s loaded with romantic villas, luxury boutique hotels with infinity pools and probably of everything that come to mind. We had to make a choice making sure we don’t have to worry about our fixed deposits. On our recent trip we were looking for Zanzibar Hotels Stone Town, and decided to stay at Tembo hotel which is a vintage and seafront property, ideal for couples and family. This surely is one of the best places to stay in Stone Town Zanzibar and surely amongst Zanzibar Best Hotels. This hotel was once the American Embassy. It is very interesting to know, that even Mahatma Gandhi stayed here for couple of weeks on his journey back to India from South Africa in the year 1930.
So here’s a quick overview of our stay & experience with this gorgeous property. We have also listed few links below of some other amazing properties in Zanzibar stone town, which hopefully would make your task easier.
Luxury – Park Hyatt
Mid range- Tembo hotel
Budget – Check out some amazing Airbnb properties
Welcome
We reached Tembo from Nungwi which was like an hour drive. The weather was extremely hot and humid, the resort staff welcomed us with towels and drinks which was much needed. We gulped down the drink in less than 5sec, while our check-in formalities were completed. Before we were escorted to our room our body temperatures were measured and hands were sanitized abiding the covid protocols.
In no time our luggage’s were carted to our rooms by the smiling porters who also briefed us about the timings of meals and other activities available.
Exterior, Rooms And Amenities
The whole property is decorated with antique room decors, wall paintings and furnishings. We were in complete awe seeing those. This hotel has two buildings out of which only one building has the seafront view and the other has garden and pool view.
We got on one of the best room( 207) which faced the ocean providing an amazing view right from the bed itself. They have variety of rooms which you can check in their website as per your preferences. The rooms has four-poster Swahili bed, sitting area, TV, mini fridge, free Wi-Fi, wooden closet, tea & coffee corner, A/c and a traditional hammam shower bath. Every rooms comes with a small balcony, which we felt didn’t have sufficient room to sit and relax comfortably.
Tembo hotel has two swimming pools, the large one is in the main building on the ground floor and a shallow infinity pool on the other building. Make sure to check it out without a miss. We loved dipping there during the sunset hours, and it was absolutely stunning watching the sky turning from pink to grey.
We were very impressed with the prompt rooms services they offered 24*7. The hotel also offers free parking and is approx 10 mins to Zanzibar International airport. The location of the hotel is extremely good which is very close to all the site surroundings, nearby markets, entertainments and food joints. This hotel is absolutely at a perfect location. If you wish to spend few days in a quite paradise that definitely give it a thought. They have their private beach which mostly remains crowded (doesn’t have a barrier) which is just 2min walk from the rooms.
Dining : Best places to stay in Stone Town Zanzibar
The dinning is attached to the lobby which has beautiful ocean view which has a rustic and vintage decors and furniture all over the place. The restaurant is called the ‘Bahari’ restaurant offering local and international cuisines and the quality of the food was top notch. It also offers a well-curated menu and wine list, which we really enjoyed and relished at the same time. The buffet breakfast really has a wide spread both local and continental and in the morning first thing first we went gaga over it.
NOTE: On request the management can also arrange for water activities, pick and drop facilities and also Dhow boat ride during the sunset which should not be missed for sure.
Hope our reviews help you choose your perfect stays in Zanzibar Stone Town!!
Found this to be useful? Check out our other blogs on Zanzibar to plan your perfect holidays.
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