The best hotels in Zanzibar
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Zanzibar. The name alone conjures images of white dhows on a blue ocean and a gentle breeze on a palm-lined beach, looking back on the best hotels in Zanzibar. Much of the shoreline recedes a mile or more, and seabirds forage in striated shallows before the tide turns. Lying a few degrees south of the equator, Zanzibar is an island of greens. Its forests are full of aptly-named trees – flame, flamboyant, lipstick, the air perfumed with frangipani – while monkeys and bush babies rustle in lush gardens.
Hardly surprising, then, that Zanzibar has seen such a proliferation of resorts and hotels since I first circumnavigated the island in 2008, riding a rental in search of great places to stay. I recently revisited again, driving another battered RAV between the resorts that line the island’s best beaches and heading off-piste to ferret for discoveries. The verdict? The stock is great, and hospitality standards are high. Which only makes choosing where to book that much more difficult. This guide to the best hotels in Zanzibar is here to help.
When is the best time to visit Zanzibar?
Zanzibar’s dry season lasts from June to October, when temperatures hover at an average of 25°C. During these months, rainfall is at its lowest on the island, averaging 68mm a day in June, 48mm in July, 47mm in August and 50mm in September. In October, rainfall begins to creep up to 97mm. The dry season also coincides with the safari high season on the mainland in Tanzania, with many travellers factoring in a trip to Zanzibar post-safari. As such, expect the island to be busy during these months. The warmest month is February, when average temperatures reach 28°C, with around 70 per cent humidity. January and December both offer average highs of 27°C, with slightly lower levels of humidity, at 67 per cent. Rainfall starts to creep up in mid-March before the heavy, long rains arrive in April and May. Rainfall creeps up again in November and December, although these shorter rains tend to clear as quickly as they arrive, and leave even bluer skies in their wake.
How we choose the best hotels in Zanzibar
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve. For more information on how we review hotels and restaurants, please look at our About Us page.
Camille SchlickBe Zanzibar, Jambiani
According to owner-creator Tarek Matouk, Be Zanzibar took root when he rescued a palm tree from a road expansion project in Stone Town; today its twisted trunk is the totem for Be Zanzibar, and probably the most instagrammed tree on the island. Matouk is clearly a man who knows how to get things done, shaping a 20-room “tropical mews” out of his 1700sqm beachfront property in record time. Rooms are tightly-packed but there is real charm in the organic layout, and the design is attractive and cohesive: terrazzo floors, pigmented concrete walls, natural wood, woven bamboo; the best open onto small walled gardens, but everyone congregates around the elevated pool and restaurant-lounge – a front-row seat to the surreal seaview. An extensive blackboard menu features seafood (no other meat), plus plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. The atmosphere is bikini-young and festive but chilled. No alcohol for sale, though in-house guests are welcome to bring their own at no charge. More generous touches – yoga classes, pottery classes, and morning or evening sails (depending on the tide) – included in an already great rate.
Kizikula, Kizimkazi
Located on the south coast, which is less developed than other parts of Zanzibar, this nine-room eco-boutique hotel – due to expand by a further 10 rooms in 2025 – is a collaborative project between childhood friends Adel Abubakar and Shahi Hamad, with cool minimal room interiors designed by their “muses”. These include Erica and Sam, the Mumbai-based architects responsible for the Tropical Modernist-influenced design of the coral-stone-clad rooms glimpsed through lush gardens. These uncluttered rooms are urban and sophisticated, but the vibe of this property is decidedly barefoot-beach bar, with daily yoga on the sunset deck off the low coral cliffs (no beach, but you can dive in at high tide), fabulous music, nourishing meals with ingredients grown in the on-site organic kitchen garden, and a truly gorgeous pool. One of the best value options on the island.
Franz ThielSharazād Boutique Hotels, Jambiani
Sharazād – named after the storyteller of 1001 Nights – was the private residence of Francesca and Simon Wood, who met and fell in love here. Given the couple’s gregarious charm, a hospitality project was virtually inevitable: Sharāzad Boutique Hotel grew organically for a decade, then doubled in size with the brave purchase of the neighbouring hotel in 2020, rebranded Sharāzad Oasis Retreat. Names aside, the two properties share the same reception and all facilities, including four lovely swimming pools, the beach restaurant (one of the best on the island), a hippy-style spa, a walk-the-talk conservation ethos (recognised in 2024 by the Sustainable Luxury Hotel Awards) and one of the best beachfronts – a 230m stretch of soft sand, with loads of loungers and daybeds. Clusters of simply furnished rooms, most within view of the sea, are situated in such a way that they combine the intimacy of a laid-back boutique hotel with the bustle of a mini-resort. The latest addition to the family, Sharazād Wonders Boutique Hotel, is a great pick for Stone Town; located in the historic heart and offers lovely rooms, good food and excellent value (bag rooms one, two, three or four).
Jua Retreat, Machimvi Peninsula
On the relatively undeveloped Machimvi Peninsula – the thumb sticking up from the southeast coast – Jua accommodates a maximum of eight adults in four rustic thatched bungalows, each with several decks and a private plunge pool. All are perched at the top of the two-and-a-half-acre sloping garden overlooking the tidal reef, with private pathways through the semi-tended grounds down to the pool and charming restaurant-bar, built on the lip of the coral bank overlooking the beach. It’s a wonderful combination of exclusivity, simplicity, privacy, great service and value. The effusive Hassan and his team are at your beck and call; with no set meal times, delicious homestyle meals are served exactly where and when you want them. Rooms are fairly basic (no A/C, no TV, no minibar, no phone) but enormous, with solid hardwood floors and doors, and huge thatched roofs; open to the elements, with mesh-only wrap-around windows offering sweeping ocean views and immersive nature experience; nothing to filter out the birdsong, chattering monkeys and ocean breeze (which admittedly can be blustery mid-Jan to March). For rustic romance, it can’t be beat.
Keegan ChecksPongwe Beach Lodge, Pongwe
Back in 2001 owner Val Preston had pretty much the pick of Zanzibar’s beaches. Boy, did he choose well, and aren’t we glad he did? Search for the lodge on Google Earth and it is almost entirely hidden under a lush green canopy as Preston worked his lodge into the landscape – only the lovely pool, which enjoys great views from its elevation on the coral rock bank, is visible. The result of his minimal intervention is even more pleasant in situ, lying on hammocks strung between trees in a magical tropical beach garden. It’s also a surprisingly lovely swimming beach for the east coast, the sand sloping off sharply to create a deep pool of translucent water with a sandy bottom; at high tide, the hotel’s beach, bookended by coral cliffs, is effectively private. Décor is old-school – terrazzo floors, Zanzibari beds under whirring fans and makuti thatch roofs – but this unfussy timeless safari-beach style adds to the deeply relaxing, comfortable atmosphere, ideal for multi-generational families or anyone wanting a good-value beach holiday with an authentic, distinctive East African flavour.
Zanzibar Sunrise, Matemwe
If the brief is to gaze at a perfectly framed sea view from your bed in a rustic barefoot-chic-Crusoe-castaway bungalow built right on the beach, this is the hotel to book. Located in Matemwe village on the east-facing coastline, swimming is tide-dependent, but the views are gorgeous, and you are as close to Mnemba’s snorkelling reef as you can get without forking out for Mnemba Island. Location aside, the style of this self-described “ethno-boutique hotel” is elegant and romantic, and the beachfront rooms – all 14 tightly packed along the shoreline – are real cocoons: thatched makuti, walls and floors covered in woven palm and rush matting, cooled by ocean breezes (no A/C). Soft sandy pathways leading from the tropical gardens surrounding the pools and restaurant – very romantically lit at night – are part of the experience; even sandals feel superfluous. Facilities include two swimming pools, a spa, yoga classes, daily reef walks, and fabulous live music twice a week. Great for romance, great for friends, great for solo travellers.
Zuri Zanzibar, Kendwa
With a less pronounced tidal cycle allowing for all-day swimming, Kendwa Beach (alongside neighbouring Nungwe) is the most heavily developed stretch of coast in Zanzibar, with several large resorts (including the monstrous Riu) dominating the skyline. The beach here is busy, particularly around the full moon when the party atmosphere is ratcheted up, but private Zuri – located on the northern end – offers access and respite. Combining the design sensibility of an independently-owned boutique hotel with top-notch resort facilities, Zuri is perfect if you’re after daily scheduled entertainment and activities, a choice of dining options, a super-chic spa, and plenty of staff. Zuri’s beach area is large, with plenty of loungers shaded by makuti-thatch umbrellas and kept private by askaris who ensure only those with rubber wristbands (which double as room keys) wander in from the shoreline. Zuri’s gardens are equally fantastic – lush walls of green that provide privacy for the 55 freestanding rooms and include a marvellous spice garden, a tour of which is highly recommended.
andBeyond Mnemba Island
The standard bearer for barefoot luxury: sprawling in your ridiculously decadent “banda” – one of only 12 on the island – open to the elements but equipped with everything you need; privately located in the cool casuarina pine forest where tiny antelope graze in the dappled shade. A sandy pathway leads to your private beach lounge – shaded daybed, loungers, shower, minibar, phone to summon your butler – overlooking dazzling flour-soft sands lapped by hues of gem-like intensity. Food is phenomenal – fresh, healthy, unfussy, the kind of cooking that honours ingredients, and meals served where and when you feel like it. Spanning less than a mile, you can stroll the shoreline in 15 to 20 minutes, or use the sandy pathways meandering through the forest. Right on the doorstep of Zanzibar’s most popular snorkelling and dive spots (plenty of fish but the coral is stressed). Plenty more water-based activities on offer; aside from the all-day allure of the water, there’s an array of wellness therapies. The perfect balance between rustic and refined, sophistication and nature, this is a place that is hard to leave.
The Neela Boutique Hotel
If you want to spend time in Stone Town, one night is sufficient, but I’d recommend the labyrinthine historic heart for its authentic atmosphere – this is where people live, work and worship – rather than the more touristic western section where the Hyatt set up shop. Plenty of options, but the fairly new Neela – with 10 rooms carved out of what once housed the Ministry of Education – is the classiest. There is no vehicle access, room size and layout are constrained by heritage rules, and there is no lift, but arrange your airport transfer directly with the hotel to enjoy a seamless arrival to this meticulously restored and artfully renovated hotel, tastefully furnished in a Zanzibari-influenced contemporary style. A rooftop with lovely views of the surrounding rooftops and the ocean, central to all the sites as well as the nearby Emerson Spice, where the set seafood dinner served on their rooftop is highly recommended.
Kilindi, Kendwa
With only 15 pavilions located in a lush 35-acre subtropical garden sloping down to a private beach facing a small authentic fishing harbour, Kilindi enjoys one of the best settings on the island – just south of bustling Kendwa, which you can sail past on a sunset dhow before returning to your tranquil idyll. Architecturally it pays homage to Zanzibar’s Arabian roots – rounded cupolas and minarets peeping through the lush foliage, sea views framed by arched windows, sweeping staircases and curved walls – but the real decadence is the privacy, with each pavilion set in a walled garden with plunge pool, open-air lounge, enormous built-in bed centred on the sea view, open-to-the-elements bathrooms, and serviced by a private butler. The pool is fabulous, the dinners always romantic – set up on the beach or rooftop, often with live music – the Swahili cooking demonstration almost as memorable as sipping gin cocktails while the incoming tide laps at your feet –a hedonist’s heaven.