duchesswilliams

we are tying to add 3 nights in Zanzibar to our safari, but are having trouble with the hotel choices. How far is the beach from Stone Town??? We read about Breezes, but it seems, reading their itinerary, that it may be a good distance from the town. We don't want to TOTALLY VEG out on the beach and not see the city, so have concerns about how long it would take us to get into town.
Does anyone have suggestions for both beach hotels and for some in StoneTown that are nice???

jasher

Hello,

In town the best place is probably the Serena Inn. Unlike many of the other Serena properties it's quite small and is located in some renovated historic buildings.

Most people stay a few nights on the beach and one or two in Stone Town as the best beaches aren't that close to Stone Town. You might want to consider a split with one night beach / two nights Stone Town, or a 2/2 split if you can manage four nights.

Cheers,
Julian

sandi

By the time you arrive ZNZ it's mid-day. Many head out to the beach for that night and the next day. On the day after in the morning, after breakfast are transfered back to Stone Town where you can do a town tour. Later that afternoon or early evening take flight to JRO or NBO or DAR for homebound flight. Or o/n in Stone Town if you have a morning flight.

Otherwise, most beach resorts are about 1+/hr from Stone Town with some treacherous roads.

Since you don't actually have that much time on the beach, it's best to visit Stone Town on your way off the island.

kumasawa

My wife and I were on Zanzibar for 5 nights back in July. We spent 2 nights in Stone Town at the Dhow Palace Hotel and 3 nights at Hakuna Majiwe (just south of Paje on the east coast). We could have easily spent more time on the island -- you are going to be kind of rushed if you want to do a lot of things in just 3 nights. If you visit the beaches on the east coast, then on the way you can stop off at the Jozani Forest for a short tour and to see the red colobus monkeys. Hakuna Majiwe is expensive, but the Dhow Palace hotel is reasonably-priced for what it is. If you are interested, I've got quite a few photos of both hotels in my Zanzibar set on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kumasawa/

Cheers,
Darren

duchesswilliams

Just what I needed to know. Thanks for your input. There are SOOOOOO many decisions to be made on this trip!!!