The Residence Zanzibar

Anelisa Sardella Godrim

One of the best vacations we had. And to reinforce my perception, we had to change hotels in the middle due to availability and the second hotel in the north of the island was more expensive and very bad experience. The entire staff make sure you are enjoying and resting. Special kudos to Ko, that checked with us all the time how was everything and helped us check in earlier w our son sleeping because of the flight hours. We enjoyed the water sports ( they have a Hobie Cat, caiaques and stand up paddle available and inclusive); the food was delicious and well done; the yoga sessions inclusive also was the highlight and the pool in the room and the one I. The main area amazing! Again thanks for the amazing experience! I hope to come back one day!

Caity Curtis

After a rough first night in, the rest of our stay was lovely. Overall, this is a beautiful location and very friendly staff, but the customer service can be hit or miss depending on the person. The reviews about the room structural/electricity issues are accurate and we noticed spotty wifi service with the whole resort losing power at times. Apparently, this is common on the island so not sure the resort can control it but does seem that they don’t have generators. Also, be sure to note that alcohol, lunch, and water ordered outside your room are not included so estimate another $100/day per person. The resort was very accommodating to our late night arrival - offering us free room service. However, we had some issues with the electricity in our room the first night and after being unable to fix them, we were moved to a new room the next day. They originally tried to tell us there were no other beach-front rooms available so we’d have to downgrade to a regular resort rook if we wanted electricity but after we insisted on a beach-front room they were ultimately able to move us to one with working electricity. The resort offers honeymooners a candlelight dinner and couples massage however after telling us about the services, in midst of repacking to move rooms - they informed us that we could only get the services if we had a copy of our marriage license which we would have been happy to do if we had known before we left home to take a picture of it. They didn’t inform our travel agency or us so we were going to ask friends to go to our home to take a picture for us. Ultimately they accepted an email of our marriage license application. After we talked with our travel agency and they spoke with the hotel management team, the management team went out of their way to apologize and offered us a couples massage and complimentary water which was very kind. Overall, we had a positive experience and would go back. Just be prepared for power outages at times and up and down customer service (sometimes our beach towels were restocked, sometimes we just used our shower towels, sometimes the coffee pods were restocked, sometimes we had to call, etc.) The pool is amazing and the private room pools are so great for days when you want to have some private time just each other. We really loved the Pavillion dinner that you make reservations and the romantic beach dinner is very lovely. Our favorite part of the trip was watching the sunset at the beach bar every evening.

Rasha Copeland

Spent a week here for my 45th birthday to Zanzibar. The locals are extremely friendly. JAMBO!!! and the staff is just as amazing. Had a beach front private pool villa and definitely worth it. Floating breakfast and dinners were great. Lots to choose from and wait staff is accommodating. Had a private dinner on the beach and hubby enjoyed a ton of water activities like paddle boarding, jet skiing and kayaking. Also close to the turtle Sanctuary. If I'd ever visit again. Would stay however Zanzibar in itself is just a one time go for me.

Will Robertson

Spent a pleasant 10 days here for my grandfather's 80th with my family, this place deserves 6 stars. They went above and beyond for his birthday celebration and catering for him. Top tier food and drinks at the pavilion. Our rooms were cleaned on a daily basis with fresh towels provided as well. Very impressed with the bathroom and the fact that each villa comes with its own pool to beat the heat. The main swimming pool was very clean and had complimentary ice cream every afternoon (my favorite past time while I was staying there) There were plenty of other activities that they had, too many to mention in fact but the standout ones for myself were the jetskis, kayaking, sunset cocktails at either the beach bar or the jeti bar and the library was another place I spent a lot of time in. On a special note I had a bit of a medical emergency (dislocated shoulder) and the resorts doctor was quick to react and made sure I was fine, very impressed and pleased with that. All in all don't read the bs reviews left by some very bitter people, I'm shocked to see that people didn't enjoy their stay. Do yourself a favor and become a resident at the residence, you will not regret it.

Mez Alam

Our family of four stayed in two villas in July. We had a fabulous time. The staff are extra special here and make you feel welcome every time you come in contact with them. The cocktails at sunset are not to be missed as is the massage at the spa. You will be about an hour away from the airport so not good if you want to plan things around the town but amazing if you want an out of the way relaxing experience.