Reviews of Dhow Palace Hotel
Wildlife sightings and reviews
40 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Dhow Palace Hotel and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
Mr & Mrs D
Rochester
"Interesting hotel centrally located"
2 nights Arrived 9 Oct 2013
"A good quality hotel in the centre of Stone Town in a pedestrianised area.
It ought to be made clearer in the brochure that it is a no alcohol hotel, although there were plenty of hotels and bars nearby." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania
It ought to be made clearer in the brochure that it is a no alcohol hotel, although there were plenty of hotels and bars nearby." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 6n in Tanzania
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Miss P
London
"Great Location"
1 night Arrived 6 Sep 2013
"Great location for sight seeing and reastaurants. Not the most amazing hotel but good value for the price. I ran out of hot water in the morning. The beds are super comfortable.
Having stayed here before, I think I prefer the rooms in the old part of the building (we were in the new bit)." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar
Having stayed here before, I think I prefer the rooms in the old part of the building (we were in the new bit)." See all these reviews: 11n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Average
Mrs C
Fairfield
"Dhow Palace Hotel"
2 nights Arrived 31 Aug 2013
"Location was great for access to the center of Stonetown."
See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Facilities:
Good
The S family
Bristol
"Dhow Palace Hotel"
1 night Arrived 8 Aug 2013
"The location in Stone Town is excellent but the facilities in the hotel itself are a little tired.
The staff did notice that it was my wife's birthday and brought a cake up to our room which was a delightful touch." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar
The staff did notice that it was my wife's birthday and brought a cake up to our room which was a delightful touch." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Rooms:
Average
Facilities:
Average
The P family
New York
"Dhow Palace Hotel review"
2 nights Arrived 8 Feb 2013
"nice place. Centrally located in Stonetown, so its easy to walk anywhere. Room was clean, large and comfortable. Staff were helpful and friendly. Lots of old world ambiance. Incense at bedtime was a nice touch. Air conditioning at night was a relief for us cold climate people. Pool and courtyard are very nice."
See all these reviews: 5n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Good
Three
Manchester
"Single Rooms shoudl be avoided !!!!"
1 night Arrived 29 Sep 2012
"The Dhow Palace is a hotel of faded grandeur. We had a lovely room on the 3rd floor with a balcony over the pool and the sweeping corridors filled with antiques are impressive.
Sadly the three single rooms the rest of our group had were on the ground floor, small, dark, dingy and generally didn't feel at all secure. When we enquired about those in these moving an immediate "sorry the hotel is full" fell from the receptionists lips almosy before we'd even finished talking. I suspect that the single rooms are often complained about and as such Expert Africa should really book doubles for single travellers and inform them they do not recommend the the single rooms,
Room 11 which a female friend was in had a window that opened out onto a flat roof with a doorway opposite and people coming and going all the time. She felt so unsettled my better half slept in her room that night and she shared with me, he confiemed the next morning the comings and goings went on into the early hours. Its not a particularly expensive hotel and EA do themselves a disservice by allowing the hotel to place single traveller clients in these rooms. Otherwise though its a good base for Stonetown as long as you get a good double room on an upper floor.
Overall Stonetown is an eclectic, shabby, interesting place to spend a night but I wouldn't linger more than one. We did spend a delightful last night high in the rooftops at the Cafe at Emerson Spice Hotel the food and service fantastic and a great view of the town and out to sea." See all these reviews: 5n in Tanzania; 3n in Rwanda; 1n in Zanzibar
Sadly the three single rooms the rest of our group had were on the ground floor, small, dark, dingy and generally didn't feel at all secure. When we enquired about those in these moving an immediate "sorry the hotel is full" fell from the receptionists lips almosy before we'd even finished talking. I suspect that the single rooms are often complained about and as such Expert Africa should really book doubles for single travellers and inform them they do not recommend the the single rooms,
Room 11 which a female friend was in had a window that opened out onto a flat roof with a doorway opposite and people coming and going all the time. She felt so unsettled my better half slept in her room that night and she shared with me, he confiemed the next morning the comings and goings went on into the early hours. Its not a particularly expensive hotel and EA do themselves a disservice by allowing the hotel to place single traveller clients in these rooms. Otherwise though its a good base for Stonetown as long as you get a good double room on an upper floor.
Overall Stonetown is an eclectic, shabby, interesting place to spend a night but I wouldn't linger more than one. We did spend a delightful last night high in the rooftops at the Cafe at Emerson Spice Hotel the food and service fantastic and a great view of the town and out to sea." See all these reviews: 5n in Tanzania; 3n in Rwanda; 1n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Average
Activities:
Poor
Rooms:
Poor
The O family
London
"Dhow Palace Hotel"
3 nights Arrived 19 Aug 2012
"Hotel was very convenient, with good facilities and the room was excellent. Some staff (but not all) were very helpful, and they facilitated our trip to a spice farm - though the promised breakfast on our last day, when we were leaving very early, did not materialise.
It's worth telling guests that the hotel won't accept credit cards for any extras (meals. laundry etc) and their exchange rate for dollars is poor." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar
It's worth telling guests that the hotel won't accept credit cards for any extras (meals. laundry etc) and their exchange rate for dollars is poor." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 6n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Rooms:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
The D family
Hants
"Dhow Palace stay"
1 night Arrived 3 Feb 2012
"Lovely old building, nice rooms, efficient reception, good aircon.
We didn't have a very good meal in the rooftop restaurant and ( not surprisingly) there was noone else there! When we went to book, with plenty of notice, as advised by reception, they seemed unprepared.
Breakfast was served downstairs in the juice bar area and rather haphazardly laid out in quite a small area. Wasn't very appealing." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar
We didn't have a very good meal in the rooftop restaurant and ( not surprisingly) there was noone else there! When we went to book, with plenty of notice, as advised by reception, they seemed unprepared.
Breakfast was served downstairs in the juice bar area and rather haphazardly laid out in quite a small area. Wasn't very appealing." See all these reviews: 6n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Average
Mr C
Ontario, Canada
"Dhow Palace Hotel review"
3 nights Arrived 8 Jan 2012
"The hotel is centrally located so it is convenient to all amenities. The staff was friendly. Breakfast was included but somewhat limited in selections. My room was old but clean. I believe my bathroom is situated right next to the kitchen so it was noisy in the morning until I learned to close the bathroom door.
The rooster woke me up at the earliest light which was before 5 every morning. We were not sure about the quality of the food in the hotel so we did not stay for lunch or dinner. The internet-connected computer in the lobby area is a good convenient feature.
There is very limited space for hanging up clothes and no cloth line for drying hand-washed clothes." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 9n in Zanzibar; 3n in Zimbabwe
The rooster woke me up at the earliest light which was before 5 every morning. We were not sure about the quality of the food in the hotel so we did not stay for lunch or dinner. The internet-connected computer in the lobby area is a good convenient feature.
There is very limited space for hanging up clothes and no cloth line for drying hand-washed clothes." See all these reviews: 9n in Tanzania; 9n in Zanzibar; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Average
Food:
Average
Mrs B
Bridgewater
"Dhow Palace Hotel review"
2 nights Arrived 24 Oct 2011
"This hotel is really well located in Stone Town, at the quiet end of a great street for shopping and eating.
The hotel is essentially two buildings conjoined, surrounding a pretty courtyard and a great cooling swimming pool [very much appreciated in the heat of the day!]. Rooms are of various sizes and configurations, and we were showed several before making our choice [a nice touch]. The rooms are small, but fairly well appointed, with some nice, authentic furniture, and a comfortable bed and en-suite bathroom.
There is a great roof terrace from where you can watch the sun set [a much nicer location than the bar of the Africa House Hotel - crammed every day with coach parties from the nearby resorts all bussed in to have one drink and watch the sun go down]
Sadly, meals at the Dhow Palace can't be recommended - the menu is a mix of simple European dishes, which were not particularly appealing.
Overall, this is a comfortable place to spend a couple of days in Stone Town." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar
The hotel is essentially two buildings conjoined, surrounding a pretty courtyard and a great cooling swimming pool [very much appreciated in the heat of the day!]. Rooms are of various sizes and configurations, and we were showed several before making our choice [a nice touch]. The rooms are small, but fairly well appointed, with some nice, authentic furniture, and a comfortable bed and en-suite bathroom.
There is a great roof terrace from where you can watch the sun set [a much nicer location than the bar of the Africa House Hotel - crammed every day with coach parties from the nearby resorts all bussed in to have one drink and watch the sun go down]
Sadly, meals at the Dhow Palace can't be recommended - the menu is a mix of simple European dishes, which were not particularly appealing.
Overall, this is a comfortable place to spend a couple of days in Stone Town." See all these reviews: 4n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location:
Excellent
Service:
Average
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Poor
Facilities:
Good
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