Reviews of trips to Stone Town
354 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Stone Town.
Mr & Mrs R
PA, USA
"An amazing and unforgettable experience"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 27 Jul 2015 and 9 Aug 2015
"The entire experience from start to finish was best in class. We truly had a once in life time experience and we are so happy we chose to work with Expert Africa.
I would strongly urge anyone thinking of going to Africa to work with you guys. The reviews we had read to help us decide and plan were all accurate which is alway a bonus as well.
If I had to do it all over again, there are minor ( and I mean minor) things I would have changed. The first day was an extremely long day of travel. After 21hrs of traveling we were a bit surprised by a four hour drive until we got to our hotel. We certainly sucked it up and at the end of the day it was fine but I may have opted to stay a bit closer.
I may have also done one less day of selous. Not sure if it was our location, luck or combination of the two but we we could have done one less day there. Again, this is being super nit picky it really was amazing.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
My only suggestions is a bit more detail around the flights and the distances of the transfers." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari
I would strongly urge anyone thinking of going to Africa to work with you guys. The reviews we had read to help us decide and plan were all accurate which is alway a bonus as well.
If I had to do it all over again, there are minor ( and I mean minor) things I would have changed. The first day was an extremely long day of travel. After 21hrs of traveling we were a bit surprised by a four hour drive until we got to our hotel. We certainly sucked it up and at the end of the day it was fine but I may have opted to stay a bit closer.
I may have also done one less day of selous. Not sure if it was our location, luck or combination of the two but we we could have done one less day there. Again, this is being super nit picky it really was amazing.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
My only suggestions is a bit more detail around the flights and the distances of the transfers." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs D
Surrey
"Our trip to the Mafia archipelago"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 4 Jul 2015 and 19 Jul 2015
"An amazing trip, made memorable by staying at Chole Mjini.
Very impressed by Expert Africa, without whom we'd never have discovered Chole Mjini - such a magical place.
Diving was great and as the non-diver I was very well entertained at both Chole and Pole Pole by their daily dhow trips.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Very impressed by Expert Africa and will definitely recommend and use again when possible." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
Very impressed by Expert Africa, without whom we'd never have discovered Chole Mjini - such a magical place.
Diving was great and as the non-diver I was very well entertained at both Chole and Pole Pole by their daily dhow trips.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Very impressed by Expert Africa and will definitely recommend and use again when possible." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr R
Northampton
"My 2015 trip"
I visited Zanzibar between 3 Jul 2015 and 11 Jul 2015
"A really good trip.
Very glad we spent more time at the beach than Stone Town though. Great to have visited Zanzibar and i would certainly recommend the island - but some travellers might find the poverty in Stone Town a little surprising at first.
Would certainly return - though would want to visit Pemba and get to some of the more remote beaches." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday
Very glad we spent more time at the beach than Stone Town though. Great to have visited Zanzibar and i would certainly recommend the island - but some travellers might find the poverty in Stone Town a little surprising at first.
Would certainly return - though would want to visit Pemba and get to some of the more remote beaches." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
Golden CO
"Wonderful Holiday"
I visited Zambia and 4 other countries between 9 Jun 2015 and 18 Jul 2015
"Our safari to eastern and southern Africa was absolutely stunning.
My family has an active, adventurous spirit, which Claire Scott (Expert Africa) picked up on right away as we discussed options nearly nine months prior. Accordingly, Claire recommended camps that met our desires and expectations. I cannot say enough about how easy it was to work with Expert Africa and how efficiently our holiday played out. Complex logistics were well planned and execution was seamless. Well done!" Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
My family has an active, adventurous spirit, which Claire Scott (Expert Africa) picked up on right away as we discussed options nearly nine months prior. Accordingly, Claire recommended camps that met our desires and expectations. I cannot say enough about how easy it was to work with Expert Africa and how efficiently our holiday played out. Complex logistics were well planned and execution was seamless. Well done!" Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms S
Canada
"My Feb 2015 trip"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 23 Feb 2015 and 5 Mar 2015
"Amazing! The perfect honeymoon"
Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
E Sussex
"My Feb 2015 trip"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 11 Feb 2015 and 6 Mar 2015
"This was yet another excellent safari/holiday created by Expert Africa, each one just gets better than the one before.
We arranged a private guide and vehicle for these travellers, they commented:
Sadiq was an excellent and professional guide, he established what our expectations were and tried throughout the trip to accommodate our wishes. He is obviously an experienced guide of many years and knew the locations we visited well. He was also knowledgeable about the needs of a photographer and manoeuvred the vehicle to obtain the best photographic positions.
We could not have wished for a better guide - Thank you Sadiq
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I cannot think of anything" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
We arranged a private guide and vehicle for these travellers, they commented:
Sadiq was an excellent and professional guide, he established what our expectations were and tried throughout the trip to accommodate our wishes. He is obviously an experienced guide of many years and knew the locations we visited well. He was also knowledgeable about the needs of a photographer and manoeuvred the vehicle to obtain the best photographic positions.
We could not have wished for a better guide - Thank you Sadiq
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I cannot think of anything" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs M
Canada
"Great experiences in Tanzania"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 7 Feb 2015 and 24 Feb 2015
"In February we spent 3 nights in Selous, 4 nights in Ruaha, 6 nights in Paje (Zanzibar), 2 nights on Chumbe Island, and the final night in Stone Town (Zanzibar). Our trip was full of great experiences - totally unique from any of the travelling we've done in the past. This was our first trip to Africa.
I am happy that we went to both Selous and Ruaha. We experienced the most diversity and abundance of animals in the Selous (we stayed at Azura Selous), but appreciated being able to sit and watch the interaction of the 'social' animals (lions, baboons and elephants) in the Ruaha. If I was forced to just go only to one place, I would reluctantly say Selous because of the more wilderness aspect of it. We didn't see a single 4x4 when we were out in the Selous, while in Ruaha we probably saw 6 on average per day. I understand that this is nothing compared to northern Tanzania, and is one of the main reasons we chose Selous and Ruaha.
The Tanzanians that we met were all extremely welcoming and hospitable. They all wanted us to go home as ambassadors for their country. We felt totally spoiled and were willing to overlook disappointments we had with some of the food because of this.
I'm glad that we spent some time shopping in Stone Town as it was a great place to pick up inexpensive home décor items, but I probably could have done that in a few hours and didn't need to overnight there.
Coming from Canada, we found the food and drink prices to be very inexpensive on Zanzibar. Watching the kite surfing in Paje was really interesting and made spending hours on the beach enjoyable." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
I am happy that we went to both Selous and Ruaha. We experienced the most diversity and abundance of animals in the Selous (we stayed at Azura Selous), but appreciated being able to sit and watch the interaction of the 'social' animals (lions, baboons and elephants) in the Ruaha. If I was forced to just go only to one place, I would reluctantly say Selous because of the more wilderness aspect of it. We didn't see a single 4x4 when we were out in the Selous, while in Ruaha we probably saw 6 on average per day. I understand that this is nothing compared to northern Tanzania, and is one of the main reasons we chose Selous and Ruaha.
The Tanzanians that we met were all extremely welcoming and hospitable. They all wanted us to go home as ambassadors for their country. We felt totally spoiled and were willing to overlook disappointments we had with some of the food because of this.
I'm glad that we spent some time shopping in Stone Town as it was a great place to pick up inexpensive home décor items, but I probably could have done that in a few hours and didn't need to overnight there.
Coming from Canada, we found the food and drink prices to be very inexpensive on Zanzibar. Watching the kite surfing in Paje was really interesting and made spending hours on the beach enjoyable." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs P
Cambridge
"Tanzanian adventure"
I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 23 Jan 2015 and 8 Feb 2015
"we had a fabulous return to Africa (our first visit for almost 40 years!). We were recommended to Expert Africa by friends living in Tanzania and were very impressed with the service provided. James provided us with a great deal of information and if he couldn't answer a question he said so!
We were disappointed in one lodge where we stayed but James had made clear to us before booking that he didn't have any personal knowledge of this lodge. For the lodges which were recommend by EA we found their descriptions to have been fair and reliable. EA arranged all our local connections - taxis and flights and all worked out very well without a hitch." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday
We were disappointed in one lodge where we stayed but James had made clear to us before booking that he didn't have any personal knowledge of this lodge. For the lodges which were recommend by EA we found their descriptions to have been fair and reliable. EA arranged all our local connections - taxis and flights and all worked out very well without a hitch." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs C
Shaftesbury
"Very good trip"
I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 14 Jan 2015 and 30 Jan 2015
"Everything worked smoothly"
Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr C
Isle of Wight
"My Nov 2014 trip"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 14 Nov 2014 and 25 Nov 2014
"Can't thanks Expert Africa enough for sorting out all our arrangements, especially at relatively short notice.
James D. was tremendously helpful. All the transfers worked like clockwork and we were met without hitch by the local agents. Particularly impressed with the one at Dar (Kearsley Travel) who were very professional (and, on our final departure from Dar when we were transferred to the main terminal by Coastal, we bumped into the driver we had had before who greeted us like old friends!). Slightly less impressed by the agent at Stonetown (Eco-tours), who was rather too keen to sell us the 'Stonetown tour'.. but otherwise transfers there were fine.
All in all it was tremendous service from Expert Africa, which I highly recommend and would use again. Thank you!"
Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
354
reviews of Stone Town by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
Filter by month
Where to stay in Stone Town
Our suggestions for places to stay in Stone Town
Zanzibar Coffee House
The Zanzibar Coffee House is a small quiet hotel tucked away in the back streets of Stone Town, with lovely, simple rooms.
Serena Inn
Now trumped by the nearby Park Hyatt, the Serena Inn, in its historic building, was formerly Stone Town's only international-style hotel.
Zanzibar Palace Hotel
The Zanzibar Palace Hotel is a highly regarded boutique hotel with very personal service and just nine rooms, all of them Zanzibari in style.
Beyt al Salaam
The Beyt al Salaam is a pleasant, boutique hotel with only six rooms and atmospheric and stylish Zanzibari décor.
Dhow Palace Hotel
The Dhow Palace is a very good-value, mid-range hotel, full of Swahili character, and the pool makes it appealing to families.
Emerson Spice
Emerson Spice is a beautiful small hotel in the heart of Stone Town with individually designed rooms adorned with gorgeous fabrics.
Kholle House
Kholle House offers an atmospheric Stone Town stay in a historic building, and is very good value for money.
Jafferji House
Jafferji House is a converted old house that blends modern facilities with traditional style. The ten, unique rooms are show great attention to detail.
Swahili House
Swahili House is a traditionally styled boutique hotel furnished to a high standard with a convenient location in the centre of Stone Town.
Tembo Hotel
The Tembo Hotel is a good-value, family-friendly hotel right on the seafront in Stone Town, with 36 rooms and a good-sized swimming pool.
Emerson on Hurumzi
Emerson on Hurumzi was Stone Town's first boutique hotel, featuring antique furniture, unique, stylish rooms and a superb rooftop restaurant.
Mbweni Ruins Hotel
Mbweni Ruins Hotel is very convenient if you want to stay on the beach, but very close to Stone Town, or visit Chumbe Island.
Maru Maru Hotel
In the heart of Stone Town, Maru Maru combines contemporary style and creature comforts with a Zanzibari twist.
Park Hyatt
The Park Hyatt Zanzibar is a high-quality example of this group, with excellent facilities and service.
Kisiwa House
Kisiwa's central location in the heart of Stone Town's Shangani area makes it a great base to explore this fascinating town.
Seyyida Hotel
The Seyyida is a characterful old hotel near the seafront in Stone Town, with the rare bonus of a swimming pool.
