We stayed here for one night in July. The property is well located in the centre of town. The rooftop for breakfast has lovely panoramic views of the city. Decor inside is nice and a little quirky. It’s a one minute walk to a lovely restaurant that is very popular at the Emerson spice hotel. We appreciated this when we arrived after dark and didn’t want to venture too far whilst we got our bearings. The hotel arranged an airport pick up for us and it was reasonably priced, the driver (Sele) drove safely and walked with us the final five minutes through the alley ways to the accommodation

The property is located in a pedestrianised area with no roads - only lanes/alleyways. This was fine for me as I was travelling as a couple. However, I have often travelled alone as a single female and I think that I would have found this a little intimidating if I were travelling alone when it was dark. This wasn’t an issue for me on this trip but I wanted to write this in the review incase any solo travellers are reading this.

Best hotel ever! Great location, great staff, Noreen was so helpful and sweet! Great food and breakfest. The macchiato room was so cozy. The hotel is beautiful. My honeymoon was incredible!

Everything was amazing

Great location, quirky and beautiful place with big, comfortable rooms and a great breakfast—the coffee was also very good. The staff was very kind and the breakfast was plentiful and tasty in a beautiful setting overlooking the city.

Water pressure in the showers was extremely weak. This is a note about staying in the old town in general and no fault of the hotel’s but windows are not very thick so there is a lot of noise outside overnight and the morning prayer can be heard very loudly from the rooms (at 4:45 am).

I have not been able to sleep well anywhere else but here. First night I slept 7:30p-7:30a. It’s nice because they provide water, the breakfast is wonderful, staff is so sweet and friendly. Coffee is the best!! I booked the Arabaica Suite. If you need connections for anything they will help you find someone.

It was hard to navigate due to heavy rain. I recommend packing mud boots and an umbrella should you be dealing with heavy rains and trying to walk through the streets. I had to wash and sanitize my feet every time I got back since my feet were still healing from climbing Kilimanjaro.

Although not ideal for a visually disabled person such as myself, the location of the Coffee House is ideal for exploring Stone Town, and the staff did all they could to faciliate my visit. I was particularly impressed when they asked the night porter to guide me to a nearby restaurant safeky

Although ancient and full of character, the hotal is not ideal easily accessible for those with visual or other disability issues. The breakfast was also substandard for a hotel of this potential quality. It was also not discernable on the Booking.com website that the hotel is unreachable by taxi directly and necessititates a 4 minute walk through a maze of small streets. An adventure yes, but not ideal when you are blind.

- Old Arabic house renovated into a wonderful boutique hotel in the centre of Stone Town. - Easy access to all the wonders of Stone Town - Ali and the team were all amazing, thank you Filipina and Romana for their care and great service. - Breakfast on the roof terrace was amazing, fantastic home cooked food. - Rooms are traditionally decorated and are comfortable and spacious. - Great visit to a Spice farm with local cooking experience - Really enjoyed strolling and discovering Stone Town especially the local market and people. - Only 15-20 mins taxi transfer from the airport - Great place to start a trip to Zanzibar and experience the culture.

Amazing location as it is walking distance to the markets, restaurants and all the recommended sights. Great opportunity to stay in a 130+ year old building with antique furnitures and deco. The building is well maintained for its age and it is beautiful inside the building and the room. It is quirky and unique experience as each room has its own deco. As it is a historic building, the layout of the room is build around existing structure. The room has air condition but the building is so well ventilated and insulated, it is so nice and cool when you go back to your room after a long hot day of walking around town. The staffs are exceptionally amazing! Manager Ali is so friendly and took time to get us oriented around the area and gave us lots of recommendations which was very helpful as Stonetown can appear to be a maze. The ladies who worked there are very funny and friendly to have conversations with, we felt very welcomed as soon as we arrived. The breakfast that came with the room was so good! We didn’t expect a good spread of pastries, fruits and fresh juice…and you must try the pancakes. Without a doubt, coffee is excellent.

As it a historical building, expect accessibility to power points to be limited or located in odd locations for you to charge your equipments. We have no problems charging all our equipments. The water pressure was not that great and we were located at level 1. Again, it doesn’t bother us as everything was functioning for us.

This hotel is in perfect location to visit Stone Town.It is an authentic Swahili house which has been converted in an aesthetic way.The ground floor actually is a coffee house with a great choice of home made fresh and delicious cakes.The roof top tea house has a wonderful panorama where you can relax and where breakfast takes place Noreen and her staff are very welcoming engaging and willing to assist in anyway possible.Noreen organised return taxis to airport and it was right choice as the driver guided me to and from hotel through the maze of alleyways.She also organised a three hour guided tour of the town with Amour who was very knowledgeable and drew attention to finer historic details . The Arabic room was spacious and tastefully decorated with air conditioning as well as a fan.Importantly it also provided a safe. The breakfast was superb with fruit cereals omelettes sourdough bread and fresh fruit juice The hotel really made my stay memorable

The property is a beautifully preserved Arabic house constructed in the 19th century. Upon arriving we were given a briefing about the property and asked to choose a welcome drink from their menu, we could choose anything and chose iced lattes. The coffee was good and was enjoyed on their 360 roof terrace. The room was on the smaller side but as expected and was nice and cool due to air con and fan - pleasant on such a hot day in Stone Town. The property is well positioned for exploring Stone Town. We would recommend getting a taxi rather than driving yourself, as parking is chaos particularly in the middle of the day. The property does not serve dinner. We went to Emerson Spice - Secret Garden which was just round the corner and excellent. We were up too early for breakfast but they sent us with a breakfast box and the banana bread was particularly delicious - we have had so much dry cake in Tanzania, this light bread was a pleasant change! It seems to be a completely female-led enterprise. All staff and managers were female, except the night porter.

To have a shower one needed to heat the water 15 mins in advance, but we were told this when we arrived and it was fine and probably to be expected in an older building. The entrance to the building doubles as a coffee shop and was a bit chaotic when we arrived, but you can quickly escape by going upstairs and enjoying the terrace or one’s room.

The place is vibrant and very coffee-theme based. The terrace offers nice views and a cozy place to chill. The hotel assitant manager was welcoming and shared the best tips for restaurants. Also - I had to leave at 2am for the flight and they arranged a breakfast for me which positively surprised me. The hotel is quite central, surrounded by souvenir shop streets. You cannot reach it by car but the walk is a couple of minutes.