The Residence Zanzibar

My wife and I spent 5 nights at The Residence Zanzibar after a week in Uganda doing chimpanzee and gorilla trekking. It was exactly what we needed after a week long adventure. We arrived around 1100pm on 1/1, New Years Day. The staff was ready and waiting for us and check in was remarkably smooth given the time of day. We were given Villa 118, which I think may have been the very best possible spot for our room type, as it is separated from the main pool and restaurant area by one other unit. So, we were close enough to quickly walk to the bar or restaurant, but not adjacent. The rooms are fantastic. We were oceanfront, which was fantastic. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom was huge and luxurious. We used the bathtub every single day. The rooms are beautiful with the private patio, pool and then beach all in front. We never used the main pool once as we were so comfortable at our villa and happy to enjoy the privacy that the well maintained and deliberately placed vegetation provided. Two small nitpicks related to the room: 1. The tile inside the room is slippery. My wife slipped with a wet foot and broke her finger on the bed post. They should probably have a mat right inside the sliding doors to prevent that. Not their fault and they responded admirably with the on-staff doctor. But, something for management to consider. 2. The couch in the living area was tremendously uncomfortable. Normally, no big deal, as we don't want to spend much time in the room itself. But, we seemed to come back from dinner every night with half a bottle of wine to finish and wanted to sit there (in the air conditioning) and finish it. The couch was not super conducive to that. Again, very small issue. But, also easy to fix. 3. The power goes out all the time. I would estimated 15 - 20 times a day. Usually it lasts only a few seconds and sometimes a few minutes. I recall only one time it lasted more than a few minutes and that was late at night. It's not the hotel's fault I don't think, but its just something to be prepared for. Make sure you have power banks, etc. Small inconvenience, but nothing that impacted our stay at all. The staff at The Residence was fantastic. From the housekeepers, groundskeepers, bartenders, waiters and shop attendants, every staff member understood how to take care of guests. We were very impressed with the friendliness, flexibility and willingness to go the extra mile. In particular, we met a young member of the bar staff named Runi who made our time very enjoyable. We quickly became friends and he would teach us swahili and just generally help us have a good time all while making sure we had everything that we needed. It would not surprise me to see Runi become a GM of a resort someday -- he's got something special. The food was good. The Residence is half board -- so breakfast and dinner included, but lunch and drinks are not. We found breakfast to be perfectly fine -- and then i located the omelet chef and it became great! For lunch, we'd typically order a pizza to our patio. Dinner was either a buffet at the main restaurant or a la carte at the Pavilion Restaurant. The Pavilion requires a reservation. The Residence was not very crowded when we were there, as it was 1/1 - 1/6, so we were able to get in each night we wanted to. I am not sure if it gets difficult to get in when the place is full. The Pavilion was excellent -- both food and atmosphere. I'd recommend goingi there as much as possible. The beach...is actually fantastic. Yes, you have to know the tide schedule. Yes, the tide is massive. While we were there, the tide would be "out" in the morning. So, we'd sit at our private pool until lunch. This works out great because we could stay in the shade until about noon. The tide would come in in the early afternoon and the beach would quickly become perfection. Because you are on the east side of the island facing the mainland there were absolutely no waves. The water was bathwater warm. It was glorious. After lunch, we'd make our way down to our private palapa where we could move the chairs around to stay in the shade and then take periodic swims in the ocean via the steps that placed between our room and our neighbors. The water was crystal clear, warm and calm. My wife, who doesn't normally swim in the ocean, absolutely loved it and we spent a lot of time happily floating in beautiful waist deep water. One note here - the only thing that you need to be aware of is potentially sea urchins. We bought water shoes at the hotel shop to just make sure we didn't get spiked by one. However, we never saw one... Overall, my wife and I agree this is the best beach resort we've every stayed at. We've not been everywhere, but we have been to a lot of places in the Carribean, Mexico, US, etc...this was really really good. Highlights being the villa being pretty much perfect and in the perfect location at the resort, the staff being awesome (especially our friend Runi) and the ocean being so perfect also. I am not sure we'll ever make it back to Zanzibar, but if we do, we'll stay here. We'll also seek out other Cenizaro resorts elsewhere in the world.

Unfortunately, although the rooms are five-star, the food and service were disappointing ; like a like a two star hotel experience. I’ll never recommend to anyone, my friend, my family and known people. Lack of standards, especially on the food in the service.

Having been to various Maldives resorts we thought we’d try somewhere different, hoping we wouldn’t be disappointed as we love the Maldives. No direct flights here from UK, so a long flight. We had an ocean front villa, 121, loved it. Gorgeous expansive beach & ocean views. Villa was extremely large, clean & had all amenities we required. We were all inclusive, didn’t like having to sign for every meal/drink (supplements for some items) Connie in office was super helpful & made our holiday. Overall we preferred here to Maldives.

The Residence is a beautiful and luxurious place to spend time in a quiet and stunning location. The staff were fabulous and made our stay very special. Everyone so friendly and keen to provide everything possible to make our stay perfect.

Stayed at Residence for 5 nights from the 28 December 2025. I was travelling with my mum, and we had an amazing time. Our gardens room villa was extremely well sized, with a fab private pool that was big enough to properly swim in. The highlight was the staff - they couldn’t do enough to help or be any more friendly. And the new yeas eve party on the beach was amazing. A huge thanks to all the staff that pulled out all the stops to ensure the guests had an amazing time - from the food right through to the fireworks at midnight. Truly special.