The Residence Zanzibar

Resort is beautiful. The. ViIlls was amazing. It would have been a great experience except….. The food is absolutely horrible. I mean terrible. Even the deserts were gross. By far the worst food I’ve ever had and you are trapped there. It’s an hour drive anywhere else so you are stuck with what they serve. I ate the same salad for every meal and it wasn’t great. It was just somewhat consumable. Even the pizza was bad. They offer no snacks. My husband will eat anything and even he struggled.

My sister and I spent an absolutely amazing week here! The quality of the Villa was first class, spotlessly clean and extremely well appointed. The private pool was beautiful and very clean, the patio had a perfect mixture of sun and shade. The ‘room ladies’ Margaret and Sofia were wonderful, friendly, helpful and efficient. The staff in general were absolutely fantastic, friendly and helpful, from the porters to the maintenance team. The evening buffet was varied and tasty, breakfasts were a delight, to sit in the open air looking at the sea! A special mention for Justina and Ibrahim who were so lovely to see every day at the buffet. Please remember to be nice to these people, they are working whilst we are living the dream! The hotel pool is huge, clean and in a wonderful environment. Safari Blue was a fabulous day excursion, as was a 1day safari to Mikumi National Park. The wildlife at this hotel is off the scale, Elephant Shrews, Hyrax, Pygmy deer, lots of different birds, colobus monkeys! I really can’t recommend this hotel enough! Power cuts are a small inconvenience when one is in paradise! We’ll be back. Thank you all at The Residence, Zanzibar.

The best thing about The Residence is the staff. They are exceptional! They always greet you with a smile and “Jambo” . They are attentive and always greet you with a smile. Genuinely lovely people. We had a prestige beach front villa that was great. Very spacious, clean and comfortable. Bed linen so fresh. Our own 1.2m deep pool was great. Lovely views across the sand to the ocean. Power cuts and WiFi outages occur most days but are usually limited although one evening power cut lasted an hour. But you’re in Africa! There are 2 meal choices. The evening buffet is ok. Not 5 star food but acceptable. The Pavillion offers a more intimate dining experience for couples and the food is superior - that said we got symptoms suggestive of mild food poisoning after eating the lobster. If you love a beach holiday and spending time in the sea The Residence is not for you. The beach looks lovely but the sand is sharp and coarse and you can’t walk barefoot in it. The tide goes out by a mile rendering the sea unusable for much of the time. It feels sludgy underfoot with a lot of debris. However, having your own pool was enough for us but we would’ve liked to walk along the beach barefoot on occasion but that’s not really a possibility without footwear. I’ve heard Zanzibar described as The African Maldives. Seriously it is nowhere near that standard. Would I recommend The Residence. Yes! But not if the beach is a big attraction for you. The fact this one is deserted tells its own story. Would I go back to Zanzibar? Probably not! It is lovely in places but is strewn with plastic litter everywhere including the beaches. No tourists no Zanzibar they say - so they’d better get their act together as it’s difficult to see past plastic bottles to admire the beach.

A magic place in the middel of nowere, the resort is a lovely and relaxing place, we had a private bungalow with our private pool, we were two couples and the space of the bungalow was very nice. Big bedrooms and amazing bathrooms. Everything was very clean and the staff was so nice and helpful all the time. The bikes that comes along with the buingalows makes it easy to moove around the area. The pool are outside the restaurant is very big and nice, never overcrowded, and with a lovely view out to the sea. The food was exelent and varried.

We loved our stay. This place is insanely beautiful and perfect for a relaxing holiday. The pool area is amazing, our villa was even better we thought. Food = excellent & staff = super sweet! ❤️