Zanzibar Pearl Boutique Hotel & Villas

We traveled with friends and booked through the same company, around the same time, and paid the same price. Somehow, half of our group ended up in beautiful oceanfront rooms, while the rest of us were placed in the very last row of the resort, as far from the ocean as possible, with no view and a lovely hike to the restaurant and beach. As an added bonus, we were woken up every morning around 4 a.m. by the very loud call to prayer from a nearby mosque. Not exactly the peaceful tropical mornings we had envisioned. When we questioned the significant difference in accommodations, we were repeatedly assured that there had been no mistake. Apparently, room assignments are completely random. You could get one of the best rooms in the resort or one of the worst, all for the same price. What a fun little lottery! I personally raised the issue with the manager, Kilosa, who, after our conversation, proceeded to sprawl out on a couch and play on his phone. A reassuring display of hospitality and concern for guest satisfaction. We specifically asked whether different room categories existed, but again were told it was all random. We would have gladly paid extra to move somewhere more comfortable, but that option was never even offered, despite the resort appearing nearly empty. And then there was the food. On our first evening, we ordered tuna. We were asked how we would like it cooked - medium, medium-rare etc. which gave us the impression that someone in the kitchen knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, what arrived was a thoroughly overcooked slab of something resembling the bottom of a shoe. Every single order was the same. When the manager came by to ask about dinner, we expressed our confusion, as the fish tasted nothing like tuna, or frankly anything described on the menu. He repeatedly assured us that it was, indeed, tuna. Well, mystery solved. Apparently, we just don’t know what tuna tastes like. The next morning, one of our friends discovered a piece of plastic in their scrambled eggs. When this was pointed out to the waitress, she simply removed the plastic and walked away. No apology, no replacement plate, no concern whatsoever. Perhaps plastic is just another complimentary breakfast topping. And finally, checkout - a process that should be fairly straightforward - somehow turned into yet another unnecessarily long and inefficient experience. At least the resort was consistent. The location is beautiful. The service is astonishingly bad. What makes it particularly frustrating is that none of these issues required extraordinary effort to resolve. A little honesty about the rooms, an offer to relocate, properly prepared food, or even a basic apology would have gone a long way. Instead, we were left with the impression that guest satisfaction was simply not a priority. There are plenty of beautiful resorts in Zanzibar. My advice? Choose one where the service matches the scenery. A pretty beach can only compensate for so much incompetence.

Wonderful stay right on the beach. The staff were attentive and fun. We celebrated our honeymoon and although we did not stay in a private villa it was relaxing and comfortable. Swahili night Buffett and dancing was a highlight.

Be forewarned: if you read the description of this “resort,” and expect exactly that, you will be as disappointed as we were. My Aunt and I arrived at Zanzibar Pearl after 10 days on safari in Tanzania (too amazing to put in words) and absolutely NOTHING we were told to expect at this place was right. Our room was supposed to have 2 beds, it had one. The a/c my Aunt desperately needs to sleep was an ancient wall unit that blew air warmer than the breeze outside. Not only that, but the windows did not close: they were screened (thank goodness because bugs were bad) but covered with wooden louvered panels. There was zero risk of our room ever being cooler than outside because, obviously, the outside was coming in and there was no way to prevent it. The “private patio or terrace” written in plain English on our room description was not. At all. In fact our door opened to an outdoor walkway used by staff regularly and shared with anyone in the room adjacent, with maybe 15 feet between the chairs set up. The beach access, directly across from our room, and about which we were so excited, led to a (very dependent on the tide) beach covered in seaweed, trash, and sea urchins, something I realize the hotel has nothing to do with but SHOULD have been mentioned somewhere in fine print on their website. The picture of the beach on their site has been altered. The water is not clear and the lovely-looking sand is not. The breeze was lovely, the non-stop vendors harassing you to make a purchase was not. At one point a gentleman hawking his wares stood in front of me for 20 minutes saying things, I’m sure, he learned to garner the attention of guests: “Hakuna Matata” and “hello friend.” It was not just annoying, the the people that I it was distressing, and prevented my Aunt from taking a leisurely walk or napping the the shade of the plentiful palm trees. Be prepared, too, to pay for water. That’s right. You are allotted one bottle of water per day, per room. If you want water at meals, you pay $2 a bottle. Drinks- even local spirits- are the same price as in the US ($6-$8 each) which is preposterous. So while their Expedia description calls it “inclusive” it is very much not. Even lunch is extra. And the food is meh. Soups were great but cooking is clearly not their area of expertise. They have a fixed menu based on the day of the week but, more often than not, did not have at least one of each category available to order. **The absolute worst part of our experience here was that they TURNED OFF THE ELECTRICITY every day from 1-6. When we asked the staff if this was “normal,” we got the run around, told they needed to “rest” the generator, and added that “this happens all over the island.” I can assure you it does not, as we had friends at another resort (soooo much better) at the same time and they didn’t have any interruptions at all. The power was also either out naturally or turned off during the night, intermittently. So much for your a/c (as it were) cooling you down or charging your phone or anything convenient at all. I should mention that Anna was lovely, as was our server, Kelly. The view from the restaurant for breakfast was beautiful (the wall hid the sand) and their pool was nice. No drink service or food service there, though, which was clearly a miss as far as raking guests over the coals. I will say that the Neptune hotel, where we went to ride in the ocean on horses, looked GORGEOUS. Their staff was attentive, even though we were only there for 90 mins, and everyone we spoke to raved about the place. We tried to leave early- I spent any (very limited) time we had WiFi attempting to find somewhere else we could go, but to no avail. Keep away from this place.

Everything was great; the staff was very attentive to our needs at all times.

Departing today was very sad… The hotel is beautiful, right on the beach and the care taken to ensure our stay was perfect was second to none…. The staff are kind and gentle and nothing is too much for them Joshua the manager was amazing and really spoilt us, never have we stayed in a place like this. We will be back again for sure. If you want paradise, this is the place to visit.