Best hotels in Zanzibar: which stay fits your holiday?

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Choose the hotel around the day you want to have. Breakfast beside your cottage, a family afternoon around a villa pool, an evening above Stone Town's roofs: each asks for a different stay. These best hotels in Zanzibar are ordered by fit for purpose, not price, with links to the narrower lists for the next decision.

How to choose

Coast before photographs. The north and west coasts, around Kendwa and Nungwi, keep more water at low tide; the east coast, from Paje to Bwejuu, drains for hours. For sea time, start with the property-by-property swimming shortlist and the coast decision guide.

Atmosphere before tier. Essential, Signature, Elevated and Private Collection are Nobu's selection tiers. They describe the kind of stay; the quotation, not the tier, sets service and inclusions. A garden cottage and a large resort serve different holidays.

Space before labels. A family room, a villa and connecting rooms solve different sleeping arrangements. For children, continue to the family hotel shortlist; for an age restriction, use the adults-only and honeymoon shortlist.

Town before beach, when it fits. An opening Stone Town stay gives the journey a cultural chapter. Choose it because you want the town, and let the length-of-stay guide handle the allocation.

At a glance

The list

Zuri Zanzibar

Elevated · beachfront, Kendwa · best for sea time with garden living

Zuri sets bungalows, suites and villas in gardens above Kendwa's beach, on the coast where the sea stays closest at low tide. It suits couples and families who want garden privacy close to the water. The trade-off is company: the beach is shared with other guests and visitors, so expect a busy stretch rather than a private cove. For how its frontage compares, see the swimming shortlist; for family rooms, the family shortlist.

Gold Zanzibar Beach House & Spa

Private Collection · beachfront, Kendwa · best for resort comfort with living space

Gold suits travellers who want generous suites inside a full-service resort on the same beach, with the main pool close to the sand. Its published suites pair a bedroom with a sitting area. Its trade-off is that space is not a second bedroom, so a family needing separate sleeping rooms should look at Baraza or The Residence instead. Families comparing sleeping plans should start with the family shortlist.

The Residence Zanzibar

Elevated · beachfront, Kizimkazi · best for a private pool villa on the south coast Each two-bedroom Frangipani villa has its own private pool, and the resort adds a 45-metre infinity pool. It suits couples and families who want privacy and a pool they control, and families with children aged 4 to 12 can use its free Kids Club. It is a spread-out villa estate rather than a village hotel, so the walk from your villa to the restaurant is worth knowing. Residence facilities.

Kilindi Zanzibar

Private Collection · beachfront, Kendwa · best for couples wanting their own pool

Kilindi's rooms have private outdoor living space, and plunge pools belong to its garden- and ocean-view villas, giving couples somewhere to retreat between beach hours. Kilindi is built for couples: its two-bedroom villas are offered to families whose children are 18 or over, younger children only on a whole-property buy-out, and an Elewana family document gives 16 as the minimum age, so confirm the rule for your dates. Not the right choice if you are travelling with younger children. The Kendwa hotel list offers alternatives.

Baraza Resort & Spa

Private Collection · beachfront, Bwejuu · best for families wanting separate bedrooms

Baraza welcomes all ages, and listings describe villas with separate bedrooms and private plunge pools, a useful combination when parents and children need distinct sleeping spaces. A travel designer can confirm the villa details with Baraza. It suits a holiday where time at the accommodation is part of the pleasure. Bwejuu's beach is tidal, so the villa pool does much of the swimming work.

Zanzibar White Sand Luxury Villas & Spa

Private Collection · beachfront, Paje · best for villa living with a watersports focus

White Sand links its villa setting to a watersports offering, including kitesurfing, and publishes main and children's pools. It suits travellers wanting room to withdraw while keeping an active beach focus. Its current website welcomes families, so the admission rule is worth settling before you book. Paje is a tidal coast.

Sharazad Boutique Hotel

Elevated · beachfront, Jambiani · best for a less conventional village-side stay

Sharazad's official description places it on the beach near Jambiani village and explains that most rooms have neither televisions nor air conditioning. That suits travellers who value an open, simple setting; request a specific room if cooling matters to you. The Jambiani hotel list compares alternatives.

Park Hyatt Zanzibar

Elevated · urban, Stone Town · best for town exploration with a pool

Park Hyatt's oceanfront infinity pool gives a town stay a place to pause between walks. Choose it when conventional hotel comfort matters alongside the old town, particularly after an active mainland journey. Not for you if you want a beach holiday: this is a town base.

Emerson on Hurumzi

Elevated · urban, Stone Town · best for heritage character and a rooftop evening

Emerson on Hurumzi's rooftop Tea House is the distinguishing draw for travellers who want the town to continue into dinner. The appeal is the house and its setting above the roofs. Choose the room as carefully as the restaurant: the stairs, the sleeping layout and the surrounding sound all vary by room. Outside the hotel, modest dress is expected in the old town's streets; the dress guide has the detail.

&Beyond Mnemba Island

Private Collection · island, Mnemba Island · best for an island retreat

Mnemba is the island choice when the setting itself is the reason for coming, with a house reef, a coral nursery and green-turtle nesting monitored on the beaches. Children are welcome in a family banda. &Beyond's brochure sets a limit of no more than two children under 12 on the island at a time; check that limit with &Beyond for your dates. Not for you if you are travelling with several young children. Access is by boat.

Flame Tree Cottages

Essential · beachfront, Nungwi · best for a cottage stay with fewer resort layers

Flame Tree publishes individually styled cottages in gardens, a garden pool and access to the beach through its gate. It is the Essential-tier choice here for travellers who prefer a veranda and a small independent hotel to a full resort programme, and value in the format rather than a promise of the lowest rate.

Right for you if…

• Sea time in a garden setting suits travellers who want the sea close at low tide and a garden to come back to: Zuri.
• Resort comfort with space suits travellers who want a full resort and suite room on the Kendwa beach: Gold.
• Value in a cottage suits travellers who want a veranda and a small independent stay rather than a resort programme: Flame Tree.
• Your own pool and privacy suits couples (Kilindi), families who want separate bedrooms (Baraza) or a private pool villa on the south coast (The Residence).
• A town base suits travellers who want Stone Town at the start or end: Park Hyatt or Emerson on Hurumzi.
• An island of your own suits travellers who accept a boat transfer and fewer facilities: &Beyond Mnemba Island.

If none of these fit

Begin with the coast decision guide, then a locality list. A sole-use house belongs in the villa shortlist, while a different island setting belongs in the Pemba hotel list. Avoid adding hotel moves simply to collect names.

Planning it with Nobu

A travel designer can check the room category against your sleeping plan, test the coast and tide against how you want to spend your days, and fit the stay to your transfers, so the hotel is chosen for the trip rather than the photograph.

Journeys to consider

• Shores of Zanzibar — the island journey, built around the stay that suits you. → See Shores of Zanzibar
• Southern Safari & Spice — a mainland safari, then an island hotel chosen for rest. → See Southern Safari & Spice