Reviews of Dhow Palace Hotel
(76%) From 27 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
| 
Dhow Palace Hotel review
We really liked the way the hotel had been renovated and furnished - all those beautiful antiques! The staff were really friendly and helpful, Our room was great - and it was a nice touch to find a nice basket of fruit appeared as we were there on honeymoon!
The pool is really pretty and shady and was a godsend - it was so hot and humid when we arrived, compared to Arusha/Kilimanjaro area. I would definitely recommend people choose hotels in Stonetown with pool!
Dhow Palace Hotel review
The Dhow Palace has an excellent location in the heart of Stone Town and only 2 min walk to the waterfront.
Although the service was less personal to that of other smaller lodges that we stayed in, it was still very good.
On our departure day we had to leave very early, yet the hotel's chef gladly prepared for us breakfast to take with us.
It is a good value for money option in Stone Town.
Dhow Palace Hotel review
It was OK but I would not return to this hotel.
Read more about the whole tripGood location for seeing Stone Town
The Dhow Palace was fine for accomodation, breakfast and snacks, but we chose to have an evening meal there on our first night. It was disappointing. Advise other visitors to eat elsewhere
Read more about the whole tripDhow Palace Hotel review
Our one-night stay at the Dhow Palace was pleasant enough: we perhaps needed an extra day to sample more that Stone Town can offer. The hotel was clean and the rooms were stylishly presented, if dated (deliberately, we presume). Staff were generally pleasant although the on-site restaurant (in which we had both lunch and breakfast) was no better than average, in terms of both food and service.
We also took the opportunity to take in a Spice Tour and trip to Prison Island that we had Fisherman Tours organise for us (as they were conducting the transfer to Stone Town from Fumba). These were fine although I didn't feel that at US$ 138 they represented good value for money. As a small example, at the Spice Farm the cost for pouches of spices were 3 times those in one of the smartest Stone Town souvenir shops! That said, it was pleasant to have a dedicated driver and guides. Our Fisherman Tours pick up the following morning was late in arriving although not much - and we made our flight from Zanzibar airport with ample time to spare.
Dhow Palace Hotel review
Maybe we are comparing with Shooting Star which was so impressive - Dhow Palace was an excellent location to explore Stone Town from although the sister hotel, the Tembo may have been better as it had sea views and looked as if it had been renovated more recently than the Dhow Palace.
Dhow Palace had great original character and very helpful staff but did seem a little tired in places. We did not eat main food here as we preferred to use Forodhani Gardens but did have breakfast which was fine but limited in places - there was fresh fruit but there was no fresh coffee opiton and the fruit juices seemed to be made from concentrates and sweetened.
Dhow Palace Hotel review
Really nice old colonial type manor house, with great period feature and some funky old bits of furniture.
Not really got a problem with the place, but our room faced onto the street which was pretty noisy especially because Ramadam had just started. Also the room was well hot at night and the air con unit sounded like one of the safari jeeps, which I suppose drowned out the noise from street level.
The rooms were quite quirky and had some funky antiques in there. Mosquito net had a few holes in though.
Top location right in the middle of Stone Town. But didn't really stay there long enough to use all the facilites etc. Staff seemed very friendly though.
Breakfast wasn't much cop, but I suppose we had been spoilt at Pongwe where they were top drawer.
Overnight at Dhow Palace Hotel
We spent our last night at the Dhow Palace Hotel. The hotel has a lovely cool feel to it and the courtyard pool was very useful for cooling off. The room was large with a four poster bed which overlooked the pool area. It also had air conditioning and an electric fan which was essential to battle the heat. Definitely an oasis in the hustle and bustle of Stone Town
The roof terrace and restaurant looked lovely although we chose to eat in a local restaurant for dinner. We had a very early start the next morning but were impressed we were still able to get some breakfast at 5.30am!
Dhow Palace Hotel review
The room was surprisingly small on the 3rd floor with no lift, had we been staying longer than one night we would have asked to be moved.
Read more about the whole tripDhow Palace Hotel review
Rooms were clean and staff helpful, beware of the surrounding roads as I think tar had been spread over them for a road building project and you could lose your shoes, very sticky!
Read more about the whole trip
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
