Reviews of Serena Inn
(90%) From 45 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Serena Inn - charming
We loved the Serena Inn. At a fantastic location, a beautifully restored colonial building which reminded us of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore - only much smaller. A haven to return to after adventures out in Stone Town in the heat.
Our room was lovely, but disappointing. I had booked a Prime Room on the basis of the Serena's own description of its Prime Rooms being "exceptionally spacious". Our room (no 23) was anything but spacious. Whilst lovely, and beautifully appointed and decorated, it was exceptionally small. It had a huge king sized bed, and a wonderfully large L shaped balcony overlooking the sea with a huge hammock. But with two people and two (not very large) bags, inside the room it was a squeeze. The bathroom, again beautifully done, was so small that only one person at a time could fit in it. There was next to no storage or hanging space and nowhere to put toiletries other than on the floor under the basin in the bathroom. However, we were there only for two nights, so it wasn't too much of a problem other than my being cross because I did believe that the room would be larger than it was - a point I was particularly interested in.
We had a lovely meal at the Serena's open air roof top terrace, which overlooks the sea. The food was extremely good. However, be aware that it is a fixed price 5 course menu, something that we were not told about by reception when they offered to make a booking for us for the evening of the day we arrived. We were not the only people not to realise (to be told), that it was not a la carte. I cannot eat 5 courses, and I was not alone in that. Nowhere in the Hotel's literature was it mentioned that this was a fixed menu restaurant.
We had a very nice second evening meal in the restaurant/bar which has a varied menu and is very prettily done out.
Breakfast is in the main restaurant and is very good and generous indeed. This restaurant also looks over the sea, and has lovely wide open windows to catch the sea breeze.
Service is brisk and efficient (most of the time!), but not unfriendly.
Serena Inn showed it is the best in Stonetown
Having had a few problems at the Serena Inn in the past we were apprehensive on arrival.
However everything was great with an upgrade to a suite, great location good swimming pool and a memorable dinner over looking the sea (and Dhows) in the Terrace restaurant
A great end to our holiday
Serena Inn review
Had asked specifically for a bed with no footboard (tall husband) and this was not arranged. Hotel were very helpful and managed to change us to a room with a wider bed so it wasn't so much of a problem.
Facilities very good - lovely pool in a great setting. Food in the seafood restaurant was excellent.
Had a guided tour of Zanzibar - guide OK - again his English was difficult to understand and he did spend a portion of the excursion on his mobile phone!
Perfect Stone Town base
Before arriving at Serena we had heard what a great hotel it was. Luckily we were not disapointed.
The Serena is a beautifully restored hotel. From the lobby to the swimming pool, there is a real touch of class about the hotel.
We were upgraded for free to a prime room which had wonderful views over the pool to the Indian Ocean. The rooms are extremely comfortable and a great place to get some rest after a long day around Stone Town.
The staff all around the hotel are helpful and couldn't be more welcoming.
The food at the Serena is wonderful. The breakfasts had so much food on offer we didn't know where to start.
We also had lunch at the pool bar which was really tasty and not as expensive as we thought it would be. On our last night we booked a table at the terrance restuarant. Set overlooking the Indian Ocean, this is a beautiful place to have your last dinner on Zanzibar. The 4 course seafood dinner was cooked to perfection and I will never forget the dessert!
Overall I would definatley say the Serena is the place to saty in Stone Town and would definately return.
Good base for short stay in Stone Town
We only stayed one night here - so that we could see Stone Town and also so that we would not have so far to travel in the early morning to get the flight back to Dar (to connect with the BA flight to Heathrow). Even so, we had to be collected at 5am! But do be aware if you have to do the same thing that our wake-up call did not materialise. Fortunately we had ordered room service breakfast which DID arrive so we had just enough time to get ready before our lift arrived.
The hotel was fine although a bit 'sanitised' and full of well-heeled tourists. We had a standard room but had requested a large double bed which we got. It was right off the main lobby which was a bit noisy but was comfortable though, with good air-conditioning. We had lunch in the hotel when we arrived which was pretty standard fare, so decided to go out for dinner and had just about the best meal of the holiday in the Beyt al Chai Hotel which was opposite the Serena Inn - it was wonderful with the most amazing crab and coconut soup and red snapper with spiced mango!
Serena Inn review
The Serena Inn was a mixture of fantastic and poor
Check in was late but while the desk formalities were fine the person who showed us to our room kept putting his hand out for a tip rather than showing us how to switch the lighting or aircon on. we had no turn down service the first night.
The room (5) was small had an overlooked balcony,was noisy from reception and had maitenance issues (plug did not work in basin,air con leaked continually on to floor and one bedside light had a faulty socket.)
Check out was a farce as receptionists kept leaving us during our check out to deal with''regulars''.
However the pool, bar,food were first class. Our seafood meal on the roof overlooking the ocean was as good as it gets with great food, staff and musicians. Overall a shame as location was also fantastic
Serena Inn review
Room was a little on the small side and mosquito net not too easy to get in and out in the night.
Afternoon tea was good, dinner was great but we had to leave too early to get breakfast.
Hotel was in a really handy, and pleasant, position in middle of StoneTown near shops. Impressive historic building.
Serena Inn review
A short stay here but everything was great, they even bought us a complementary fruit bowl and bottle of bubbly whick was a lovely touch.
Read more about the whole tripGreat
Only there one night but had a great time and it is the perfect place for a couple of days stop off on the way somewhere else or to explore Stone Town.
Read more about the whole tripSerena Inn review
We only stayed for one afternoon but this appeared to be a lovely hotel in historical Stone Town. Helpful staff and comfortable room.
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.
