Reviews of Zanzibar Coffee House
(82%) From 44 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Zanzibar Coffee House review
Really cool building and our room was great. Beautiful roof with views of Stonetown.
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Zanzibar Coffee House review
Really loved having this experience at the end of our trip. I had read 'The Last Slave Market' by Alastair Hazell and would really recommend it to give an understanding of Stonetown. The Coffee House was perfectly located, although we were a bit anxious about finding our way back after dark!
The rooftop terrace is very special for drinks (help yourself from a fridge and record in a book) and especially a delicious breakfast looking out on the rooftops.
The room was huge and very atmospheric but beware the stone steps to the bathroom - I have a very painful stubbed big toe!
Great Coffee
Stone Town is a culture shock even for those of us who have been there before. If you are an old hippie drug wise youd be very happy.
If you are a Cats Protection subscriber you will hate it.
The Coffee House is an overnight hostlery for people flying out or shipping in.
It's clean, central and very noisy.
Zanzibar Coffee House review
I stayed in Cappuccino Suite. My room was clean, spacious, full of charm and charming best describes the people who run this delightful place. The water pressure wasn't great in the shower, but the hot water was abundant within 10 minutes of turning on the hot water switch. There was airconditioning, but except for, briefly, one evening, I didn't need it.
In the evening Siti not only sprayed insect repellant and closed the mosquito net around the bed, she also left ylang-ylang flowers on my pillow, filling my dreams with sweetness.
The open top floor room where breakfast is served is a joy and can be used any time (I particularly liked it for sunset).
The location of the Coffee House, deep in the warren of the old town streets meant that I got hopelessly lost one night and that bags needed to be carried some distance from the car that dropped me off, but it also gave the place great atmosphere and a sense of being in the community rather than in the more touristy area. Stone Town is small, so nothing is very far from anything else anyway.
I also recommend the cheese and date crepes for lunch.
Great coffee, not the best location though
Zanzibar Coffee House is in the heart of what my wife and I came to call 'the labyrinth': it is very hard to find your way to and from, which can be scary, particularly at night (we ended up having to ask at other hotels for directions/a guide). I think if you were based here for a week you would get your bearings, but for a 2 night stay it isn't great. ZCH staff weren't very helpful with directions.
Nice touches were a honeymoon cake on our arrival (delicious, we felt bad that we couldn't eat it all) and a self-service fridge full of beer and soft drinks (great after that stressful and hot trip back through the alleys!). The room (Macchiato) was a bit pokey but was very clean (no insects, first place in Tanzania we could say that). There is a safe, but you need to bring your own padlock (which we had).
Breakfast on the roof was nice (excellent bread) but could have been more varied. It didn't seem to make sense that smoking wasn't allowed on the roof when it was in the coffee house downstairs. Staff did a decent job re helping us with our bags and cleaning the room, but weren't overly friendly. We were particularly unimpressed at being questioned over how much beer we had taken from the fridge when we had paid for this each morning - it didn't take long to convince her of our honesty but it left a nasty taste and staff should really have been communicating better with each other.
ZCH is definitely a good coffee place - the best I'd drunk all holiday - but more of a guest house than a hotel. We have no regrets about staying here but don't think it is a good place for honeymooners - somewhere out of the labyrinth (probably near the seafront) would be better, if probably more expensive.
Zanzibar Coffee House review
A wonderful little hotel, full of character and charm.
Breakfast on the roof was a real highlight and the colonial decor had wonderful individual touches.
Zanzibar Coffee House review
Great value for money. You feel as though you are in a very authentic Zanzibari merchants house. Coffee is very good, pastries too and becasue location is good we found it useful to be able to slip back to the room during bouts of shopping. Staff are lovely, rooftop breakfast is a wonderful experience.
All in all, clean and practical B&B leaving options for own dining arrangments in the evening.
Zanzibar Coffee Hse well placed for exploring
Apart from a misunderstanding on arrival (Coffee House made error on date!) we were happy with this hotel. It was well situated for exploring Stone Town & as the name suggests, the coffee was superb. The room was very clean, comfortable & well furnished & the landings cool & airy. The roof-top terrace made for an interesting view point & there was a good variety of choice for breakfast. The owner also presented us with a tub of Zanzibar coffee as a gesture of goodwill, which is delicious & was appreciated.
(The only reason I'm not waxing lyriclally is that we didn't particularly like Stone Town! It was even more run down than we expected - I think we had envisaged a few more "Merchant Houses" & a bit more exoticism but it looks as though nothing has been painted or touched since Livingstones' day! However, we did enjoy wandering through the local market area away from the tourist centre, which was more interesting & had 2 superb meals at the House of Spice!)
Lovely atmosphere and great location
Very short (1 night) stay but we like the atmosphere and friendly people.
Read more about the whole tripZanzibar Coffee House
Delightful. A lovely room, with particularly good airconditioning. The rooftop breakfast bar very pleasing.
The coffee very good too.
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.
