We went to Africa house hotel to catch the sunset as had read in many guidebooks that it is famous for the sunset. I am not even sure why as it seems to be clouded by some large palm trees. We had one drink then left the chaos! Was packed to the brim and overrun by large tour goups. Staff seemed stressed and unable to manage the amount of people in there. When we wnet to the bar to pay up there were about 10 members of staff trying to get drinks, get bills, take money and we waited over 5 minutes just to pay. We ended up on the road by the harbour which was much quieter and the following night went to serena hotel which was much better and pleasant.

For their price of $165 per night we were expecting something superb - instead we got a smelly room, an airconditioner that didn't work (and apparently there is only one remote in the hotel as all the others have been stolen !), plumbing incredibly noisy, no hot water then no water at all, noisy room, terrible amenities ( luckily we brought our own soap and shampoo ) no space for suitcases etc etc. This has got to be my worst hotel experience in recent years. We were eventually given another room but the replacement wasn't much better.

And the breakfast was also shocking - overheated food, coffee like cat's pee and the staff shouting at each other during our entire meal. A thoroughly awful experience.

It is such a tragedy that this magnificent building has been so neglected and that the Hotel Management just don't seem to care. With luck some far sighted entrepreneur will buy the building and restore it to it's former glory - until then I suggest you stay away !

The only final redeeming feature was that our bill was reduced to $100 as a result of our complaints - $15 would have been more appropriate.

I have visited Stonetown three times now, and have visited the Sunset Bar on each occasion. As I was travelling with my parents this time we wanted to stay somewhere overlooking the ocean, so decided on Africa House given it was a lot cheaper than the other two big hotels with sea views.

There are seaview rooms directly below the Sunset Bar, and then street view/ no view rooms on the floor about the bar- we tried all of them.
We had booked for three nights in two seaview rooms, however after the first night of no sleep in a seaview room, we moved to a street view room. After the second night we left the hotel (the first time I have ever left a hotel before my booking was finished).

The seaview rooms definately have a great view, but unfortunately hear all of the noise from the bar, but that really wasn't too bad. Our reasons for moving room were-
1. we had booked a double room, however as this was not available were allocated a twin room,
2. the security in the room is not very good- the windows did not lock, and as we were only one floor up from the busy street below (which has shops directly under the room), we did not feel that we or our belongings were safe. Because of this we could not open the windows to enjoy the seaview, and feel vulnerable leaving our computers in the room.
3. We could not have the curtains open, as the guys on the street were gawking in and mouthing things to us whenever they spotted us!

Given the excellent location and cheap(ish) price of the hotel, we decided to move to a street view room.

The street view room was a lot bigger, and had a double bed. It was just a shame that the renovation to the room was not yet complete. The bathroom had tiles, however no grout- no of the electrical appliances had electricity- there was a bath, but no shower.
But the worst thing was that the room had a water leak, where water gushed through from the room next door during the night, covering all of the floor and wetting all of our luggage!

That was the final straw, and despite the great location, great views at breakfast and in the bar, we had to move on. The food is not great (breakfast was not good at all) and service is very slow.

I have really mixed feelings about this hotel. Once the renovations are complete and it is restored back to it's original beauty, the building will be amazing. The staircase is pretty amazing already now!
If the prices stay the same, and the renovations are complete I would consider staying in a street view room again- HOWEVER I would visit the hotel first and ask to check the rooms.
The price is reasonable for where the hotel is situated- but it is not of the standard that you would expect for such a name hotel. If it is your first (or only) visit to Zanzibar this is difficult, so, given our experience (which may have been a lot of bad luck), I would have to recommend visiting for the beautiful sunset and a drink, and staying else where.

After reading some of the rave reviews I was certainly expecting more... The building has so much history to it and is ideally situated.
We had booked a deluxe sea view room-unfortunately the word "deluxe" means different things to different people.Yes, there's a fridge, an iron, tea making facilities. The bathroom was disgusting- the taps were all dirty- the shower was terrible, the toiletries were poor. The "soap" wouldn't even foam. Luckily i had brought some extra which worked fine- so it wasn't the water.
The seaview rooms under the sunset bar haven't been renovated. Several peple had problems with the noisy or faulty air con. downstairs
The Stonetown view rooms upstairs have been renovated and looked stylish- nice and big compared to many Stonetown hotels.. Unfortunately the quality is dubious- cheap fittings. We moved rooms and the first night the curtain rail came tumbling down when I tried to draw a pair of curtains. We couldn't turn the TV on as the cable wouldn't reach the plug socket. Even the kettle had to be placed under the desk as the cable couldn't reach the wall socket!
The staff were very friendly and the Sunset bar has got a great view- we spotted dolphins twice.
Breakfast was the worst i had in my whole Tanzanian visit. What a shame- such a wonderful restaurant location upstairs, overlooking the ocean. I heard compalints from other travellers about the restaurant food so we didn't bother to try out the restaurant. Again, a big shame as it looks very nice. The chef needs to be retrained or replaced!