After bumping around in a Safari vehicle for the last 10 days, we were thrilled when we arrived at The Z. They greeted us with cool face cloths and welcome drinks which was lovely, and then gave us a tour of the property before showing us to our room.

The rooms were great, we had a great view of the beach, 2 twin beds with each bed having their own TV (!), mosquito nets which is nice, and a great shower. There is wifi on the property and we were able to get a weak signal from the room, but around the pool or at the bar there was great wifi service.

The beach is BEAUTIFUL as well as the pool is great. A few people have said the chairs go around the pool quickly, which they do, but there are always chairs availible on the beach. Whenever we would get there if there werent any towels left, we would just ask one of the guys behind the bar and they would be sure to bring them to us wherever we were sitting. The best part of the pool is that it is an infinity pool overlooking the beach/ocean. The other hotels in the area had pools quite far from the beach with no view.

We enjoyed the restaurants, and traveling with a veggie, she still had lots of options.
FYI - the service is SLOW. There were lots of people that were very upset and agitated by this, but we figured we are on vacation, we aren't in a rush, so we would just order a drink and relax and chat while we waited for food. But I suggest going 45 min before you are hungry, because it isnt North American service speeds.

The staff were very friendly and always happy to help. We had issues with our air conditioning and they fixed it right away, and when we had a few questions about our bill on checking out, they quickly answered our concerns and they never made it seem like an issue. We also had to check out at 11am but werent leaving the hotel until 4pm and they were more than happy to let us use the spa to shower and get dressed before we left. This was a GREAT service which is rare and we really appreciated the thought.

We were 2 girls in our 20's and yes there were lots of people on their honeymoon, but there were other young travelers and families there so you didnt feel overwhelmed by the romantic couples. I would highly suggest this hotel to anyone looking.

We stayed for 5 nights at the Z hotel at th beginning of jan. It was there perfect place to end our trip to Tanzania and to recover from climbing Kilimanjaro. Really relaxed atmosphere, beautiful pool and beach. We were really impressed with the hotel.

My wife and I and two of her sisters and a boyfriend of one of them stayed at the Z Hotel for 3 nights from Jan. 8-11, 2013. We were staying at the Amaan Bungalows next door but couldn't stand that place so we walked next door to the Z to see if there were rooms available. Lucky for us there was availability and I was also able to negotiate a 15% discount on the rooms we booked right at the desk. December thru February is high season with many Europeans coming down to escape the northern cold so we did well on the price.

Julie, Ruth and Nisa were most accomodating and took care of us right away. My wife and I had a top floor seaview room with the most amazing views of the Indian Ocean, pool, beach, etc. The room was spotless and totally modern with all the ammenities you need (safe, TV, robes, hairdryer, fridge, bottled water daily, etc). There was a nice balcony with plenty of room to sit and watch the sunset and the daily soccer game played on the beach at sunset by the locals.

I was quite surprised to see negative reviews of this hotel and some of the photos of the bathrooms that people posted, however that was a few years ago and they must have totally renovated the washrooms because ours was like brand new. The rooms were not huge (however the bathrooms were a good size) but were totally fine and the bed was great. What was also very nice was that there were NO bugs or anything like that getting into the rooms. You didn't even need the mosquito netting for sleeping if you didn't want it. The A/C worked extremely well too.

What I liked about the hotel the most was the pool and the associated tropical landscaping. It was just so beautiful and relaxing. Good sized umbrellas to block out the scorching hot sun if you needed. The pool area is not that big so best to get down a bit early to reserve a lounger if you can. They also have a private area on the beach which have comfortable loungers and umbrella's too. There is a pool bar with waiter service for the pool and beach areas. The guys that work the pool bar are hilarious and are quite the characters. They have a good happy hour with fancy cocktails for $5 each.

The breakfast buffet was by far the best of all our hotels on this trip to Tanzania. Huge selection to choose from and made to order eggs, etc. They put fans on the tables to help keep the flies away while you are eating. Flies are a fact of daily life in that country so you just got to accept it!!

We never ate dinner there however we did eat lunch one afternoon in the Cinnamon bar upstairs above the main restaurant. The food off the menu was good but not amazing (especially for the price). The views were amazing but the service up there was marginal. The staff seem to be quite disorganized and slow even know there was about 7 of them working at the time and there were only about 20 customers in there. English seemed to be a challenge with them unlike any other part of the hotel.

They have free internet on their two computers in the "library" above the reception area which worked well and for ocean related activities, they have their own operation which I would definitely trust and recommend as some of the other operators in the area (not all) were very sketchy.

Overall this was good value, not crowded, quiet and lucky for us there were no loud kids running around as it seems to be more focused on the adult only market which was awesome. At night though you may hear music (not going too late) coming from the many beach bars and associated restaurants that are in the area. I would honestly say though that there probably are not many hotels that are able to escape this. This was not an issue for us.

I would definitely recommend this hotel.

- Pick up and drop off from airport on time
- Rooms immaculate and cleaned daily, and air con is a must for dealing with the heat in Zanzibar
- Little fridges in each room which was stocked with complimentary water every day
- Food in the Cinnamon restaurant is great (try the fisherman's basket)
- One of Z Hotels staff members is what really made the service really fantastic 'A big thank you to John who really goes above and beyond!'
- Z hotels location is perfect as there is minimum seaweed and not a lot of boats anchored
- It also is the only hotel I saw that had its own section of beach where locals can't bother you.
- Any visitor will come back here (coming back soon) just to lie in the infinity pool and watch the sun go down
- Travelled Late November - Early December 2011 but there was no option on the drop down of the review for 2011, as my review is a year late.