We have stayed at the hotel twice before and so were extremely disappointed to see how this hotel has deteriorated since we were last there in late 2011. The current 4 star trip advisor rating for 2012 needs to be reviewed. The staff are friendly and do the best that they can, but the owner management Gillian and Neil appear disinterested.
The room had been superficially cleaned when we checked in, the bathroom had a terrible smell, the linen was dirty, two of our towells were badly soiled and stank. Fortunately we had packed our own beach towels so used those instead. When we moved any of the furniture or pulled the curtains back there was gunk underneath, and our mosquito net was very dirty.
When we flushed our loo, the sewerage came up in the shower. Staff cleared the blockage, but the bathroom always stank thereafter.
The aircon and one wall fan (both badly rusted and needing to be serviced) were ineffectual. The mattresses were very uncomfortable and you are also woken at 4am every morning by the taxi's hooting as they travel through the village (the hotel is in Jambiani Village), with the main road directly behind the hotel.
The waiting time for your food in the restaurant is very long. During our 10 days stay we waited for at least an hour (once 2.5 hours) for simple orders like soup. Staff appeared to be doing their best, but the kitchen was apparently understaffed. Most other diners had similar complaints and we found it better to eat most meals at surrounding restaurants (most of which are also significantly cheaper). The breakfasts are very sparse and unimaginitive given the variety of fruits available on the island. Breakfast is included with the room, so it appears management are cutting costs by offering the bare minimum. Be prepared for instant coffee in tupperware, cornflakes, muesli and one fruit juice container (may be empty if you arive later). The fruit is also left in the sun, so is hot and soggy later in the morning.
We weren't the only ones that felt let down, and we overheard several guests trying to secure alternative accommodation. Overall, we would highly recommend Zanzibar, and particulaly the Jambiani area, but unless management take drastic action, Coral Rock was dissappointing.

The staff was very welcoming on arrival and even during stay but my 1st night was horrendous, was given a room that was damp and quite stuffy, the bed linen was dirty. Only got upgraded to another room the next day, of which the bed was squeaky, a slight turn/toss and the bed screams at you.Even when a I remarked to the staff about my problem, they told me to wait for Neil or his wife to sought it out, as far as management coming to your aid..don't hold your breath cause they won't attend to you. For hotel standards this place for me is a no, but if you're easy-going and don't give a care to much about being comfortable, it could work

Our stay at the Ciral rock was pleasant. With nice location and lots of charm this hotel is good place to rest from african hustle and bustle. It has a small but nice pool and lots of outside chill areas.

We stayed four nights at Coral Rock, situated on the south side of Jambiani. We were upgraded from a deluxe room to a suite - but neither term makes much sense. Our half of a bungalow didn't have any modern amenities except a rather small safe and an AC. The AC was placed in the closet, and it kept the closet nice and cool (at least until one of the frequent power blackouts, then the AC stayed off when the power returned). For the main room there was a ceiling fan. Our bathroom door wouldn't close, the sink was clogged, the faucet was as loose as it could be without actually falling off, and water was spilling from the WC onto the bathroom floor. Save for two bars of soap, there was no complimentary toiletries. There was no mosquito net (but malaria is supposedly no problem at Jambiani).

To sum up the room, it was basic and not up to hotel standard.

On the other hand: The place had loads of charm. We had our own veranda facing the sea, and Coral Rock had a small, but very nice pool. The beach style restaurant sat beautifully on a rock above the sea / beach / sea bed (Water flooded the beach almost completely at high tide and retracted a kilometer at low tide). The beaches were white and unspoiled - at least when the tide was right. Breakfast was nothing special, but lunch and dinner were absolutely terrific. At times we had to wait quite a while for the food, but when it arrived it was Oh so good.

If you like the simple life with a pool, beautiful nature, delicious food and a well-stocked bar, Coral Rock might be just your thing. If you require hotel standard, though, you might want to consider other options (although I have no idea if better options exist in Jambiani).