Park Hyatt Zanzibar, Stone Town, Tanzania 🇹🇿 – a truly perfect stay.

The next stop on our Christmas trip to Africa is Zanzibar. So because we really liked the Park Hyatt in Siem Reap, we thought it would be a good idea to stay at its sister hotel for the first night on the island.

Take a closer look at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar and discover a first-class hotel at a great beach in the middle of Stone Town and find out why our expectations were even exceeded.

The Location

The Park Hyatt Zanzibar is situated at an absolute premium location directly at the beach of the small island capital Stone Town on the westernmost tip of the beautiful island of Zanzibar. The island is located not far off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean and offers white dream beaches and turquoise blue water.

How to get there

We landed at Der Abeid Amani Karume International Airport coming from Nairobi with Safarilink on a direct flight. Most flights arrive from the mainland, but there are a few international connections from Dubai, Istanbul and during the winter season also from Germany.

There is also a ferry that takes you from the capital Dar Es Salaam to Stone Town in 3 hours.

How to get to the hotel

The best way to get around the island is by car. Unfortunately, unlike in Kenya, apps such as uber or grab do not work. This means you have to resort to relatively expensive private transfers. We usually booked ours via get-your-guide. Sometimes, however, we simply booked through the hotels. In any way, the former was the cheaper option.

You should definitely not neglect the cost factor in your planning. The island is not that small and you can easily spend over an hour on the road.

A few stairs up and through one of the two very inconspicuous entrance doors you are already in the lobby of the hotel.

The Check-in

We were escorted to reception, where we received another friendly welcome. The check-in itself went quickly. Everything was prepared, only some small hardware problems kept us waiting for a few minutes. Unfortunately, there was neither a cold towel nor a refreshing drink. Which would have been really great, especially here, as air conditioning is not allowed in the lobby area for reasons of historical preservation.

The hotel at a glance

The Park Hyatt Zanzibar consists of 4 interconnected historic buildings, which once housed the rooms of the Sultan’s Palace. Today the hotel has a total of 67 rooms, 11 of which are suites.

The lobby is located in one of the middle buildings, which also houses the spa and some suites. The restaurants, store, pool and gym are located on the ground floor of all the other buildings. Between the two middle buildings is a 200-year-old mango tree, the seeds of which are said to have been planted by the first Arab sultan of Zanzibar.

The Park Hyatt Zanzibar was opened in 2015 and combines many different influences. These include Swahili culture, the Arab states, India and even a touch of Europe here and there.

The Suite

As we booked relatively late this time and there were no other rooms in a lower category available, we directly booked the Park Suite King and were given suite no. 3111.

Looking at the room layout, it becomes clear that the suite actually consists of two rooms next to each other and only connected by a door between the living and the bedroom.

Welcome

Once we arrived at the suite, a huge welcome gift was already waiting for us on the coffee table in the living room. A bottle of red wine, three macarons, fresh fruit, local cashew nuts and two fresh coconuts! We’ve never received such a big present before! Crazy, right?

Livingroom

As you walk through the front door, you will find yourself in a small entrance hall with the powder room to your left. Our suitcases had already been delivered and were as well waiting here at the entrance area.

Straight ahead is a large room with a dining and living area. There is a dining table with two chairs, as well as two couches with armchairs, a coffee table and a sideboard on which the TV is located. The unfilled minibar is hidden inside the sideboard.

Bedroom

Through the connecting door on the right you enter the bedroom, where a king-size bed with canopy awaits you. The bed is equipped with a comforter and a total of 4 pillows. There is a bottle of water and a glass on each bedside cabinet. As well as a sideboard with a TV on top and an armchair on each side of the window.

At the far end of the room is a hallway with cupboards. Here you will find, as always, an iron and ironing board, the bathrobes, slippers, the safe as well as the laundry bag with a note to fill in. There is also a luggage rack at the farther end of the wardrobe.

Directly to the right of the passage door is a sideboard with a coffee machine, kettle, cups, coffee pods and tea bags, as well as a water bottle. Everything is at your free disposal.

Bathroom

The bathroom is located off the hallway. In addition to the washstand with one washbasin, there is a rain shower and, of course, a toilet. What’s really great, however, is the large bathtub from which you can also watch programs on the TV embedded in the wall. Behind the bathtub, there are floor-to-ceiling sliding doors connecting to the bedroom. If you open them, you can even look past the bed and out to the sea . All amenities are from Le Labo from the Bergeamotte series.

Fancy even more suites?

During our stay, we got talking to the Guest Relations Manager and asked if it would be possible to visit the other suites as well. This was no problem for her and she showed us these suites in person.

If you want to see even more of these suites at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, then take a look at our YouTube channel. Fabi has prepared a video for you there featuring them.

If you take out a membership there, you can also watch exclusive reviews of other room categories or even entire hotels.

The View

The view from our suite is fantastic. Although almost all rooms have a view of the sea, not all of them have a balcony. We had two fantastic balconies, each equipped with a table and chairs, just for us. The view extends across the beach to the ferry terminal and you can admire the sunsets from here.

The hotel activities

Pool

The pool at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar is located directly at the beach with a view of the sea and the anchored ships ashore. There are enough sun loungers for all guests and towels are available on site. The hotel has also come up with a great trick. The glass panes that separate the pool from the beach are only transparent from the hotel, but cannot be seen through from the beach. As hotel guests, you are therefore perfectly protected from the eyes of beach walkers.

Beach

You can reach the wide and beautiful beach right next to the pool via a stone walkway. There are no sun loungers placed here from the hotel – but the path from the pool lounger to the sea is really not far.

The beach is really busy, but wonderfully relaxed for a city beach. Many locals exercise here and enjoy beach life. Kids come here after school to play and swim. Most excursion boats and fishing boats are also moored here. If you like, you can simply watch the hustle and bustle and enjoy the view!

Fitness Center

The fitness center is located on the ground floor behind the pool. Here you will find two small rooms equipped with some machines and a free weights area. Water and towels are also available for you to use. If you want to train with headphones but have forgotten them, you can easily borrow some at reception. I think that’s a great service.

Spa

Unfortunately, we couldn’t really see much of the spa, as the cabins were occupied at the time of our visit. There are three treatment rooms in the area above the reception – one of which is for couples.

Tours

The Park Hyatt Zanzibar is the ideal base for visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stone Town. The hotel is located in the heart of the small town and all the sights are within easy walking distance. Of course, you can also go on great excursions on and under water. Tours to the offshore Prison Island are also very popular and start directly from the beach in front of the hotel.

In fact, there is even the option to go on a one day safari to the mainland if you are only on vacation on the island and still don’t want to miss the big five.

The Restaurants

Dining Room

The Dining Room is the restaurant at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, as in all sister hotels, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served.

The room is nice and large and faces the terrace. Here you can dine wonderfully relaxed in the cool of the air conditioning, but also with a great view of the beach on the terrace.

More information about the restaurant can be found in the breakfast section below.

Beach House

The Beach House restaurant is a special feature. Alongside the Dining Room, it is the second main restaurant at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. However, it is not located inside the actual hotel building, but is a stand-alone building just a 2-minute walk down the street in a direct beach location. Here you can have lunch and dinner, but above all fantastic cocktails while enjoying the sunset at the terrace. If you want to eat at the Beach House, you better make a reservation.

Living Room

We move on to the Living Room here at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, which could best be described as a bar or café. Separated in all directions by glass walls, the room is very quiet and cool. It tends to be busier in the afternoons and evenings.

The Library and Veranda

There is also a small library, The Library and Veranda, which is a relaxed retreat where you can simply sit down, dream and read a book. The room opens to the large veranda with double doors. There is always a gentle sea breeze blowing in and, if you like, around your nose.

Pool Lounge

You can order snacks and drinks for the pool at the Pool Lounge.

Breakfast

As mentioned above, breakfast is served at the Dining Room of Park Hyatt Zanzibar. Despite the slightly confusing name, this is the case in all Park Hyatt hotels.

A large selection is presented at the buffet. However, there is no à la carte selection. We simply ordered the Egg Benedict and the French toast at one of the live cooking stations and were served two super tasty dishes. All drinks are of course ordered and served at your seat. The buffet is very extensive and nothing is missing.

A special highlight of the breakfast buffet is that you can help yourself to freshly peeled mandarins on the veranda and enjoy freshly opened coconuts. For the latter, you can even choose different additional flavors, such as cinnamon, clove and more.

The Check-out

As expected, the check-out was well prepared and went quickly and smoothly. We were asked once again if everything was OK and if we needed any assistance with our departure. Everything exactly as it should be!

The costs

We paid 1,271,000 Tanzanian shillings for this one night including breakfast in December 2023. Converted at the exchange rate at the time, that was a good 450 euros.

The departure and onward journey

After check-out we were helped back down the stairs with our suitcases and they were even loaded into the car for us.

We continue our trip towards Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa (now bought by TUI and rebranded as The Mora) in the very north of the island. There is only a video of this hotel on our YouTube channel, which you can watch as a member. You can find out how to become a member in this article or this YouTube video. All content ist in German only though.

After that, we’ll be heading to the south of the island for Christmas, to stay at one of only 14 rooms at the wonderful Amani Boutique Hotel Zanzibar.

The bottom line

The Park Hyatt Zanzibar is a great hotel. The location is TOP for excursions in the surrounding area – whether by boat or car. You can also reach all the sights of the island’s capital Stone Town by foot. Its proximity to the airport makes it the perfect first port of call straight after your flight. From there you can ideally start your beach vacation.

The perfect mix of city, island and beach hotel.

Recommendation

During our stay there were only few families staying in the hotel, although it’s not really a family hotel. There are absolutely no offers of any kind for the little ones. Our recommendation is therefore more for couples as well as solo and business travelers.

Hotel Homepage

Park Hyatt Zanzibar

Rating

There is no other rating than 10 out of 10 possible points. The stay was simply great. The suite was great, the welcome gift was huge, the pool was great and the service was on point. All the staff were super nice and attentive. We can recommend Park Hyatt Zanzibar without hesitation!

Go there?

Absolutely! Go there.

YouTube Review

You can find our YouTube review for the Park Hyatt Zanzibar here. (German only)