“I paid circa $50 for one night here on a work trip. For that price I think it was a complete bargain.
Location is great, no night clubs / chickens crowing next door so quiet. I didn’t have breakfast there so can’t comment on food (so many choices within a 5-10 min walk).
This is not a luxury hotel like a Hyatt or Serena. Instead it’s bursting with Stone Town character, amazing location, nice bed and bathroom with lovely staff. Will stay again and willing to pay a little more. ”
“Beautiful property and fun water park. Spacious rooms, nicely decorated and very clean. Friendly, professional staff with smiling faces. I caught a beautiful sunset at the pier!”
“The property is really beautiful and has a lovely restaurant on the second floor with a great view of the ocean. My only complaint is that they didn't have a beer/wine selection, but that was minor.”
“Incredibly historic building with unique individually decorated rooms! Perfect location for walking around Stonetown. Delicious breakfast served on rooftop! Request Belle room if you don't want a lot of stairs. It has a huge balcony along the front of the building so it's fun to see tourists stop and take photos!”
“It was extremely good decision to stay in this hotel for my two-day trip in Zanzibar.
The staff(woman on the front desk) was exyremely welcoming and helpful all throughout my stay. The breakfast was fantastic and the ocean view from the restaurant was apparently the commercial for Tanzania Tourism on CNN. I saw this view all the time on CNN and during my breakfast at this hotel:) Only, beware Stone town is very far from Nungwi beach (1h and 30m away by car) and it is in a maze-like alley which...
“Only the location was good. The room was dated but not that bad. The most problem at this hotel is staff and service. They alwasys kept lying. At first, they said twice of taxi fare and later they changed the word. Moreover, they promised me to serve breakfast box instead of breakfast buffet because I had to leave earlier. But in the morning they said they have no idea even paid including breakfast. And after I checked thier note about breakfast box, they said the cook has some problem.. excuse...
“We had a very nice stay at Ellavita Cottages. The room was cozy and Tina and Khalifa are very nice hosts. They are always there when you have a problem and can help you with everything. They also know the place well so any question concerning activites can be answered. The breakfast is also delicious.
Would definitely recommend and come back if we would go to Nungwi again.
”
“New hotel ( 2024) super fancy rooms! Best restaurant and not expensive at all. Spesial thanks to Patrick for splendid service! Gym , yoga studio and all that you need to stay fit”
“This is a lovely quiet each front hotel, we stepped from our door onto the sand. Roo.s are good and the staff were wonderful! We stayed in four hotels in zanzibar, the staff here are exceptional, very attentive and friendly. Hotel even supprised us with a free trip to the 'rock resaurant' and star fish beach! We would stay again in a heart beat...”
"Amazing property but has its flaws. It's more fourish.
There are too many cockroaches and small insects in the villas for it to be an impeccable experience. The lamp shades need to replaced and are showing signs of wear-tear. There seems to be issues with communication as we never got the breakfast boxes we arranged prior through phoning the front-desk and room service. Asked for 0600am delivery but there was nothing the next day and there was no explanation from anyone. Just a poor no-show of service. The beach itself isn't particularly swimmable as there's too much low-tide. The movie night screen is way too small for anyone to enjoy. Much cheaper resorts do a better job at playing beach-side movies than The Residence. There was an issue with the key-cards, which didn't make sense as one could've lost its magnetism due to the phone, but the spare card was in the room. It just didn't work the last day. There were 3 power outages which was a first for me in Zanzibar, and there weren't any explanations for apologies from the staff. At check-out even though I made ample comments and complaints on things to be improved, they made no gesture at check-out as to ask me how the stay was or if they got any communication relayed about my issues. They just took the exorbitantly expensive drink prices in full (USD 200 in total for a few beers and mineral water). The rooms are nice with the pool, but there isn't much else here. Not really value for money. I expected more."
