Dhow Palace Hotel

Dhow Palace Hotel descritpion

Centrally located in Zanzibar’s Stone Town, Dhow Palace Hotel is set in a historical building from 1559. It features a swimming pool, restaurant and roof-top terrace with panoramic views.
Each spacious room comes with air conditioning and Zanzibari-style furniture and décor. The rooms also include satellite TV and an electric kettle. The en suite bathrooms are equipped with a hairdryer.
Guests can relax by the swimming pool or on the roof-top terrace. The restaurant serves a variety of local Zanzibari and international cuisine. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.
Dhow Palace Hotel is located just 1,000 feet from Stone Town Beach and 1,650 feet from the House of Wonders. The Ferry Port is 0.6 miles away and Zanzibar Airport is 3.1 miles from the hotel.

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Facilities of Dhow Palace Hotel

Outdoors ：Terrace | Sun Deck

Pets ：Pets are not allowed.

Activities ：Pool Table | Turkish/Steam Bath | Game Room | Library

Food & Drink ：Restaurant with Dining Menu | Snack Bar

Internet ：Free!WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.

Parking ：Free!Free private parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).

General ：Newspapers | Safe | Non-smoking Rooms | Air Conditioning

Reviews for Dhow Palace Hotel

Review 1：Beautiful hotel quite in the center of Stone Town. Easy access everywhere. Walking distance tithe shore. nice calm pool in the lobby for refreshing cooling bath after a hot day in town.

Review 2：Internet said breakfast was from 6, but it was from 7. The air conditioning did not function very well.

Review 3：Localisation. Easy to walk around in the centre.

Review 4：Breakfast was of rather poor quality. Staff was unfriendly and unwilling to help with small requests. Room furniture and bathroom was old and worn. For the more than $100 we paid per night we expected more.

Review 5：Location of the hotel is great.

Review 6：Hotel staff are a tad loud going about their business even very early in the morning.

Review 7：Excellent location Old Swahili style traditional architecture and decor and antiques. Huge rooms. Amazing rooftop and view. Very friendly and helpful staff and management. I keep coming back

Review 8：We paid $150 per night, and the hotel refused to turn on their generator when the power was off. Front desk staff laughed and mocked us for wanting power for our "western conveniences," Like phone chargers and air conditioning (Zanzibar is HOT!!)

Review 9：Beautiful hotel, good location, comfortable room. We were in the triple room on the third floor, it was huge! Very quiet. Good location, right across the street from the Sunset Bar at the Africa House Hotel, and walking distance to just about everything stone town has to offer.

Review 10：bathroom not that clean lots of spider webs mattress very old and lumpy pillows dreadful noisy and very light in the bedroom no wardrobe to unpack into only one bedside table no safe

Review 11：lovely old feel of furnishings traditional furniture unusual bath great location beautiful pool area lovely balconies off rooms

Review 12：It is absolutely reasonable for a hotel in a mostly Muslim country to not accept alcohol in their hotel but they should be proud about being alcohol-free and put it clearly on their website rather than just a piece of paper in the entrance to the hotel.

Review 13：The breakfasts included with the rate of the room were ok, nothing special but decent. But dinner at the hotel seemed overpriced and mediocre quality at best. There are many other options for good food nearby.

Review 14：The staff at Dhow Palace are very friendly and helpful. The building itself feels like you are staying in a beautiful piece of Stonetown history. The location is very convenient to exploring the town. And we didn't have any problem with noise. Friends staying along the waterfront had problems with it being far too noisy at night.

Review 15：Everything about the hotel was excellent, and the manager was so very attentive to me.

Review 16：The hotel is centrally located very near some of the most marvelous restaurants. The buffet restaurant has a very varied choice of foods. from fruits, to tarts, eggs, sausages to name a few. i will be going back next year.

Review 17：hotel was full of character with very helpful staff but it is beginning to look very tired round the edges. There is no guest parking at the actual hotel and you have to use a sister hotel 5/10 minutes walk away. All rooms do NOT have a view.

Review 18：Nothing bad, but the plumbing could do with an overhaul.

Review 19：Great place to stay if you want a quiet guesthouse just outside the busy part of Nungwi beach. Nice pool, good seafood, very helpful staff and owner.

Review 20：We were in a large triple room and the window air conditioning unit really wasn't sufficient to cool it. One bed was freezing and the third bed was very warm. The ceiling fans helped.

Review 21：A unique property with a pretty and refreshing pool.

Review 22：A beautiful Hammam shower but the shower hose leaked & kept dropping off the wall.

Review 23：Friendly, smiling Courteous staff! Loved the location of the Hotel, very Crntral.

Review 24：Unlicensed, meaning that no beer or wine was available.

Review 25：Great atmosphere, great building, nicely furnished room in the old part of the hotel. Pool vouchers for the sister hotel, with great pool and beach facilities readily available

Review 26：The dinner at the hotel's restaturant wasn't special and more expensive than other restaurants in town. The stairs are very steep: this may be a problem for people with mobility difficulties.

Review 27：The hotel is well located in Stone Town, near to the sea, to forodhani garden and to the most important building of the town. The room was very large, with a King size bed with mosquito net There are fan, air con, a fridge, a flat tv and wardrobe. There isn't safe box in the room, but at the reception is available free a own safe box. Free WiFi in all hotel , included into the rooms). Breakfast is buffet style and very plentiful with a lot of fresh fruits. There is a small swimming pool or is possible use the swimming pool of Tembo Hotel. The hotel accepts credit cards without extra charge. There is a secure storage room in which you can leave your luggage while visiting other areas of the island. Staff friendly and very professional

Review 28：Internet connection is spotty, but who needs to check email when you're on holiday?

Review 29：The place was beautifully decorated, every corner felt like a museum. The breakfast was delicious, and the pool area is a lovely hang out spot to cool off from the Zanzi Heat.

Review 30：Rather poor breakfast, restauarnt not very attractive either (but there are plenty nice places near by). N.B. As many places in (muslim) Zanzibar, the Dhow Palace does not serve alcoholic beverages

Review 31：The very centrally situated hotel is in an old palace, truly Zanzibar style furniture, beautiful pool in an inner court yard, if you don't mind climbing steep stairs (no elevator) great view over Stone Town from top floor rooms

Review 32：WIFI signal was week and TV was bad in our room.

Review 33：Good service, good food, helpful staff and beautiful location. You get what you pay for in Stone Town.

Review 34：The pool was in disorder which reduced value considerably in the February heat. The beds were quite tall and wobbly and not recommended for honeymooners.

Review 35：The charming interior and decor. As the pool was in disorder the manager was kind to transfer us to sister hotel with pool the next day for no extra charge.

Review 36：Treated like family. Had a very early check out and they prepared 6 breakfasts to go for us. Arrange tours and transport ion for a family of 3 generations

Review 37：No lift was OK, but no alcohol allowed on premises? A waste of a very fine rooftop area.

Review 38：All of the walking tours of Stone Town appeared to be coming through the Dhow palace. It is truly an historical treasure.

Review 39：There was a little trouble with our check-in because they didn't seem to have our reservation from Booking.com even though I had the email confirmation. After about 10 minutes they were able to sort it out - but this could have been a problem if the hotel was full (especially because we were a group with multiple rooms)

Review 40：Dhow Palace is in a great location in Stone Town. It is a short walk to all of the shops, markets, restaurants, and the ferry to/from Dar. The area was really safe to walk around. The facilities were clean and beautiful, and our room on the top floor had an amazing view. The rooms and bathrooms are really spacious. Breakfast by the pool was really nice. Overall it was a great stay!

Review 41：We stayed at the Dhow Palace hotel for three nights in January. The hotel has a lot of character, is in the perfect spot, and is well run. Staff was great, our room was excellent, and breakfasts were very generous. Would definitely stay there again.

Review 42：The food is in lower quality range than the rest of the hotel facilities.

Review 43：Everything from the pool, the beautiful room with 4 balconies, the sensational service. The location is also quite good. It was a really nice staying.

Review 44：Nice hotel in need of updating.Beautiful surroundings but getting worn-down Some of the decorations and furniture chipped and broken, the price don't really reflect that the best years is bygones The beds - must be REALLY old

Review 45：The location - really centre of Stone town with easy access to shopping and restaurants Breakfast Nice staff Decoration and interior Historical building Working A/C

Review 46：wonderful building that provides comfort and an experience of old historic Zanzibar + comfort. Wi-Fi and pool that cools you down after a day of walking

Review 47：A couple of suggestions to compliment the rest of this fantastic hotel! The hotel restaurant food in the evening was not very good or tasty - and too high in price compared with other restaurants out in town (for example Dr. Livingstone Jazz Club) and the cappucino was not a cappucino - better to offer "coffee with milk" instead ;-) . It might also be an idea to keep the door to the road closed when there are breakfast guests - the road noise and smells were not great first thing in the morning.

Review 48：Breakfast was fantastic and the staff extremely helpful and friendly. Super place to stay and recommend it warmly.

Review 49：My bed was very itchy. I ended up with bites over my legs - not sure if the bed has bed bugs but something definitely bit me.

Review 50：The location was excellent, close walk to everything in Stone Town. Free wii fi was great and I appreciated the air con after 3 weeks of tenting around Tanzania

Review 51：- be careful, there are great price offers on Booking for immense rooms (64 m2), but you get a small room in the new building - only possible to store your luggage on the ground - restaurant has little interesting to offer, better look elsewhere

Review 52：- atmosphere in old building - silence inside the rooms, no noise from outside (busy) street - friendliness of the staff - great location - showers in "Persian" style

Review 53：Need to climb four floors to get to the top floor.

Review 54：The decor. We stayed at the top floor with ocean view and outdoor shower. Entire hotel provides so much character. It's not just simply a hotel.

Review 55：After a camping safari, The Dhow was indeed like a palace. We had 2 huge 4 poster beds which were bigger than our tent where we slept for 11 nights! The room was huge with not only an attractive tiled table on an oriental carpet with brocaded chairs but everywhere there was beautiful ornate carved furniture. The bathroom was also a treat...spacious and such an attractive blue tiled bath/shower. Breakfast by the pool was a treat and the rooftop terrace enabled great views!

Review 56：Not cheap!

Review 57：Comfortable and quirky hotel set in the middle of the major town. Food was good, as were the rooms and staff. All in all a good place to stay.

Review 58：The towels and bed linen were a bit worn out, the quality of the mattress and pillow could be improved. But overall very nice experience, and load of charme of the old building!

Review 59：Beautiful historical building, nicely decorated, large swimming pool in the patio, beautiful terrace, excelent breakfast. Very large room and bathrooms. Very central in Stone Town.

Review 60：Rooms do not have a safe, and wifi was sometimes a bit weak.

Review 61：The staff was very warm and welcoming, the location is excellent for discovering Stone Town, breakfast was quite basic but nonetheless good, and the room was very clean. It's a magnificent Omani mansion converted into a hotel, ask for a room with a view on the pool, it's worth it!

Review 62：No alcohol available.

Review 63：A lovely hotel at the heart of Stonetown with superb management team. We were there for our 30th anniversary and the manager surprised us by giving us the penthouse unit and an anniversary cake... very sweet! thank you! The Arabesque styled hotel has lots of beautiful antique furniture. Our room had a balcony with a view of the Indian ocean and Arabic tiled shower/bathtub.

Review 64：We arrived late one afternoon and had to leave in the wee small hours of the next morning to catch a plane. Would have preferred to stay longer! NB the swimming pool is in a very public part of the hotel, next to the dining area, so has to be closed from 7 pm.

Review 65：This hotel is historic and furnished with antiques, but the mod cons are excellent including air conditioning and a magnificent tiled bath-shower. The staff were friendly and helpful, and had heeded our request as an adult mother-daughter "couple" for twin beds.

Review 66：The building is beautiful, and the rooms have very nice furniture and are clean. The hotel is easy to find and located in the middle of Stone town. The pool is small but was great for a refreshing dip after spending the day wandering through the narrow streets. The staff were very friendly and helpful. If we go back to Zanzibar we will definitly stay at the Dhow Palace again.

Review 67：The air conditioning in the room appeared to be broken.

Review 68：I loved the location and the old world charm of the Dhow Palace Hotel. The staff were very friendly and helpful. They organised tours for us and gave us a takeaway breakfast as we had to leave for a flight in the middle of the night. This hotel had tons of character and and a very old feel to it, beautiful!

Review 69：Great location to stay while exploring Stone Town. Easy walking to all interesting places. Very comfortable and exclusive hotel with great breakfast and service.

Review 70：The staff did not seem to be the friendliest but they were accomodating enough.

Review 71：The feel and look of the place is great. The pool in the center of the hotel is a great feature. We had a lovely and spacious room and the decor was perfect. The breakfast was also really good.

Review 72：We loved everything.

Review 73：Location was ideal for sightseeing and exploring the old town. Also close enough to wander along the waterfront. Hotel was a wonderful oasis in the middle of a busy city. Facilities were good and the unique Arabian/ Moroccan architecture created a wonderful ambience.

Review 74：breakfast room and restaurant is small and pokey. No bar.

Review 75：Location is excellent and our room was really good size.

Review 76：Piazza base was too heavy and doughy. Long wait for poor quality food.

Review 77：Swimming pool. Ambience. Balcony. Roof top view.

Review 78：good location near stone town

Review 79：Staff very accommodating and let us check out late with no extra charge. Also the pool was great!

Review 80：Staff very friendly. Hotel very quirky and full of history. Lovely room.

Review 81：The staff was super friendly!

Review 82：Friendly staff. Very nice swimming pool and view from the rooftop. Beautiful interior.

Review 83：friendly staff, nice location , clean hotel. strongly recommend

Review 84：very nice hotel, beautiful interior, very friendly staff, location within the old town.

Review 85：Overall very good. Service comfort value and location.

Review 86：staff very helpful, very nice beautiful building, great terrace, happy to enjoy pool

Review 87：The room smelled of mold.

Review 88：We liked the old interior design.

Review 89：Breakfast is horrible

Review 90：Beautiful location Historical building with antique furniture Helpful staff

Review 91：Breakfast pretty simple. Bad shower, plumbing should be upgraded.

Review 92：Good location, we felt we were in an old palace. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Review 93：The unkempt and untuned piano.

Review 94：Proximity to Stone Town and the daily food fair at Forodani.

Review 95：The receptionist are not friendly and the food quality is average.

Review 96：The ambience and the location is good

Review 97：The breakfasts and the pool.

Review 98：early check out time 10.00am

Review 99：delicious breakfast, every room full of antiques..friendly helpful staff, excellent location, just off beaten track

Review 100：bad exchange rate at the reception-desk

Review 101：colourful windowpanes, gorgeous old furniture in the rooms and the lobby, convenient location

Review 102：none

Review 103：Room 40 was amazing on the top floor with a magnificent view to wake up to every morning ... sleeps three

Review 104：One day they forgot to clean the room.

Review 105：Location is excellent. Friendly staff. Courtyard with swimming pool. Nice rooms.

Review 106：Spectacular views on the seaside. The location is perfect as you can walk anywhere in Stonetown.

Review 107：The location was perfect for us; we had a fabulous room (21) in the oldest part of the building; the pool is lovely; the staff are very friendly.

Review 108：Wifi needs better signal. More bandwidth is desired 200k download is something but not much.

Review 109：Atmosphere is authentic.

Review 110：Restaurant prices are crazy. Not worth the money.

Review 111：Great atmosphere. Huge rooms with strong WiFi. Wonderful staff.

Review 112：Our bathroom smelled really really bad.

Review 113：Loved the location of the hotel, the pool and the roof top patio. The staff were nice and breakfast was good.

Review 114：Beautiful Zanzibarian hotel loaded with history. Short walk to waterfront and all the shops. Lovely balconies, pool and good breakfast!

Review 115：Beds were rickety

Review 116：Big nice hotel rooms also for family

Review 117：The size of beds particularly the length is too short for 6 ft gents!!

Review 118：Decor, old preserved heritage and artefacts. Good hospitable service

Review 119：Great location, friendly staff and good breakfast.

Review 120：The hotel was perfect. So beautifully renovated with antiques all around. The pool is a must for relaxing and refreshing after a day of exploring Stone Town. They staff were happy for me to use the facilities after check out on my last day which was a huge bonus. I'll certainly stay again if I ever visit Zanzibar.

Review 121：Breakfast could be better, 100$ room price perhaps a little high, hotel v empty and lacking atmosphere in low season

Review 122：Incredible building, beautifully decorated, lovely pool and terrace views, sense of occasion

Review 123：Bed was quite short- if my boyfriend had been any taller he would have been hanging off it.

Review 124：Great location within walking distance of all of stone tone attractions. Gorgeous courtyard with pool in centre. Breakfast buffet was tasty. Spice tour was fantastic and great value for money- well worth doing if you have the time.