The Madinat Al Bahr hotel is conveniently located at a beach near the airport (3km, 6-10min drive) and also not far from Zanzibar City (7km, around 10-15min drive) with its famous stone town and ferry terminal to Dar Es Salaam etc. The hotel's architecture is impressive. The breakfast buffet is nice, but lunch an dinner buffet happens only on weekends. The restaurant kitchen is strong on local Swaheli food, fresh produce and Indian dishes. Really yummy. But don't order the T-Bone steak. I asked for medium rare but got a hard boiled (!) though correct piece of meat but too tough to either cut or chew. The rooms are big and clean with nice ocean views. The staff is pleasant. Except, don't trust the staff at the concierge desk turned activity booking desk to book your touristic activities. Apparently it's outsourced and run by another company. We booked a lift to the ferry but they told us totally wrong ferry times and basically cost me a whole day driving to a ferry that left long before. They had no clue what they were selling. But again, not really the hotel's responsibility. The reception easily let me book an additional early check-in and late check-out both of which made my trip a lot more pleasant. Big hug and thanks for this. The Madinat Al Bahr is good for a short stay at Zanzibar as its location enables one to pack a lot into one's trip, which is exactly what all the far-away beach hotels at the eastern beaches can't provide due to long driving times.
翻譯
