Name: Spice Palace Hotel
Address: Sokomuhogo Street, Zanzibar, 3567, TZ

8/10

Excellent

18 Jun 2026

Archer

Clean, Quiet, Polite and Helpful staff. The Maasai guards were extremely kind and helpful.

Business Friends

10/10

Exceptional

17 Jun 2026

Ezekiel

Everything is fine here thanks 😊

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 May 2026

Petula

Excellent service 👏 👍 👌

8/10

Excellent

03 Apr 2026

Janace

The location is excellent—nothing in Stone Town is more than a 10-minute walk, which made it easy to get around. The only drawback is that the hotel is located down an alleyway where cars cannot access. If you’re traveling with luggage, you’ll need to ask your taxi driver to arrange for a concierge to come and assist.

The first room we were given was very small and extremely hot and never properly cooled down. After the first night, we requested a larger room. While we appreciated being accommodated, we were charged more than what the upgraded room would have cost had we booked it that way initially, which was disappointing. In the new room, the air conditioning unit wasn’t ideally positioned, so the sleeping area never cooled as effectively as we would have liked. That said, the bed itself was very comfortable.

The staff were a highlight of our stay. Everyone was pleasant and helpful, with special thanks to Habibi at the front desk and Luca, the Maasai concierge. Luca, in particular, went above and beyond—he carried our luggage multiple times to assist us, which we truly appreciated (even if we felt a bit bad for all the effort he put in!).

The main drawback for us was the breakfast setup. The dining area is not enclosed, and birds were a significant nuisance. On several occasions, we saw them eating directly from the buffet and from the bowl used by staff to prepare omelettes. Ugh! That presented hygiene concerns for us.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Mar 2026

Nazneen

Great and friendly staff who made me feel at home!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

02 Mar 2026

leonid

very good location of the hotel :)
the staff is very friendly

Self

6/10

Pleasant

04 Dec 2025

Khaja

Transportation is problem as cars cannot reach hotel front due to very narrow lanes

6/10

Pleasant

20 Nov 2025

Khaja

Good hotel

10/10

Exceptional

30 Sep 2025

Sady

Loved it and loved the staff

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

30 Aug 2025

stella

The people who worked there were very nice, helpful, and personable.

2/10

Poor

20 Aug 2025

Ali

Our experience at this hotel was very disappointing. From the moment we arrived, the welcome was not good at all. Even at check-out, the staff did not respond to phone calls. When we first entered the room, there were no towels provided, even though they should have been ready. We had to keep asking repeatedly and even went outside several times before we finally received them.

The bathroom had a very unpleasant smell whenever we used the water, which made it uncomfortable. Breakfast was below average with limited options, and when we tried lunch at the hotel, it was terrible. Overall, the service and facilities did not meet expectations, and we would not recommend this hotel.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

25 Jul 2025

Alan

I would say this property met all my needs. It’s in a great location for both food and seeing some of the sights in stone town. I fear the only drawback is that there are many commercial stores around which is both a blessing and a curse as you pass by the same people selling their wares all the time through no fault of their ow.

Leisure Self

2/10

Poor

30 Jun 2025

Michael

Our bathroom flooded multiple times. First room smelled terrible, moved to the next room which flooded. Asked to speak to the manager about it. We were there for three days and never heard from them. They never responded and clearly didn’t care. Front desk was unhelpful and had bad attitude. Vehicles cannot access the hotel as there are only small alley ways surrounding the hotel. Be prepared to walk a long distance with your bags. I would not stay here again.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

09 Jun 2025

Gary keith

Great location good service excellent breakfast

6/10

Pleasant

06 Jun 2025

Victoria

Nice lobby, pool and cafe area. Rooms are dated and bedding is nasty! Staff great. Location good. Well priced for a short 1 night stay.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

25 May 2025

Maryam

Nice staff

10/10

Exceptional

12 May 2025

Jamaal

I enjoyed my stay here no complaints at all I plan to revisit with friends soon

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

24 Mar 2025

Ziyanai

Delightful hidden gem

Relatively easy to find hotel, walking distance from ferry and other places of historical significance such as the Slave market. Very clean room, exquisite furniture and decorations. Air con and wifi worked very well. Delightful and pleasant staff, engaging and gave tips on areas to visit. Delicious breakfast, great choice. Will definitely visit again.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

25 Feb 2025

Nancy

This was a great place to stay. The food was good and the rooms were excellent. The staff was very helpful in assisting us with anything we needed. The pool was a nice benefit to relax in after a hot day out in the city. I would highly recommend staying here.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

02 Feb 2025

Kevin

Nice boutique hotel. Good food and clean. Rooftop dinner option with the wine and seafood dinner was a nice suprise. Nice cozy pool.

Self

8/10

Excellent

11 Jan 2025

Carol

Very quaint hotel with African decor in mid Stonetown. Shopping unavoidable. Rooftop restaurant with great food and drinks.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

04 Jan 2025

Michael

It was very peaceful and relaxing

10/10

Exceptional

09 Nov 2024

Keisha

In the heart of zanzibar! Fantastic staff. Your Masai collegues Luka and others werr ecceptional. Shoeing us food spots .24hr front desk and everyhkng was so clean . Loved it

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

24 Sep 2024

Steven

In a real area. Many local people right outside the door. If you are looking for a sanitized western lux hotel, maybe go elsewhere. If you want to really feel like Stone Town a good option.

Room was basic but clean and comfortable.

Self

8/10

Excellent

01 Sep 2024

Lenora

Close to everything of interest. Modern, well kept.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

06 Aug 2024

Angelique

We booked this hotel via Expedia and stayed 2 nights. The best thing about this hotel is location. It is in the middle of Stone Town, walking distance to all the attractions (Freddie Mercury museum, slave market, churches, spice market, old port). There are a lot of shops and many restaurants around the corner. We walked a lot on our own and it is very safe during the day. People are friendly. The roof top restaurant has view of Stone Town. I arranged pick up from airport and they were great. They also took us to our resort in Nungwi and I think there price is better than taxi or service from Nungwi. The room is very nice and clean. Breakfast is good too. The downside, there are constructions in other buildings surrounding this hotel. And our room is next to the street. So it is very noisy all day and night. People on the streets are talking into 2-3 in the morning and the loud speaker from a mosque near by starts at 5am. People staying in the hotel coming into the hotel until 2-3 am. So I didn’t get much sleep here. There was a mixed up for our breakfast. Hotel has record that we did book with breakfast. But the rooftop restaurant did not receive our booking. So they refused letting us in even when I showed my booking information from Expedia. The front desk had to work through the 2 management systems to solve this problem. It took so long by the time they solved this miscommunication, breakfast time was almost over so we had to rush to get some food.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

27 Jun 2024

Patrick

Great value for money

Leisure Family_with_children

4/10

Poor

24 May 2024

Raju

Repairs going at the adjustable property
and no information about that.also no hot
water due to some problems what give property 2 stars

10/10

Exceptional

08 May 2024

Aisling

All of the staff here were so kind and helpful! My room was so clean and comfortable, and the breakfast was amazing 🤩 I really hope I can stay here again one day ❤️ Asante Sana!!

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

08 May 2024

Ildiko

Nice and clean hotel. Loved the terrace restaurant. The food was good and breakfast had lots of choices.
It was easy to find our way to the melacon. There is a ATM close by which is convenient.
You could make arrangements for trips right in the hotel.
We didn't use it, bit there is a very nice pool at the hotel.
They were eager to please us in every way. Nice stay.

Business_and_leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

15 Apr 2024

Shu hua

Location location….everything is within walking distance!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

02 Apr 2024

Angi

Great location and staff

My 2nd stay i really felt comfortable the first time so i came back.

10/10

Exceptional

30 Mar 2024

Angi

Great place amazing price and location

This was a very nice hotel. The staff was very friendly it has a great roof top restaurant/bar the food was great would definitely stay again.

2/10

Poor

15 Jan 2024

Barbara

Property location is nice. Very old and smells of mildew. The pool is the size a jacuzzi, no seats around the baby splash pool. I had no hot water and the tv did not a connect. The free internet is null and void. Connectivity to the internet was poor for both new gets that I stay at Spice Palace. Heed this warning and stay elsewhere. The breakfast served each morning was horribly!

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jul 2023

John

Excellent location in Stone Town. Very nice room. The dining was reasonably good, although at times just a bit slow. The staffing and service at the lobby coffee bar was very poor, with apparent staff disinterest -- this is the only aspect of this hotel which could use some more attention, Otherwise, highly recommended.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

11 Jul 2023

Annlee

A hidden gem among the hustle and bustle of Stone Town. Great location and friendly staff, though quite noisy.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

22 May 2023

Javon

Great Hotel!

I had a truly amazing stay at this hotel.
The staff were so nice. The room was very big and had a comfortable bed. And the breakfast was very delicious. I would definitely stay here again.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 Mar 2023

Wilmer

I had a great stay at Spice Palace Hotel, perfect location, near to the most popular tourist attractions!

Self

2/10

Poor

07 Feb 2023

Kenton

Tired and misleading

The hotel is very tired. The rooms were very tired, the mosquito nets were grey with neglect and had holes in them, defeating their purpose. The shower in the bathroom had cracked tiles and wholes in the door. You also needed to be a contortionist to sit on the toilet, and all this was in what is described as a superior suite.

They claim to have happy hour on beer and cocktails between 4 and 7 every day (advertised in the bar) but when you try to take advantage of this they use all sorts of excuses to give you any form of happy hour discount. When I tried to raise this with the management they didn’t even have the decency to respond to my email.

Either they need to remove the happy hour sign and references to happy hour or honour it.

The food was average at best.

Do not use their airport shuttle as the charge double the going rate and do not get you as close to the hotel as they possibly could do.

This is all a great shame as the hotel does have great potential due to location. All it requires is some freshening up.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

04 Jan 2023

saleh

Majority of things are ok but something very important which I didn't like is the fact that you cannot easily sleep in the morning or during the afternoon and the reason is that too much light in the room. The sun goes directly through the small window of the door overlooking 5he balcony, from the toilet door. The curtains are not dark and leave the sun light to come in. I was in Room 302

10/10

Exceptional

09 May 2021

Sven

Nice stay

Was a nice hideaway in the Middle of town, the staff and rooftop restaurant were a saving grace, especially during our trip, the staff were very accommodating

Partner

8/10

Excellent

29 Jul 2020

Fahad

Clean, decent place

It was a decent place. Great value for money... rooftop bar was great.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

01 Feb 2020

Sam

I love the charm of this hotel. It’s very clean and up to date, perfect location and the staff was very friendly. The worst part about my stay at this hotel was having to leave. Great experience and I will stay here again! I highly recommend this hotel.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

24 Sep 2019

Verified traveler

The rooftop bar is a lovely, unique feature and the nightly note/cookies were nice to look forward to.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

02 Sep 2019

Mohammed

Excellent

Perfect location
Basic breakfast

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

24 Aug 2019

Verified traveler

The hotel is located perfectly in stone town, and has great amenities including a clean pool kept at a pleasant temperature, a cafe, and roof top restaurant. The staff are exceptionally friendly and sweet, and very helpful! The property itself is beautiful, and well maintained, and the rooms are clean and comfy.

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

13 Aug 2019

Verified traveler

Staff at the restaurant very youthful and lovely, i would definitely come over again :)

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

25 Jul 2019

Verified traveler

Lovely staff, very clean, great location. Stayed in a single which had plenty of room and a really great sized, modern bathroom. Highly recommend

Leisure Self

2/10

Poor

07 Jun 2019

Andrea

I read this could happen and it did. When I arrived at my hotel to check in, they told me I had to stay at a different location.

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

10 Apr 2019

Verified traveler

The rooms are very nice and good value for money. The pool is tiny, dirty and was emptied at some point. Cleaning service very good and friendly lobby. Restaurant service not so good.

6/10

Pleasant

29 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

The proprety is placed in a very good location. Take dome earplugs, the phonic isolation is really poor. You can hear everything from outside and the lobby. The staff from the front desk are very kind and helpful. The food in the restaurant is ok, however the waiters have no idea what they are doing. The half board includes for dinner only main course, and we ordered a vegetables side salad. When we paid for the salad, instead of a regular garden salad, they charged me for a “beef salad”, their argument being that the system does not include my chosen option. I do not believe the customer has to pay for their error in the system. After this, at check-out, they said we need to pay an extra 25$, a bill placed on our room by the restaurant. The main course we had was included in the package we bought, and the salad was already paid for. This just delayed our arival in the airport for no reason.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

27 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

The receptionists are great, really helpful. The waiters in the Jaws restaurant are clue

10/10

Exceptional

01 Mar 2019

Fabienne

fantastic place only top by their great service at

great place i had booked an oter place in zanzibar but when i saw it there where no way i would spend a night there so i went to find and most importanly see an other hotel and found spice palace hotel by luck the roomed was ac in zanzibar this mater the pool was a nice cooling spot and most imporlantly i wanr to thank the staff they went beyound their duty they walked me back to my \"hotel\" to collect my bags i had hurt my back and they sent someone with me to the pharmacy so on so forth on my return to zanzibar i stayed an extra night great place great breakfast well situated in stone tozn and a 156 minutes ride to the airport

10/10

Exceptional

12 Feb 2019

Kate

Nice, clean and friendly staff. Good and Well priced accommodation in the centre of the town. All was good except for the quite small rooms but was not an issue for a short stay.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

31 Jan 2019

yehonatan

Good Hotel in the middle of Stone-town.

The location is very good, in the middle of Stonetown. The hotel is clean, well taken care of, and the service is excellent. The food is good.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

29 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Great hotel in the heart of stonetown. Staff was very friendly.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Great location, beautiful hotel.

Friends

8/10

Excellent

10 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Happy stay at Spice Palace

Great location, right in heart of Stone Town. Staff at the hotel were very welcoming and attentive, helping us with organising tours at short notice. Also the breakfast was good.

Partner

4/10

Poor

02 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

+ Good location
+ Breakfast

- Room not clean
- Little animals in bed

It was ok for 1 night.

8/10

Excellent

29 Dec 2018

Branishka

This hotel is located in Stone Town and walking distance from the popular sites like Forodhani, The Old Fort and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. You can't drive directly to the hotel, but it won't be a far walk from where the car drops you off. This hotel also has elevators which many others don't have.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

26 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Great location at Jaws corner. Can walk everywhere. Beautiful gem. Staff so helpful, loved pool - small but clean and cool. Felt at home.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Dec 2018

Faizel

Convenient location with friendly staff.

Good location, the staff is very friendly and helpful, breakfast was wonderful, room was superb.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

29 Nov 2018

Sherry

Great location. Clean rooms. Limited options for breakfast and halfboard. Changed rooms 3 times over two night stay due to faulty airconditioners.

8/10

Excellent

21 Nov 2018

Carol

A homely place. I didn't like the flooding bathroom floor.

Leisure Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

09 Nov 2018

Anj

Ideal place to stay, yet needs some improvements,

Positive feed back
- The room was comfortable
- location in the hearth of the city, accesable to almost everything, shops, markets, resturants and so on
- Friendly staff
- Good breakfast selections
- cheap alcohol price compared to other hotels

Improvement needed
- solving issues, ( we had an issue about our room key after 2 days they sortout the issue) its anoying.
- Most of the linens has bad smell, bath towels and bathrobes
- unconfortable pillow

However our overall experience was fine

8/10

Excellent

05 Nov 2018

Gift

The toilet choking stinkng scent put me off...other wise the staff and food we're good

8/10

Excellent

28 Oct 2018

G

we only stayed for one night and was very enjoyable with very friendly staff, relatively quiet environment (on the ground floor so had some noise of people passing/cleaning)

10/10

Exceptional

26 Oct 2018

Gus

Nice hotel in middle of stone town. The staff were friendly and helpful. Breakfast and dinner were both very nice. It was great value gor money.

10/10

Exceptional

22 Oct 2018

shaiq

Their staff is their greatest asset. The area is clean with lot of interesting restaurants and other attractions.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

21 Oct 2018

Rachel

Lovely, homely place to stay.

A really lovely hotel. The room was clean and looked lovely. At night somebody came to spray my room and put out the mosquito net. Ideally located on a main street junction on Stone Towns making it much easier to find after a walk round the winding streets which usually leave you confused as to which direction. All roads lead to here.

Staff were really polite and helpful. The AC was very much appreciated.

6/10

Pleasant

20 Oct 2018

Verified traveler

Great customer service!
Room not elegant as in the decor!
The bathroom water was a mess!!

10/10

Exceptional

08 Oct 2018

Pier-Luc

Location is safe and in the middle of the city. Walking around can be hard, but easier with googlemaps.

10/10

Exceptional

05 Oct 2018

Verified traveler

Great experience

Amazing place, excellent prices

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Oct 2018

Bernadette

the room was very clean and beautiful! the bathroom was super new and had a lovely shower and a huge mirror. there was coffee for free and biscuits on the bed in the evening

10/10

Exceptional

30 Sep 2018

Verified traveler

Lovely, central location.

Lovely, local staff friendly, happy and very helpful. Very relaxed, very clean. Breakfast was good.
One bad thing, manager(blonde woman)unfriendly.

Family