Bella Vista Resort Zanzibar

The Bella Vista Hotel is wonderful. The staff is really friendly, they helped us with everything and made our stay very comfortable. Sharlene is the best! They were very resourceful and assisted us with booking activities, getting a SIM card, and told us many things about the country. The hotel is located right on the beach, which makes water activities very convenient. The views are really amazing. The hotel restaurant is very good, with fresh homemade food, always offering several options. The fruit is wonderful, and bottled water is always available. This is an incredible place that I highly recommend visiting.

I travelled as a solo traveler and did not know what to expect. Upon arrival Sharlene and the staff made me feel welcome. Fresh juice in the morning was delicious. The Swahili night with local food was amazing. Thanks Sharlene for having dinner with me😁. Everything was well organised and the day trip with snorkelling and seafood on the boat was my favourite. I will be back soon !!

Sharlene our host was absolutely delightful, she made our trip to 10/10. The resort is stunning! Food 10/10! Views are amazing! I would definitely recommend Bella Vista. I can’t wait to come back to Zanzibar because of the experience I had at Bella Vista.

Not even close to what you can expect from a 4-star resort. We left after one night and stayed elsewhere for the remaining 2 nights. Good things: - By the sea, nice sunset views - Free SUP to use - The food was flavourful To be improved: - The AC did not work till midnight. Apparently that is a known problem because of limited infrastructure, but when paying extra for it, at least be honest about it from the start. Instead we spent hours waiting for mechanical staff to ‘fix it’, when it cannot be fixed. - I have never seen such a dirty swimming pool in my life! No circulation whatsoever, just still water at 35+ degrees. It was full of chlorine, so they must’ve been aware of the issue. - No pool towels available. Even when requesting them and being promised they’ll be brought: nothing. Also, no towels next morning and the dirty ones still laying by the pool. - Expect to pay $30+ for a meal (just one dish & soda). Way above average for Zanzibar. Smaller annoyances: - Only one tiny towel for drying hands, no mat or something for the bathroom, which gets soaked because it lacks a shower screen or curtain. - The bathroom has no windows, just mesh. So there is no humidity or temperature control. That means no dry towels. - Restaurant service was just sufficient, but nothing close to friendly. Imagine having to ask for glasses when ordering water and being given just a 1,5L bottle… - For dinner, we were there at 18:15 or so, and already beef had been sold out… I can understand that when we are late, but not at the start of dinner service and when lots of dishes have beef in them… - In the morning they were out of pancake batter. How can you be out of flour, milk & eggs?! Oh, but we could get an omelette. Overall, we did not have an enjoyable experience and decided to end our stay earlier. Staff was all but accommodating, leaving us waiting for hours on end before coming up with a new ‘solution’. They even wanted us to pay their commission to *********** for the remaining nights. They have not issued a single apology or gave any verbal recognition to the problems we pointed out. The resort has so much potential and I sincerely hope they work on utilising it.