The Residence Zanzibar

5.0 star property
Find your bliss by the ocean with breathtaking views of turquoise waters. Rejuvenate at our spa or get active snorkeling and horseback riding.

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Photo gallery for The Residence Zanzibar

Luxury Ocean Front Pool Villa | 1 bedroom, minibar, in-room safe, desk
2 bars/lounges, poolside bar
Exterior
Body treatments, body wraps, body scrubs, facials
2 bars/lounges, poolside bar

Reviews

9.0 out of 10
Wonderful

Popular amenities

  • Bar
  • All inclusive
  • Gym
The current price is SAR 1,396
SAR 1,643 total
includes taxes & fees
27 Feb - 28 Feb

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Room options

Available filters for rooms
Showing 6 of 6 rooms

Prestige Ocean Front Pool Villa

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free rollaway/extra beds
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
  • 155 sq m
  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 King Bed

Luxury Ocean Front Pool Villa

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free rollaway/extra beds
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
  • 155 sq m
  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 King Bed

Luxury Garden Pool Villa

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free rollaway/extra beds
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
  • 155 sq m
  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 King Bed

Frangipani Garden Pool Villa

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
Blackout drapes/curtains
  • Sleeps 6
  • 1 King Bed and 2 Twin Beds

Presidential Villa (Pool)

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
Ceiling fan
  • Sleeps 6
  • 1 King Bed and 2 Twin Beds

Frangipani Ocean Front Pool Villa

Highlights

Furnished patio
Separate sitting area
Fireplace
Private pool
Air conditioning
Free cribs/infant beds
Flat-screen TV
Blackout drapes/curtains
  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 6
  • 1 King Bed and 2 Twin Beds

Similar properties

About the neighborhood

Map
Mchangamle, Kizimkazi

What's nearby

  • Mchangamble Beach - 7 min walk
  • Kizimkazi Dimbani Mosque - 12 min drive
  • Dimbani Beach - 13 min drive
  • Kizimkazi Beach - 22 min drive
  • Paje Beach - 40 min drive

Getting around

  • Zanzibar Intl. Airport (ZNZ) - 58 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Aya Beach Restaurant - ‬15 min drive
  • ‪Juice Bar - ‬14 min drive
  • ‪Dining room, The Residence - ‬11 min walk
  • ‪Kipepo Pool Bar - ‬14 min walk
  • ‪Ngalawa Cocktail Bar - ‬14 min walk

About this property

The Residence Zanzibar

Luxury family-friendly hotel by the ocean
A free breakfast buffet, a poolside bar, and a terrace are just a few of the amenities provided at The Residence Zanzibar. This hotel is a great place to bask in the sun with a white sand beach, beachfront dining, and sun loungers. Treat yourself to a massage, a manicure/pedicure, or a body scrub at the onsite spa. At the two on-site restaurants, enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and ocean views. Yoga classes are offered at the gym; other things to do include kayaking, hiking/biking, and snorkeling. Stay connected with free in-room WiFi, and guests can find other amenities such as 2 coffee shops/cafes and a garden.
You'll also find perks like:
  • An outdoor pool with sun loungers and pool umbrellas
  • Free self parking
  • Free bicycle rentals, an outdoor tennis court, and a roundtrip airport shuttle (surcharge)
  • Babysitting (surcharge), tour/ticket assistance, and luggage storage
  • Guest reviews give top marks for the helpful staff
Room features
All 66 rooms have comforts such as 24-hour room service and private pools, in addition to perks like fireplaces and furnished patios.
More conveniences in all rooms include:
  • Childcare services and free infant beds
  • Separate tubs/showers, free toiletries, and hair dryers
  • Flat-screen TVs with satellite channels
  • Separate sitting areas, coffee/tea makers, and ceiling fans

All inclusive details

All-inclusive room rates at The Residence Zanzibar are available. These rates are higher because they include onsite food and beverages in the room rate (some restrictions may apply).

Languages

English, French, German, Hindi, Spanish, Swahili

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transportation

  • Free self parking on site
  • 24-hour roundtrip airport shuttle (surcharge)
  • Airport shuttle at scheduled times, on request

Food and drink

  • Free buffet breakfast
  • 2 restaurants and 2 coffee shops
  • 2 bars/lounges and 1 poolside bar
  • 24-hour room service

Restaurants on site

  • The Dining Room
  • The Pavilion

Things to do

  • Fitness center
  • Free bicycle rentals
  • Full-service spa
  • Hiking/biking trails
  • Horse riding/rentals
  • Kayaking
  • Outdoor pool
  • Outdoor tennis court
  • Playground
  • Sauna
  • Snorkeling
  • Steam room
  • Yoga classes

Family friendly

  • Babysitting (surcharge)
  • Free children's club
  • Free cribs/infant beds
  • Free supervised childcare
  • In-room child care (surcharge)
  • Laundry facilities
  • Outdoor pool
  • Playground
  • Separate living room
  • Snack bar/deli

Conveniences

  • Free newspapers in lobby
  • Front-desk safe
  • Gift shop/newsstand
  • Library
  • Lockers available
  • Reception hall

Guest services

  • 24-hour front desk
  • Concierge services
  • Daily housekeeping
  • Dry cleaning service
  • Hair salon
  • Laundry facilities
  • Luggage storage
  • Multilingual staff
  • Porter/bellhop
  • Tour/ticket assistance
  • Turndown service
  • Wedding services

Business services

  • Business center
  • Computer station
  • Meeting rooms

Outdoors

  • Beach loungers
  • Beach umbrellas
  • Beachfront location
  • Garden
  • Pool sun loungers
  • Pool umbrellas
  • Terrace

Spa

  • Body scrubs
  • Body treatments
  • Body wraps
  • Facials
  • Manicures and pedicures
  • Massages

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • This property does not have elevators
  • Accessible airport shuttle
  • In-room accessibility
  • Wheelchair-accessible path of travel

More

  • Beach towels
  • Smoke-free property

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Air conditioning
  • Bed sheets
  • Blackout drapes/curtains
  • Ceiling fan
  • Free cribs/infant beds

Bathroom

  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer
  • Separate bathtub and shower
  • Towels

Entertainment

  • Flat-screen TV
  • Satellite channels

Food and drink

  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Free bottled water
  • Minibar

Outdoor space

  • Furnished patio

More

  • Desk
  • Fireplace
  • Phone
  • Private pool
  • Safe
  • Separate sitting area
  • Slippers
  • Turndown service

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 3:00 PM; Check-in end time: anytime

Check-out

Check-out before noon
Contactless check-out available

Special check-in instructions

This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply); guests must contact the property with arrival details before travel, using the contact information on the booking confirmation
Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property
For any questions, please contact the property using the information on the booking confirmation

Renovations and closures

The property will be renovating from May 2 2025 to May 31 2025 (completion date subject to change). The following areas are affected:
  • Bar/lounge
  • Swimming pool
During renovations, the hotel will make every effort to minimize noise and disturbance.

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
2 children, up to the age of 7 years, can stay for free if using existing beds when occupying the parent or guardian's room
Free cribs are available on request at the property

Property payment types

Important information

Fees

You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property. Fees may include applicable taxes:

  • A tax is imposed by the city: USD 5.00 per person, per night

We have included all charges provided to us by the property.

Optional extras

  • Airport shuttle fee: USD 95 per vehicle (one-way, maximum occupancy 4)

The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards; cash is not accepted
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a security system, and a first aid kit

We should mention

This property does not have elevators
A fee for a mandatory Christmas Eve gala dinner is included in the total price displayed for stays on December 24
A fee for a mandatory New Year's Eve gala dinner is included in the total price displayed for stays on December 31

Property is also known as

Residence Zanzibar
Residence Zanzibar Hotel
Residence Zanzibar Hotel Kizimkazi
Residence Zanzibar Kizimkazi
Zanzibar Residence
The Residence Zanzibar Hotel Kizimkazi
The Residence Zanzibar Kizimkazi
The Residence Zanzibar Hotel
The Residence Zanzibar Kizimkazi
The Residence Zanzibar Hotel Kizimkazi

Frequently asked questions

Does The Residence Zanzibar have a pool?

Yes, this property has an outdoor pool. The property will be renovating the pool from May 2 2025 to May 31 2025 (completion date subject to change).

Is The Residence Zanzibar pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

How much is parking at The Residence Zanzibar?

Self parking is free at this property.

What time is check-in at The Residence Zanzibar?

Check-in start time: 3:00 PM; Check-in end time: anytime.

What time is check-out at The Residence Zanzibar?

Check-out is at noon.

Does The Residence Zanzibar provide a shuttle to the airport?

Yes, there's an airport shuttle that runs on request. A fee of USD 95 per vehicle applies.

Are there all-inclusive benefits at The Residence Zanzibar?

Some rate plans available at this hotel are all-inclusive.

Where is The Residence Zanzibar located?

Nestled on the beach, this Kizimkazi hotel is 18.4 mi (29.6 km) from Paje Beach.

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The Residence Zanzibar Reviews

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 131 out of 183 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 31 out of 183 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 9 out of 183 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 183 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 8 out of 183 reviews

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

9.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Halit

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

Brian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff were very polite and friendly The rooms are very good
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2024

10/10 Excellent

Gloria

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Top notch customer service!! Well kept property. We enjoyed our honeymoon here!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

Stuart

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Our room was perfect, we had booked Luxury Garden Suite, which exceeded our expectations, we particularly like the privacy it afforded and actually were pleased to have not booked a Beach Villa. The main swimming pool does need a face lift, there are numerous tiles missing and also the entry to the pool is rather unsafe it would be much better to just have a step rather than the slanted tiles
Stayed 15 nights in Dec 2024

8/10 Good

Ubaid

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful property, with a nice layout. The staff was very friendly and helpful, the only issue we faced was complete power failure on the first day and Internet going off and on.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Gerald

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A great location for a quiet get away. The spa treatments and wellness was fabulous. The dining options were always good and of high quality. Staff are friendly and helpful. Recommend the all-inclusive package as options are plentiful and much better than most resorts in Zanzibar.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jorge

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful place. Great staff. Delicious food
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kerry Lee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Highly recommend
Fabulous trip! The residence is gorgeous. The food was delicious and the service was great, everyone is super friendly and welcoming. We found the hotel day trips on the pricey side. There are other local options so all good.
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

ABDUL

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent Villas, service and food
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Witness

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Definitely had an amazing time at The Residence Zanzibar. Everything was perfect, thanks so much for the hospitality.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kunaal

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Amazing hotel, bit far from the airport but definitely worth the trip. Amazing food, a very polite and pleasant group of staff, very helpful, attentive to details, large clean rooms, very well kept and maintained hotel and facilities and amazing activities, great snorkelling site nearby.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Sara

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cant wait to be back
Amazing as it is my 4th time to stay in the residence, its so comfortable feela like home, the food options one of the best on the island.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

TASNEEM

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A truly magical holiday with great attentive staff, Nitin and his team really looked after us. The resort is set in a very natural surrounding and there is lots of opportunity to catch the wildlife in action (including cheeky monkeys!). Pool was great for long swims, fitness centre was very well equipped. The food was immaculate! Both the lunch and dinner menu amazed us every time we dined. Evening entertainment was very entertaining! I recommend you go for all inclusive, full board or at a minimal half board.
Stayed 6 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

boris

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Family holidays
Amazing localization and very well maintained gardens. Staff is very nice and always helpful.
Hotel pool
Villa pool
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Elena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect quality time in perfect place
Perfect Residence. Luxury amenities. Pool area, dinning villas stunning. Staff , every person very pleasant, smiling and ready to help, please you in any possible way. Food is good. Entertainment at dinner time with african bands, dancing. Nice music.extremly clean pool, bathrooms, all common area..Me and my housban enjoyed our stay. Thank you Residence.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Akilah

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The property was amazing but the highlight was Ms Joyce. She is incredible. My son was sick upon arrival and everyday she checked on him, brought him food to the room and made the stay so pleasant.
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

KHILNA JAYESH

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
It was amazing! Loved everything about the property .. special thanks to Helen at the dinning hall for being very efficient as well as all her colleagues who were always smiling and extremely helpful. And to all the happy chefs who would come to check if all was okay.. not to forget the happy gentleman at the pool who would help us with our towels/fruits etc. loved it!
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Husain

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Perfect hotel, with plenty to do and a very large space to explore. Staff were amazing and very friendly, in particular Nuhu was always on hand to assist with any requests, including catering complimentary room service whilst my wife was ill on the first night. This was an amazing unexpected gesture.

2/10 Terrible

Mazen

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awful stay
The stay was not fit for a couple on our honeymoon. The only mode of reasonable transportation was through a gulf cart which took at least 20 minutes to arrive once we asked for it. The hotel is huge with only 1 cart available for all guests. The service was extremely slow and the food average at best. The monkeys at the room were very disturbing, we could not use the outdoor pool, as several monkeys were aggressively trying to break into the room. We were also woken up at 6 am with monkeys jumping and banging on the roof. We originally booked for 3 nights, but decided to leave after 1 night, and the management did not offer any useful help.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Estella

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Really nice hotel, stayed in a one bedroom villa and it was beautiful and clean, food choices were good also but could have more options. Pavilion restaurant was really nice. The place is really big and because they are all villas it sometimes feel like there’s not many people around, when in fact they are sold out. Would stay here again only downside is the location, the road conditions are not the best on some areas, and nothing around the resort so you are forced to only eat and stay on the villa. However it’s not too far from some of the activities.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Nazma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff were amazing. It felt like a family environment. I was quite emotional after I left. The managers and staff did everything possible to make my stay perfect. Benjamin, kitchen staff and housekeeping and all cleaners helped me out a-lot during my stay. This was a dreamy luxurious stay. I was even given complimentary treats on my arrival. I booked the Ocean view prestige Villa and it was a great decision. You have bikes at the villa which you can use to explore around the resort and gardens. The spa is extremely amazing. I loved my therapist Anna she was brilliant. Highly reccomend.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

HYUNG SUK

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness
Five stars? More a large 4 star resort.
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.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2024

4/10 Poor

Sachin

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
5 star resort, 2 star sevrice
The food is below average, also the free water activities that the hotel provides were unavailable when we stayed there for 4 days. Similarly, the steam room was out of order. We had a half board stay and they would charge for water during dinner (but not for breakfast). Most of the vegetables were from the can although fresh vegetables are available in the market. For a five star hotel I would expect more.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023

2/10 Terrible

douglas

Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities
This could be a great five star property, but as it is, it misses completely. The pool is great, the rooms are nice. Half the staff try very hard. The problem is it is misses on almost all fronts.. the food is often themed like a cruise ship, there are ants all over the utensils... it is the kind of place honeymooners enjoy but experienced travelers will be very, very very, disappointed.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022

2/10 Terrible

Oliver

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Not a 5-star property, website very exaggerated. Buffet dinner was not good, sushi left warm for several hours. Ocean not very nice in front of the hotel and large tides. Strange men constantly approach you on the beach soliciting goods and services. We checked out early and changed hotel. Thankfully we were refunded the remaining nights which was a nice gesture. Decent for a family vacation with kids but don’t expect luxury.
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2023