Park Hyatt Zanzibar: Exploring the Charms of Park Hyatt Zanzibar in Stone Town.

Welcome to my review of The Park Hyatt Hotel; A centrally located 5-star hotel located in Stone Town on the Unguja island of Zanzibar. The location was great, the local food was fantastic and the suite accommodation was excellent. A really great choice.

We decided to visit the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, wanting a few days on our arrival on the main island in or near Stone Town for exploring, before going onto a beach destination.

In this review of the Park Hyatt Zanzibar Hotel, I’ll detail our experience of the location, local activities, the best restaurants in town and of course, the accommodation and facilities at the hotel itself. Read below to find out everything you need to know before your next trip to Stone Town, Zanzibar.

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Park Hyatt Zanzibar Front Hotel Entrance

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Why Book with Classic Travel and The Private Traveller

By booking through my affiliation with Classic Travel, I was able to secure a number of additional VIP benefits with their Hyatt Prive rates.These included:

• Complimentary Breakfast for Two

• $100 Property Credit 

• Early Check-in/late Check-out (based on availability upon arrival)

• Priority for complimentary room upgrade (based on availability upon arrival)

• Guests receive a welcome amenity that reflects the personality of the hotel and the destination

• Complimentary WIFI

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Fast Facts for The Park Hyatt Zanzibar

Address - Shangani Street, Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania, 4255
Website - https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/tanzania/park-hyatt-zanzibar/znzph
Group website - https://www.hyatt.com/brands/park-hyatt
TripAdvisor ranking - #2 of 49 hotels in Stone Town
Contact - zanzibar.park@hyatt.com
Instagram - @parkhyattzanzibar
Nearest airport - Zanzibar’s Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) - 8 km or 5 miles (about a 15 min drive, traffic dependent) 
Opened - 2015
Number of rooms / suites - 67 guestrooms (including 11 suites)
Number of floors - 3 (traditional building), 5 (new building - ground + four accommodation levels)
Bars - 1 (Living Room)
Restaurants - 5 (Beach House, Dining Room, The Library and Verandah, Living Room, & pool Lounge)
Wellbeing - Spa, Outdoor Pool, Fitness Centre
Visited - December 2023

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The beach at Prison Island Zanzibar

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Hotel Accommodation: Luxuriously appointed, blending contemporary with local regional accents.

With only 67 rooms including 11 suites, this looks like it’s going to be a much bigger hotel from the outside and the amount of space there is. It’s a combination of the original building (which was the Zanzibar Polo Club) with a new building next door housing the bulk of the rooms, event space, Living Room (Bar) and Dining Room. Along the front of both buildings is an extensive terrace hanging over the beach, with pool at one end and lots of outdoor seating along the full length.

In terms of room choice, there are three standards all with the option of either King or Twin, these being Park, Park View, or Park Deluxe. Suites, of which there are 11 in total, you can choose between Park Suite King, Bahari Terrace Suite, Zanzibar Suite, Zamani Presidential Suite, or the Royal Residence.

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“Sitting majestically on the beachfront in the heart of Stone Town, a designated UNESCO heritage site, Park Hyatt Zanzibar. The hotel provides the ultimate haven amongst Stone Town’s labyrinth of winding alleys, bustling markets, mosques, and famed Zanzibari doors, featuring magnificent ornate wooden carvings. The town’s key attractions are easily accessible by foot including Forodhani Gardens, the Old Fort, the Old Dispensary, the Peace Memorial Museum, the Palace Museum, and the House of Wonders.”

— https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/tanzania/park-hyatt-zanzibar/znzph

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Facilities & Service at The Park Hyatt Zanzibar, Stone Town

There’s a choice of restaurants and bars, including the nearby Ocean House restaurant/bar just a short walk along the front; the outdoor pool and sun lounger terrace, spa with a good treatment selection, gym and event spaces.

I’ve broken down the key facilities and services and shared my opinion on them below:

Rooms/suites

Our suite 3321 (a Park Suite) was on the 3rd floor on the corner of the new wing, looking fully out across the water to the front and to Stone Town from a number of living/dining/study/entrance hall windows. Entering the suite there was a long narrow hall, with a guest WC off to one side and facing an amazing picture window with a seating area/desk - work space.

To the right was a large comfortable living and dining space, with a huge sofa for watching the extra large LCD TV, one of three in the suite (another in the bedroom and also in the en-suite bathroom). The bedroom was vast with lots of storage and wardrobe space, extra large four-poster canopied bed, seating and an adjacent open-sided en-suite bathroom. This had a great deep soaking tub, vanity unit but with only one sink (a pet hate when you have a bathroom this size), walk-in shower and separate WC.

Levels of Comfort

It was so good to be given an early check-in (one of the benefits of booking with Classic Travel and getting Hyatt Prive rates) so after a long (but excellent) two flights from Edinburgh, it was a relief to be shown to our third floor suite with panoramic views.

The suite was beautifully presented, pristine clean with every surface shining. It was serviced again when we went out for dinner, and every day after breakfast we would come back to find it had been restored again to perfection. The suite had everything we needed, lots of space, a super comfortable bed with excellent toiletries, lovely bed linens and fluffy white towels.

Bathroom

A fabulous bathroom with everything you could need, other than in a perfect world there would have been a second sink! Toiletries were bespoke for Park Hyatt by Le Labo (Bergamote 22), with large shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower; smaller bottles of the same for the bath, and hand/body lotion at both sinks. There were toothbrush sets, loofah etc. and lots of fluffy white large towels.

Breakfast

Served daily in the Dining Room (inside seating next to the buffet and outside seating on the terrace), this was decent, if not amazing. Service was good but on the first day we were told there was either the buffet or a la carte, but that the menu was exactly the same as the buffet so it felt like we were being dissuaded from looking at the menu. 

There was a good selection of yoghurt, fruits, cereals, breads, pastries etc. as well as a decent selection of different types of hot foods along with a made-to-order egg station and Indian dosas.

Restaurant & Bars

We ate at the Ocean House on our first night and this really was excellent, especially with such a good view of the sunset. There was also the Dining Room (where we had breakfast) as an option for lunch or dinner, but we chose elsewhere. We did have a lunch which was good in the Living Room bar, and of course in a hotel of this standard there was also the option of room service.

Design & Architecture

Formerly the Zanzibar Polo Club, the original building has been added to with a new higher extension, albeit not physically linked. As much as I generally like the historic part of a hotel better, it was actually nicer going from the historic entrance into the modern wing through an automatic sliding glass door into air-conditioned cool. The ground level housed the Dining Room (restaurant) and Living Room (bar) as well as a gems store and the Grand Salon (function suite). Corridors here were spacious and although modern, the building fitted in nicely with the historic part.

Spa & Wellness

I booked a massage on the day we arrived, opting for The Spa Signature Massage (90 minutes) at $140. Each treatment room is named after an island spice; I was in Cinnamon. Great treatment and therapist, excellent treatment suite with a first for me - a massage bed with a built-in footbath. Music, temperature, and pressure were all excellent; the only issue was the face rest wasn’t the most comfortable (was a relief to turn over) and it was a bit unclear at the end as to whether to get dressed or wait for the water to come.

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What about the Stone Town location?

Could not be faulted - easy to get to and from the airport (in around 15 minutes), was an easy walk into Stone Town itself and of course you're literally on the beach. Highly recommended on all fronts. I did wonder how many days we should stay here, and I think having three nights (and actually with the timing of flights with Qatar Airways) we also had three full days to explore.

Some of the top activities I’d recommend doing in Stone Town and Zanzibar are:

Cinnamon Spa (just opposite hotel)

As well as the excellent spa in the hotel itself, right opposite was a good quality option in the Cinnamon Spa. I went for a combined treatment of Ayurveda Massage with Sirodhara (the Indian oil head massage). This was $150 for 90 minutes, good value and a decent treatment in nice surroundings. Had we had more time, I would have gone back for a reflexology session.

Private Culinary Discover of Zanzibar’s Spices

I had organised this with the hotel in advance, and it was a really good option at $45 per person for a private tour. We were met at the hotel at 10am by our tour guide Ramadham and taken in an air-conditioned taxi with our own driver to the spice farm, about a 30 minute drive. Unfortunately it was torrential rain  by the time we got there, so we waited in the vehicle for a while then drove to where we were going to try fruit tasting.

Private Sandbank Snorkeling and Discovering Prison Island

Again organised through the hotel, this time it was $60 per person on a private basis. We met again at 10am, same guide, and with beach towels and bottled water we just headed out the back of the hotel to the beach and met our boat driver for the day. 

First off we went to Prison Island, which was never actually a prison but a quarantine island instead for those arriving from other countries with suspected inflections like yellow fever, bubonic plague and cholera. There wasn’t a huge amount on the island, the hotel that was there is currently under renovation, but it’s still very much worth a visit. There is a tortoise park with giant Aldabra ones which had originally been a present from the Seychelles Islands. We’ve seen them there too on previous holidays, and they’re majestic creatures that can live for well over 100 years.

Walk the Old Town and visit the markets

This is right on your doorstep, and while not I would say one of our prime shopping hotspots, it was an interesting location with lots to see. The fruit and fish market are busy, but always somewhere I like to see, even as a vegetarian!

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Food and Drink in Stone Town, Zanzibar

This wasn’t a location that we would necessarily be walking into random cafés or restaurants, nor were there lots that we would have chosen from, but there are definitely quite a few possibilities, some written up here.

Some of our favourite restaurants and cafes we encountered over the course of our stay in Stone Town Zanzibar were:

Beach House (by the Park Hyatt Zanzibar)

Actually owned by the Park Hyatt, and only a few minutes walk away from the hotel. We went to the Beach House on our first night - excellent choice of drinks and cocktails, perfect for a full on sunset view. Food was excellent too, as was service and very reasonably priced.

Cape Town Fish Market Zanzibar

A good quality waterfront restaurant, on a pier very near the hotel. We actually went to the Cape Town Fish Market for lunch twice; not the most extensive selection for a vegetarian but ‘Mrs’ loved the fish options.

Emerson Spice Secret Garden

There are four options of dining as part of the Emerson group and we tried two of them. There are two rooftop restaurants, this Secret Garden (which was our favourite) and also a private dining option at Emerson on Humunzi.

The Secret Garden was amazing - such a special courtyard location, excellent service and although we only had the one course (I had a vegetable biryani which was incredible with a naan style bread baked over the stone dish) we loved the experience. Excellent cocktails too.

Emerson on Humunzi Rooftop Tea House

I’d seen that they offered two rooftop dining experiences, one a fixed three course (which is what we went for at Humunzi Tea House) and another five course at Emerson Spice Hotel, which was more fish based. Both needed to be pre-booked (easy online, and they were quick to confirm the booking and then you pay a $10 deposit each). The idea is that dinner will be served at a fixed time (7pm), but that you should aim to arrive from say 6pm to enjoy the rooftop sunset.

At the Huminzi rooftop Tea House where we ate (remember there are two locations, not too far from each other, but we got them mixed up and went to the wrong one first) there are options of both standard table seating or carpeted floor/stool seating. Although the food was excellent, and they easily accommodated my vegetarian request, we still preferred the Secret Garden. Although it was good food and service, there was just something a bit lacking in atmosphere which was there in spades at the Secret Garden, despite neither being anywhere near full. I think if there had been candles or something on tables at the Tea House, or music played in between gaps of the musicians playing, this might have contributed to a better ambience.

Karafuu Coffee House

The Karafuu Coffee House was not somewhere we went to, but looked really stylish and somewhere that we would have liked to have tried. After visiting the Slave Museum and Anglican Cathedral, we did try and find this to have a drink, but got a bit lost and ended up back at the hotel sooner than we had expected.

Upendo Zanzibar

Again not somewhere we visited, but would have if we’d had more time. Upendo Zanzibar seemed to be a collection of boutique hotels, restaurants, and a nice looking shop which first drew my attention. Definitely one to explore on a future Stone Town stay.

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Highlights of our stay

There were so many highlights of the stay at the but here are just a few of the key points, which I hope you find a useful summary.

• Location - perfect to be able to walk to lots of locations, and being right on the beach looking out to the Indian Ocean was amazing. It isn’t the quietest of beaches though, lots of boats and local activities.

• The suite space - fantastic balcony overlooking the ocean with seating, 180 degree views to the front and side towards Stone Town itself.

• The hotel having organised the VIP meet and greet service at the airport - not cheap, but worth it to facilitate easy purchase of the local visa etc.

• Service - everyone was so friendly.

• Good spa - first time I’ve ever seen a massage bed with a built-in foot bath. I always love a spa first!

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Areas for improvement

Wherever we stay, I do always like to look at the positives on any property we stay in, and airlines we fly with etc. but sometimes you can’t help but notice things that (for me, but I realise this is always personal) might have made for a better stay.

• Really nothing I would add here, other than there was meant to be a mini-bar included in the package. There was indeed an empty minibar but probably would have expected some soft drinks at least in addition to the amply supplied mineral water.

• Service was really good throughout, the only exception was one day in the Living Room bar. Had been previously really good, but one day we have to go and find someone to place an order with and then again to try and get a bill.

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Would I stay here again?

Yes definitely - no hesitation. Great location, great suite and a good outlook to the water, with every service you could want. If I was coming back though, it would probably be a one or two night stop after or before a flight, if staying elsewhere in Zanzibar.

View from Park Suite Terrace at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar

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My final thoughts on The Park Hyatt Zanzibar

Have you stayed at The Park Hyatt Zanzibar or a Park Hyatt elsewhere? I’d love to hear your own thoughts and opinions on it as well as your impression of Zanzibar as a holiday destination. I wasn’t sure how many nights to stay in Stone Town, and I would say 3 nights/3 full days was just perfect. We did everything we wanted to see, and as nice as the hotel was, it wouldn’t be somewhere I would want to spend a fortnight or even a week. 

Comment below to share your thoughts and opinions.

Let me know which hotel I should review next!