Rainbow Hotel — Hotel in Dar es-Salaam

I got a single room for a few nights, and have to say, the experience wasn't ideal. The room was tiny, and didn't give a "clean" feel, as most of the hotel. It also smelled very humid and moldy, due to which its easiest to sleep with an aircon on for at least some air circulation. However, the aircon is right above the bed, so be careful of getting sick.

Even tho they say "toiletries included", it's more like a tiny bar of soap, that's it. When I checked in, they had forgotten to even provide a towel, toilet paper, and this little bar of soap. I had to go ask for it and then wait around 30 min for them to bring these things.

The food in the restaurant is fairly good, tho quite expensive. A meal will cost you at least 20 000 tsh, but most likely even more. I'd suggest rather going out for food. The breakfast depends on what they make that day. I was quite happy when they made pancakes - they were really delicious. However the Spanish omelette I got was inedible. :/

Finally, they apparently do not trust their staff, as there were at least 3 signs in the room stating that you should not leave any valuables, especially laptops and money, anywhere in the room, and they do not bare any responsibility in case something disappears. For this they offer storage lockers at the reception for an additional charge.

The only proper upside for this place is the location. It's 5 to 8 min walk from the ferry, and has atms, markets, etc in walking distance. There's a really nice coffee place 2min away as well. If you only need to stay somewhere for a night before the ferry, this is an OK choice. Otherwise, you should really think...

Check your room before you pay. Three of our four rooms were great but then the last room the air conditioning didnt work, cable didn’t work, telephone didn’t work to call down, side tables were brought in the second day. I called down to have the AC checked and nobody came up. Breakfast is fine. It’s edible. Make sure to turn on the switch for hot water and there is good pressure and hot water. Wifi worked well for us. I just wished I had checked a few things before settling. Maybe could have gotten a room with air conditioning. Fortunately it wasn’t unbearably hot but it was stuffy. Close to things but there aren’t many things to do in Zanzibar. We did order the butter chicken and it was nice. They made it not spicy for the kids. Wish I had tried...

Very sadly, I need to quote a low star.. In a great position and with friendly staff, it turned out to be a nightmare.. dirty bedsheets.. room was surely used before given to us... no apologies.. 5% commission on credit card... offering a lift to ferry, which was then proposed for 5.000 tsh and eventually organized with a taxi crying for starvation who wanted 10.000 tsh... we needed taxi only because we had luggage as the hotel is literally 3 minutes away from the ferry. I was not expecting the hotel being luxurious for that price and I could tolerate the AC not working (or working too much in the other room with no chance to switch it off even after having removed the card)... but I cannot...