Garden Lodge — Hotel in Shangani

Excellent location, in a quiet area of Stone Town, in a dead end street with no traffic, but within walking distance of all attractions. Beautiful old building with traditional furniture and nice balconies. Very good à la carte breakfast with views of the city, on the airy rooftop terrace; only the crows are a nuisance, always waiting to steal your food. Friendly and welcoming staff overall. No discount for a single room: you always pay for a double. No soundproofing as stated in the faciltities, nor free toiletries (except 1 small soap tablet), hairdryer or safe. Fan in room 211 needs to be replaced (makes a terrible noise), in which case A/C is not really necessary during the night. Room was dusty and smelled like it hadn't been occupied for a couple of weeks. The garden is actually located behind the building: if better taken care of, it could be the highlight of this property for guests looking to unwind and relax (after all, it's called Garden lodge!); at present, it's only used to dry linen and collect empty...

Very Low quality budget hotel that failed to meet already low expectations.|Only plus is location.|The AC/Fan did not work when we checked in.|The towels and bedsheets had rust color small stains. Upon informing the front desk person, Muhammad about these issues they were promised to be corrected but we were later informed that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate.|The bathroom was dirty and in need of maintenance.|The rooms are smaller than it appears in the pictures.|Don’t expect any help with carrying your luggage to your room. |The hotel doesn’t have elevators and has 4 floors.|We ended up moving our 3 day vacation stay to other nearby hotel (only stayed 1 night).|I highly recommend checking other great hotels in the same area like: Tembo, |Foradhani, Spice Tree, Emerson Spice Hotel. They are all within walking distance of the Stone Town tour and...

Very Low quality budget hotel that failed to meet already low expectations. Only plus is location. The AC/Fan did not work when we checked in. The towels and bedsheets had rust color small stains. Upon informing the front desk person, Muhammad about these issues they were promised to be corrected but we were later informed that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate. The bathroom was dirty and in need of maintenance. The rooms are smaller than it appears in the pictures. Don’t expect any help with carrying your luggage to your room. The hotel doesn’t have elevators and has 4 floors. We ended up moving our 3 day vacation stay to other nearby hotel (only stayed 1 night). I highly recommend checking other great hotels in the same area like: Tembo, Foradhani, Spice Tree, Emerson Spice Hotel. They are all within walking distance of the Stone Town tour and...