Kisiwa House — Hotel in Shangani

The facility is beautiful so I am sad to have had such a negative experience. My husband and I had a poor time at the hotel and even though we tried to speak with management while we were there and then via email after they have been so rude and unprofessional we feel we need to warn other travelers.

We checked in and immediately realized there was no internet. As they advertise internet as an amenity they offer, we had planned to use internet to get work done that we needed to get done. We asked the front desk, they said it would get fixed soon. We spoke with the employees of the hotel more than 5 times that night trying to get the internet to work. They called late in the evening to ask if it was finally working - we told them it was not. The internet NEVER started working the whole time we were there. From check in to check out. The front desk was rude and dismissive about it.

NO HOT WATER sometimes no water: When we got to our room we tried to take a shower. The cold water would run but there was no hot water. We called the front desk they said they would send someone to fix it. No one came. About an hour later someone came to our room to bring us a welcome drink. We asked them about the hot water and they said they would send someone to fix it. Someone came in our room, went into the bathroom and tried to get the hot water to work for about 10 minutes. He could not. He left to get someone else. Two people came into our room. They were in there for about 20 minutes. They got tiny drops of hot water - NOT enough for washing hands much less than a shower - to come out. I have video and pictures to show how bad it was. We gave up for that night - having our room interrupted for so long. We took a miserable cold shower. The next morning we got up to try to finally shower hoping the hot water would be on, and there was NO WATER. None at all. None in the sinks, shower or bath. When we finally came back later in the morning there was a cold shower again.

We brought all of this up to management and they responded rudely that they tried to fix it promptly and therefore think they handled it well. I don’t know what world it is acceptable to have cold water and no internet when internet and hot water are advertised, or that not fixing anything during a customer’s whole stay is appropriate, but other travelers be warned this is how they handle...

Quite possibly the worst experience I/we have ever encountered on any of our trips throughout the world. Truly abyssmal quality all the way. Our room - junior suite - had the foulest smell I/we have ever encountered in a hotel room anywhere in the world and the breakfast was that of 10-15 USD hotel somewhere in a backpacking Asian country. Canned old beans, canned old mushrooms, packaged yoghurt which the hotel claimed was homemade, tasteless old white breads toasted hours before served, and omelettes made with old eggs. And to round the whole ordeal off as expected, instant, watery coffee of the absolute lowest quality. And as if this was not enough, the unbelievably ignorant, unfriendly and unkind treatment I/we received from the hotel manager - Mr. Akibah - was under all criticism. A truly uneducated local with absolutely no training in the service field or understanding for guest concerns despite the premium charges the hotel imposes. As a guest in Kisiwa House I/we were made to feel as a liability, and that none of our issues were important, either to listen to nor solve. Stone Town and Zanzibar can be utterly challenging places in terms of price vs. value, as you almost always feel overcharged, but I/we can assure that Kisiwa House takes the top spot, all categories, at 150-200 USD/night for a hotel worthy of a price - and I/we are kind here - roughly equalling a maximum of 25 USD/night. Overall an unimaginable 4-day disaster stay as we also downgraded from our junior suite to a regular room after two days in order to avoid the extremely foul smell of the bathroom which the manager told us you have to expect in Stone Town. It is natural and not the hotels fault that the sewers enters the rooms and the smell is part of your experience. Almost like a catastrophic masochistic joy that you receive after paying a minimum of 150 USD/night. Our recommendation is to stay as far away from Kisiwa House as you possibly can. It could turn out to be the worst hotel, and wasted energy experience that you'll ever have, just like...

In general the hotel is nice and clean with friendly staff. Unfortunately our room was on the ground floor, in the beginning we were happy that we don’t have to climb the stairs to the first and second floors for the others rooms , as there are no lifts in the hotel. However when we arrived at the hotel we found out that location of this room is directly behind the reception, we realised that our stay will be not pleasant. We immediately asked the reception try to find for us another room, they had only one room left on the third floor which was different category, and they asked us to pay 180$ (60$ per night) for upgrade, we refused this offer, because in our opinion it was not fair to pay that much difference while in official website of the hotel the difference between our room and suite was only 20$ per night. As a result we was struggling for 3 nights in the room #1, until late night we couldn’t sleep, because of the noise from the reception. And even after they close the door of the hotel around 11 pm, we still woken up through the night, because some guests are coming late and ringing the bell. My priority when I chose the hotel is always a quiet place to sleep, that’s why I avoid another hotel in the area (which was cheaper in price) and chose this small boutique hotel because I thought I will find in it peace and quiet , but unfortunately it was not like I thought. In my opinion they should not rent this room on the ground floor at all, or warn the guests in advance about inconveniences which they might face. Also it was not comfortable for me when they tried to take extra charge for the upgrade and try to corner me, I’m sure if they will give me reasonable price for upgrading I will have completely different experience in this place. I was going to give 1 star to this hotel, but we had a nice talk with the management and they assured us that they will do something about this room. So if anyone likes to stay in this hotel, just make sure that you are not...