Eden Rock Zanzibar — Hotel in Unguja

My girlfriend and I had planned to stay 4 nights at Eden Rock Eco Lodge. We were so disappointed in the general comfort in our room and the quality of service that we decided to leave the place after only one night. The area is absolutely beautiful however the accommodation is totally overpriced for the quality of service. Moreover, the place says it’s an eco lodge, only to justify the low quality. Ecology and low budget service are two very different things... See details below:

First, my girlfriend and I are about 185cm tall (which is not particularly tall for human beings) and the bed was not big enough. My feet were hanging off the end of the bed. When we booked, the description of the room said « very large double bed ». It was definitely below the standard size. Moreover, the mattress was hard as a brick and a hole was formed in the mattress after only a few hours laying in bed. We slept in tents in the Serengeti a week before that had more confortable beds... When we confronted the manager about this issue, he told us that he does not find bigger beds or mattresses in Zanzibar... We did not have this issue with the 3 other hotels we stayed at in Zanzibar.

Second, we were surprised to see when we arrived that part of the hotel was under construction. This was only mentioned to us at the check in. Overall it seemed like the common areas needed to be finished and the main terrace was completely unfinished which meant that our view of the sea was actually of workers shoving dirt on the terrace.

Third, the hotel does not have hot water. Water for showers is kept in a tank in the sun which means that it is cold at night. The manager said it’s for ecology reasons, which I can understand but the place is not ecological at all (see point four below).

Fourth, and perhaps the most disturbing point of all, the place calls itself an « eco lodge » when in fact it has nothing ecological about it. Yes the power to charge our phones appears to be solar generated but that’s about it. The restaurant serves drinks with plastic straws. The soap they give in the bathtub has triclocarban (TCC), which is not environment friendly. The garden area around our bungalow had plastic litter everywhere. The guests in the bungalow next to us complained they had mice or rats in their room and the manager said he already killed a few in the past. The fabric of the bungalows and building included unnecessary plastic. This is absolutely green washing or a scam. The place tries to justify low quality service/infrastructure with ecology, which are two completely different things. I don’t mind paying extra for an ecological service but this place does not make any more effort in being environmentally friendly than any other place we’ve visited in Zanzibar.

Finally, the only good point is that the manager was understanding that we were uncomfortable in staying longer than one night and offered us to pay for 2 nights instead of the total 4 nights we had booked, according to our cancellation policy.

Overall, I rate the location a five star because the laguna and the beach are absolutely beautiful but 0 for the rest of...

Location incredible. Unlike rest of zanzibar there is very very little trash and plastic floating around on the beach, and the water is clear. There is beach and nature as long as the eye can see and very little people.

Owner is excellent and staff is very very nice - consider tipping them when you leave if you pay your whole bill upon checkout. At least if you usually tip meals etc.

Room and privacy nice, private sunbeds outside room. No AC as one should expect from an eco-lodge, but a fan that works well. Room is good, Seaview and spacious. Big restroom.

Relatively large village within walking distance. It is very interesting to walk through. There is a large large baobab tree with a staircase that leads up into the tree. This is nice, and cost 1 usd i think. Also you can buy cold soda and crisps etc in many of the local kiosks.

Came here for Christmas, and I had maybe the best Christmas dinner I've ever had. Special Christmas eve package of 4 courses including lobster, and coffee and a cocktail for under 30 usd. Also great paella with lobster, calamari, octopus and tuna for 30k tsh the next day, also amazing. Very nice vibe and clientele was very nice and polite. Staff great!! They are lovely and I wish I could have gotten to know them by staying longer - maybe...

Worst hotel and experience I've ever had in my life. The room is poorly designed and with no maintenance or proper lighting. The shower head was clogged. No warm water. The bathroom is smelly. The windows and doors don't close properly, and they have no net to keep the bugs out. The sheets and bed net had stains on them. We had a fan, but it wasn't enough since the room is so hot and suffocating. It's not clean at all. Insects are everywhere (cockroaches, spiders, mosquitoes, ants, mites, plus the occasional lizard), even on the bed. The breakfast is poor and always out of everything you ask for. There is no room-service, if we needed something, we had to walk all the way to the restaurant where the reception is to ask for it. We couldn't even use the beach. The one good thing about this hotel is the view that you can't even enjoy at night because it's super windy and the hotel is completely dark. We booked for 4 nights but we had to leave before because we couldn't take it anymore. We literally had cockroaches crawling on us while sleeping. We complained to the owner David but he didn't seem to care. All he cared about is not losing his money. I don't recommend this hotel. For 125$ per night you can find better, cleaner and nicer hotels with accessible beachfront...