Sazani Beach Lounge — Hotel in Unguja

Pretty house on the beach, surrounded by greenery and blooming shrubs. What's not to like? Right? Not quite...||||The sad truth is that to get the level of comfort we the privileged tourists who can afford traveling to Zanzibar are used to, the business needs to be run by those who understand that level of comfort. It doesn't look like local businesses know what's expected.||||Our biggest complaint was not having hot water. Ever. There is supposed to be a sun boiler on the premises, but no matter when we tried, there was no hot water. It might have appeared for a minute or so and then turned cold again. Some rooms were better than the others – somehow. We kept asking for water, the staff kept saying they’d do something, but whatever they did didn’t really work.||||The bathrooms are very rudimental. Don’t look at the photos – I don’t know where they were taken. There are no shelves, nowhere to hang towels – we had to dry them on the rails around the house – and not even a single rusty nail to hang something. The shower is separated from the rest of the bathroom by a short wall – that’s the only place where one can put anything. And the shower is not separated by anything else – just bare floor, which makes it impossible to leave the shower with clean feet, as the entire floor is wet and sandy.||||WiFi is very spotty – you get it in the dining area outside and in the sitting area on the top floor.||||Light in the rooms was very dim. Certainly not enough for reading, but before we asked to replace the light bulb and removed the cover, it was pretty much impossible to see anything in the room.||||Our stay included breakfast. However, if you’re staying at the lodge and need the breakfast around 8:30-9 – that’s fine. If you have an excursion and want to finish your breakfast by 8 – you’re in trouble. You can still get some breakfast, but you need to be very specific about time and what you expect for breakfast because everything is very slow, relaxed, and the manager won’t even understand why anyone would want to leave so early.||||The staff is friendly and helpful. They cannot do much, but they definitely try. ||||If you’re looking for an authentic experience, then you might find this place charming. If you want to relax in comfort, try one of the hotels in the area; hopefully,...

Be careful when paying a deposit to Sazani

I have not stayed at Sazani, so this is not a review of the hotel itself.

Instead, I feel it necessary to share my experience regarding the booking process and specifically the deposit payment that is mandatory.

I booked a bungalow with Sazani back in January, 2017 for a stay in September, 2017. In order for the booking to be confirmed, I was required to pay a 25% deposit of the total stay, which I did.

In early August, I learned that parts of Sazani burned down during a fire in the spring, including the specific bungalow that we had booked. I did not get a heads up from Sazani about this, instead I contacted them to confirm my reservation and learned about the fire this way. In light of this, I decided to cancel my booking two months in advance of our stay, and requested the deposit to be paid back.

After some correspondance back and forth, and excuses as to why the deposit was not paid back immidiately, a month has passed and I have still not received the deposit. Furthermore, there has been radio silence from Sazani for some time now.

I realize that they probably have no intention of refunding the deposit, which compels me to write this warning when booking with the resort and paying a deposit up front.

Also, I find it questionable that I did not hear from Sazani immediately following the fire and the fact that our bungalow had burned down.. That information was something I had to seek out myself almost half a year after the event.

Therefore, caution should be taken when...

I‘ve stayed 6 nights in the Sazani Beach Lodge. My Bungalow was quiet big with own bathroom and very clean! I had my own hammock on my own little terrace. The Location of the Sazani Beach Lodge is just perfect! You have a beautiful view on the Indian Ocean anywhere you go! The private beach including some other hammocks and sun lounger is very nice. During low tide you can have a walk to Nungwi village or you can go to a Sand bank nearby. When the tide is high you can just swim there for hours!|The homemade drink at the beach bar is definitely worth a try ! From Sazani it’s not far to Nungwi village where you can go out or you can do daytrips organized by Omari! |I just can recommend this place for everyone who is not seeking an all inclusive touristic hotel but a place to relax and just feel home! Thanks Nas to built up such...