THE GARDEN Zanzibar, Paje — Hotel in Unguja

We visited The Garden in Paget, Zanzibar, and unfortunately, our evening was a huge disappointment. The setting itself was beautiful – lots of plants, a nice vibe – but the service was extremely poor and ruined the whole experience.

When we arrived around 8 pm, the restaurant was busy, but the staff reassured us that we could have a table once another couple left. We were asked to wait in the waiting area, where we ordered drinks. The staff even asked if we wanted our cokes with the food, which gave us the impression that we would soon be seated. Instead, our starters were served in the waiting area, which was not what we had asked for at all.

After repeatedly requesting a proper table (at least four times), we were again reassured, but nothing happened. Our main course – steak – arrived without the correct cutlery (no steak knives), and still no proper seating as promised. When we tried to talk to our server, he was unresponsive, avoided responsibility, and even insisted he hadn’t lied despite repeatedly telling us otherwise earlier. Eventually, he walked off and refused to deal with the situation.

We finally spoke to the manager, Baha, who was incredibly empathetic, professional, and understanding. She was clearly the only saving grace of the evening and handled the confrontation with patience and care. Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and the staff member in question still didn’t seem to understand the issue.

To make things worse, no real compensation was offered. A dessert or drink was suggested, but after such a frustrating experience, the least we would have expected was a reduction in the bill – which did not happen.

Overall, the atmosphere of The Garden is beautiful, and Baha deserves credit for her kindness, but the service from the staff completely ruined our evening. Sadly, we left feeling frustrated and...

I think this place should be 5 stars. Messi, the manager, was very flexible and attentive with us. We got a beautiful room with A/C and the best breakfast we've had in three months travelling in Africa, with vegan and sugarfree options!

Apart from a pool and beautiful garden, the place has a nice dining area for relax and a small rustic gym that we enjoyed a lot. They provide cold drinking water for guests (very helpful) and extra snacks/juices on demand. Even when not going out, we felt very comfortable; anyway, the town's main street is 1 minute walking (taking a small path almost in front of Corina pastry shop) and beach is 2 minutes (taking the other exit that The Garden has).

The day of our check out it was raining and they also lent us some umbrellas, veeery helpful. They let us leave them in a store in the main road the day (where we took the transport back to Stone Town) so we didn't get wet!

Wifi worked very well (except when with lot of rain, all electricity kind of collapsed in Paje, but that's okay)

In summary, I think it's one of the greatest value/price relationship in the area. I can say this after checking a lot of places before deciding! Only points of improvement could be the address/directions to get here (since Google Maps is definitely not very helpful in Paje. In this case it would be easier to go from the main road in front of Corina Pastry) and having ocean views, that would be like for a 10 stars...

We were hoping for a lovely dinner together, but unfortunately, it turned into a complete disaster. I ordered a medium-cooked beef fillet, my wife had the Hot Asian Chicken, and we also ordered bruschetta. We specifically asked for everything to be served at the same time.

After about 45 minutes, all the food finally arrived together. However, my steak was completely overcooked and definitely not medium – more like shoe leather – so I had to send it back. While I waited for a replacement, my wife started eating, and by the time my second steak arrived, she was already finished with her meal.

Unfortunately, the second steak was just as bad – again overcooked and tough – so I only ate the vegetables out of hunger.

To top it all off, the bruschetta arrived at the very end, almost like dessert – a complete failure in timing and coordination.

What made things even worse was the manager, Mr. Louay, who seemed more focused on his dog and his phone than on running the restaurant. A great manager, clearly.

And yes, despite all this, we still paid the full bill of TZS 87,000 – which just added insult to injury.

Considering we were the only guests, there’s absolutely no excuse for such poor service and food quality. Sadly, this was our first and definitely our last visit. Very...