Al-Minar Hotel

Always an awesome choice for location, service, and room quality, this was my 4th stay and probably not my last.

Amazing...just need to replace worn out towels

Very nice hotel, right in Stonetown! Easy walking distance to Forodhani Gardens, to the OneOcean dive center, to the ocean, all around Stonetown! Very friendly, helpful staff.

I have stayed in hundreds of hotels around the world, and this one stands out as special. A boutique-sized hotek, I was greeted by the manager, the room was excellent, then decor was classic Arabian Nights, the location st Shangani is sublime. An absolute recommendation.

Classic Wood decor, spacious room, excellent staff and helpful manager, good food too breakfast, boutique-sized hotel, just 2 minutes from the waterfront in a very peaceful part of town. Totally recommended.

Customer service at the hotel is excellent. The hotel is located at the heart of the old town so all sights, shops and restaurants are within the walking distance. The two different rooms I used during my stay both had a good air conditioning, comfortable bed and all other necessary facilities. Breakfast was fresh and filled the stomach well. I fully recommend the Al-Minar hotel for a visit to Unguja island if you seek a reasonably priced hotel with good service.

good service, kind man.

Excellent little hotel in the centre of Stonetown. Great management team, who are friendly, attentive, accommodating and provide excellent service. My only complaint was the bedside lamp, which had faulty electrical wiring (wires were jerry-rigged), the light went out at one point, and though I requested to get the lamp switched with one from another room, I was told it wasn't possible. As a result, difficult to read in the room. But other than that, no complaints. Great shower with good water pressure, comfortable beds, clean room, and good amenities. Drinking water provided free of charge, great breakfast buffet on the rooftop.

It may seem to be positioned at one end of tone Town, but it is the correct end. The best venues for watching the sun go down are within a 2 minute walk. To get to the other end of Stone Town only a 15 minute slow walk anyway. This hotel is friendly, clean and tidy, the showers work well, the beds are passably comfortable and the internet, whilst not the fastest in the world is adequate.

We stayed here for two nights in September on arriving in Zanzibar. The hotel arranged an airport pickup for us $15 which I think is pretty standard. The driver was outside waiting when we arrived. The hotel would be pretty difficult to find by yourself – it’s down a small alleyway near the Double Tree – anyway the taxi driver parked up and lead us to the hotel. (The taxi driver did try it on and ask for $20 but didn’t flinch when I said – no, the hotel told us $15). We arrived very early in the morning – well before check in but luckily they had a room ready for us – and after the journey it was great to be able to clean up and get settled. The room was quite small but had everything you needed. They then provided us with a map and we went out to explore. The hotel also arranged a trip to Prison Island for us - $25 each. We could have arranged this ourselves but I don’t think we would have saved much and this way they came to collect us from the hotel and showed us where to go (it’s 5mins walk to the boats). Breakfast was lovely – on the roof terrace. You start with a plate of fruit, then eggs and American breakfast, toast and jam. The scrambled eggs and toast I had were lovely. And of course tea and coffee. We met the owner who we found very helpful and friendly. All the staff at reception as well made us feel very welcome. I’d not hesitate to recommend this hotel and if we go back to Stone Town we would definitely stay here.