When I’m planning a trip, I always book the flight first and my accommodations are always an afterthought. I find that most places I travel to, will have a Hilton, Marriott or Hyatt hotel. Zanzibar is no different.
Hilton has 2 properties on the island, Marriott and Hyatt each have 1. I want to be close to the beach as well as near to Stonetown. One of the Hilton hotels was about 34 miles away from the Stonetown, so that was out. That left me with 3 real choices, the Park Hyatt Stonetown, the Doubletree Stonetown and the Protea Hotel Zanzibar.
The rooms at the Doubletree in Zanzibar look pretty much like any other Doubletree room you find throughout the world. I get it, with the Doubletree brand, Hilton tries to get a consistent experience no matter where you stay. For this trip I wanted something different, so I’ll have to pass on the Doubletree.
The Park Hyatt is the only 5 star hotel on the island and it shows. It has a great location right on the beach and its in the heart of Stonetown. The only problem is, its a category 5 hotel. It costs 20000 Hyatt points per night to stay there. I have some Hyatt points in my account but not nearly enough to cover my full stay. I would have to transfer Chase Ultimate rewards points to cover the rest of the stay which I would rather not do. So I’ll also have to pass on the Park Hyatt.
The Protea is a Marriott brand of hotels based in African. The Protea Zanzibar is right by the beach and the hotel itself is within the Mbweni Ruins. The architecture and design of the hotel are amazing and have so much history. It’s also located near the ferry docks, so that I can easily take a ferry to Changuu (Prison Island). The hotel isn’t actually in Stonetown but there is a shuttle back in forth.
The location excites me enough but the icing on the cake is that this is only a Marriott category 2 property. At only 12500 points/night, this was a no brainer to book.
Have you been to Zanzibar, which hotel did you stay at?