Golden Tulip Hotels in Zanzibar City

I landed at Golden Tulip because Trip.com messed up my booking elsewhere, and I only found out about it at the last minute. The location is right by the port, on a side of town that feels quite sketchy. However, Stone Town is small and safe, so it didn’t matter too much. The rooms are nice enough. They have everything you need. People are friendly all over Zanzibar, and at the Golden Tulip no less. The pool is lovely, and service is okay. Sometimes I had to ask more than once, phone down because my towel had disappeared, or guide them through my own bill. The restaurant is pretty bad. I’m not a particularly fussy eater, but don’t feel the need to eat bad food. I ordered three tester dishes on my first day, and didn’t finish any. Another traveler had a similar experience. Breakfast is okay. There is fruit, yoghurt, pastries, omelettes on request, toast, cereal sometimes, and a variety of hot dishes. Nobody seems to notice when the table has no cutlery or when the coffee, milk or a given hot dish runs out. Most days, I found the cereal (if they had it), fruit, and at least one hot dish edible.

The front desk provided a room that was already occupied. When we checked in at 23:00 late at night and opened the door, a middle-aged man was already sleeping on the bed. The man was frightened and very angry. Similarly, we were also very frightened and felt very embarrassed. For such a misunderstanding, the front desk only apologized to the man, but did not apologize to us. After changing rooms, our twin bed room was changed to a double bed room. The hotel did not explain this. Because it was late at night, we gave up changing beds and rested. There was a musty smell in the room, and a bottle of mineral water was empty, and it was not cleaned. There were many flies flying around in the restaurant during breakfast. I am very dissatisfied with this accommodation experience.