the hotel rooms (bungalows) are clean and well maintained. The beach is not very crowded and we had a lot of fun in the bar nearby.
Don't recommend the restaurant, even for breakfast. The service is veeeeery slow (OK it's slow everywhere - Hakuna Matata!)

Good play to stay coupe of days after safari.

Didn't try diving centre...

We stayed here two nights after our 18 day safari in Kenya and N.Tanzania. It's a perfect, laid-back place to relax and enjoy the view or to use as a base to explore some of the island or to do some scuba diving. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Seaview rooms are spacious and comfortable. Food is good and includes fresh fish and traditional dishes. The breezes off the Indian Ocean were great. Great for beach walking and playing in the fine, white sand.
Illinois Birdwatcher , Mary Jo

The hotel was in an excellent location, with great views of the ocean (if you book a seaview room). The service was very good and the rooms were very clean and comfortable.

However, the food was not at all impressive. The breakfast was less than average (although the balcony setting was a super start to the day) and the evening meal, I would not even recommend for a last option. The food is terrible and the restaurant completely lacking in any ambiance. Our advice would be to go further down the beach to the perfect setting we stumbled across where you can sit on the verandah over the beach, and the atmosphere is great. For a more fun, lively night out, try the pizza or BBQ nights at Paje by Nights (1 minutes walk).

Our main problem with this hotel though, was with the owner himself. He seemed to lack any hospitality skills, as I witnessed when he broke into a complete verbal assult of an Italian customer, who simply asked to cancel his diving session later that day due to his wife's illness. The owner used language I would not repeat and informed him in no uncertain terms he would (I'll politely re-hrase to "ruin") his entire holiday. This was all in front of me, and the poor man left very distressed. Along with this, the owner insisted on monopolising the lounge area constantly (every evening) watching football, etc. at a volume that could be heard loudly, when we retired to our room to escape.

There are some wonderful excursions to go on in Zanzibar, from this location. I highly recommend the Blue Safari (book the original version, not the local cheaper version, as it really is inferior). However, do not book through the owner at the hotel, as when we tried, he added significant commission to everything, so we booked direct. Particularly, do not exchange money at the hotel as when we tried, we were given a ridiculous amont until we did our own calculations and questioned theirs. So, you need to be aware and question their rate to get the correct amount.

If you are prepared to change location and go to a slightly more secluded resort, we would recommend the Michamvi water sport resort. We spent a day here and it was fantastic. Excellent chef and great watersports, without the abuse!!!

We loved the fact that it was a small intimate hotel with most rooms facing the beach.

Location: About 1 hour from airport and Stone Town. Great beach. Walking distance to lots of other resorts and restuarants. If you're a keen diver, there is a diving centre at the hotel.

Rooms: Basic but clean and comfortable, inclusive of kettle and safe. Bathroom had classy fittings and all modern amenities (appears to be a concern at lots of other Zanzibar hotels). Beach is about 10 metres away when the tide is in. We thought that the best time at the beach was early afternoon (we were there in Sept, so sun not too hot, and water was clean. Later in the afternoon, the beach get filled with leaves)

Food: Very tasy and service was great! We had a lobster that was the size of athe platter it was in! (Lobster thermidor and prawn pasta comes highly recommended!). Everything is freshly made, so may take a while to prepare. However, you can order earlier from your room if you would prefer not to wait. The fresh fruit juices were simply divine! Beakfasts consisted of fresh fruit and eggs. We sampled the restuarant at Cristal Resort (within walking distance) - the view was superb but the food was nowhere close to Arabian Nights. Also tried going to the restuarant at Paje at Night (next door), they refused to serve us as 8pm was too late - other guests told us we should be very glad about that, apparently the service and food were terrible.

Mngt and service levels: Superb! Both the owner and manager interact personally with their guests, without being overbearing. They were both friendly and extremely helpful. All other staff were very friendly as well and always keen to assist.

Overall rating - great value for money! We absolutely loved it and can't wait to return.