We had a 9-night stay at Kisiwa in September 2025. On arrival we were personally greeted by the Management and staff and it set the tone. From then onwards, they knew our names and always tried to assist and were so friendly. Each night we enjoyed a 4-course dinner (we included breakfast&dinner) that took about an hour and half. We took our time because the restaurant area is an amazing "space" and we just enjoyed the evenings and also the company of the personal waiters. Although an a la carte menu most evening, the chef cooked a seperate dish for my 4-old every night, based on what she wanted. Then there was also a barbeque night with buffet. The dinners were awesome and it was more like fine dining. The hotel and grounds are beautiful and so well kept. You can see that they are continually aiming to improve their facilities and service. Every day I saw the Manager going around with key staff addressing and discussing issues, and you could literally see that "intent' to improve. You know that if you come next time, the place and service will be even better and further improved. The location is also good and about 15min walk to Paje town along the beach, which has many beach restuarants. The pool is nice and big and great for adults & kids. The gym was a bonus as many resorts do appear to have one. The place was so tranquil and relaxing. My 4-year old was a little sick when we arrived, and on the first night my wife could not go for dinner and they prepared a meal for her and brought it to the room. They also wanted to arrange a doctor to come to the hotel to see to her, although luckily not required in the end. When we departed, it felt like we were leaving family we stayed with and not a hotel. We hired a car and the roads in Zanzibar are not the greatest, and we had a tire burst shortly after leaving the hotel. The Client Manager wanted to personally come to us to help replace the wheel when we called him.

The facilities, the grounds, the pool, the resuarant, service and most importantly, the Management & Staff. Good location and beach area. Great value for money and definately highly recommended.

Everything was absolutely fantastic. Beautiful hotel with amazing beach, great big pool, big and clean rooms...honestly nothing we didn't like. Seafood BBQ on Wednesday dinner was lovely but we also recommend to book the private seafood bbq, romantic setting and tasty food! Location was perfect too, it was quiet to relax compared to the paje central, but also you can walk along the beach to get to the Paje central if you want local market or supermarket etc. Absolutely perfect in every way! After we checked out and went to another hotel, after spending a disappointing night there, we even decided to book Kisiwa again to go back as Kisiwa was exceeding our expectation in every single way, and they set the bar really high :) Most of all, the staff here is just out of this world. I've been lucky to visit 5 star hotels all over the world but have never experienced the service we received at Kisiwa. Friendly, attentive, all round really lovely people who's always ready and willing to help. They absolutely made our trip and we will be back this Christmas and New Year too! Absolutely recommend 10000% :) Sending our big big thanks to Julius, Bernard, Christopher, Omar, Ezra, Cornel, Rose, Mwambo, Hassan, Lucy, Salum, Salome, Steven-Francis, and everyone of the team of Kisiwa. See you again soon!

I have no complaint at all!

Very nice and spacious villas, equipped with everything you need. Beautiful surroundings. Staff very attentive. Food is good with sufficient selection. Every detail is taken care of and maintained. Pritty quite place, but we loved the tranquility.

Prices at the bar (cocktail prices are double than any other hotel/bar on that same beach)

Absolutely gorgeous resort, loved every part of it

I was disappointed to see how little concern to the environment was given. 500ml water in plastic bottles, with no option to refill, so wasteful :( Also, I realise there are bugs on the island, but was disappointed to be sitting on the patio one evening and be witnessing a man dressed in full hazmat suit, spraying the whole resort. Really did not enjoy that

Our package included half-board. The breakfast offered a wide variety, and the dinner menu varied each evening, both of which were excellent.

Additional orders beyond the standard dinner package were somewhat costly, in my view.

Probably the best hotel I ever stayed at. Driven in no small part by the staff. Shaibu the gardener. Lawi from guest relations. Joseph in the reception. Fahad and all the other amazing people in the restaurant. I had so many wonderful conversations with everyone and they were all great hosts and very professional. Thank you also to everyone where I forgot the names. I stayed with my son (13) for 5 days in a villa. Everything worked and there was attention to the smallest details. The food was great and the pool area and beach outstanding. It is a small walk - or taxi / tuk tuk ride - from central Paje but that only means a bit more peace and quiet. After staying at Kisiwa I went on to stay in central Paje on two different hotels (could not get a single place that had availability throughout) and I would stay at Kisiwa again any time. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Noting

We just love Kisiwa! Beautiful place, great customer care and service and amazing stuff! Food was also delicious! Cincerelly we couldn’t have enjoyed it more! We were with our 1 year old baby Bruno and the stuff, on top of being very nice and friendly, helped us a lot with a super active baby Bruno. He is in love with Simba (I think Bruno already missing him), and with Amina (visiting her daily in the boutique). Lidya take a great care of us! Nassir was super nice and friendly. I litterally can go and name all the stuff from bar and restaurant to the general manager. They made our stay special! Definitely going back soon!

+ve We had a shuttle bus waiting for us at the airport (extra charge) that took us directly to the hotel. It is a 1-hour drive and you get to see life in Zanzibar streets. When we arrived we were met by the hotel manager and his team. We were introduced to them one by one and had a refreshing hibiscus welcome drink. The hotel is made up of villas and a lot of greenery. The rooms are very large and accommodating. Booked the half accommodation package and so had breakfast and dinner . The dinner was a seated dinner but on Sunday it was an open buffet of Swahili dishes with a band singing. The food is very tasty. The the lounge is an open air area which has beautiful vibes. Very peaceful and quiet place. Very helpful and decent staff. It is a walking distance to a fish restaurant called Swahili fish restaurant and Maalum cave where you can swim in a cave. There is a low tide around 2 pm so practically you cannot swim but it was a very nice geographical phenomena to see. We waded through the water for a long distance and had a swim. Otherwise the water level is normal and you can swim anytime of the day. Difference and new experience. We had a very nice time in the hotel and will definitely recommend it to others and come back again. 5 stars experience. Thank you kisiwa.

-ve The bedrooms are not 100% dark because there is a high window that has no curtain. It did not bother us at all but I thought to mention it in case someone does not sleep except in darkness. The TV was a bit small for the large sitting area. There is a gym that has a variety of machines but unfortunately no one was there when we went and so I was not able to use the machines because I did not know how to operate them. There needs to something like a drying line to dry our bathing suits on.

Kisiwa was an amazing experience. The hotel is beautiful, paje is amazing and the staff is incredibly nice. Their attention to detail to all your needs, combined with the luxurious views makes it look like you are indeed in paradise. The villas are very spacious, the bed very comfortable and the linen too good. The food - specially the desserts - is very good. I am always scared of half/full board rates because of the food limitations, but it was a pleasant surprise. Paje is as known - with low and high tides. But the high tides are incredibly beautiful and worth the wait and the swim.

The shower head in the room could be upgraded.

The setting at Kisiwa on the Beach is very beautiful. The restaurant building is dramatic, the pool set slightly back from the beach, and the spacious villas are all lovely. Some of the staff are exceptional. A special mention to Julius the manager, who took lots of time to discuss East African politics and economics, Gertrude on reception who helped us out of a spot of bother we got into with a taxi driver, and the pool boy, whose name I'm ashamed I can't remember. I'm sorry.

There is attentive service and there is over-attentive service. While the staff are all well meaning, we got tired of being asked every 5 minutes if everything was OK and did we need anything. We also thought the quality of the food could and maybe should be better for this price of establishment