The Zanzibar Beach House - North

We booked several days but left after just one night. The place has potential and looks good in the photos, but the host’s behavior made the stay unbearable. He claimed the property was safe, yet the daytime “guardian” slept instead of keeping watch, and left at night, leaving us alone in the wilderness. I didn’t feel comfortable thinking someone could break in, steal from us, or harm us while we slept. There’s a reason hotels and other accommodation in Zanzibar have guards. Getting there was another problem. We had our own car, but the host hadn’t told us the road was practically impossible to drive without getting stuck or damaging the vehicle. It felt as if he expected us to pay for the driver mentioned in the description. Only after we raised the issue did he say his guard could show us another route. He knew we had a car, so it’s disappointing he didn’t explain this earlier. When we arrived, the “guard” showed us around and asked us to check that everything was okay. At first everything looked clean and in order. Later that night, we found one of the pillows was badly torn underneath. When we told the host, he accused us of damaging it. I’ve never had an experience like this, despite traveling a lot. The host misrepresented how safe the place was and blamed guests when we reported a problem.