JAZ Adonia

I stayed here over Christmas 2024. The hotel had recently been bought by an Egyptian group and was being reconstructed, so reviews could become outdated quickly. My impression was mixed. Uroa is in a pretty good location and isn't very touristy. The hotel has good points, but the service was chaotic much of the time, and I wasn't sure how well the staff were trained. The pool was okay, though not peaceful with families and kids around. Entertainment was good and the food had an okay variety. Exotic fruit and seafood were the highlights for me. I hope the new owner fixes the inconsistencies while keeping the Zanzibar feel. If you go outside the hotel, bring dollars in reasonably small banknotes. It's very hard to exchange money or get change on Zanzibar. There were mostly Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian, and some German guests, mainly families, so it wasn't quiet. The beach was dirty with seaweed and really hot. Beach boys and Masais just outside security were often annoying, following us toward the ocean, especially on the first day when we weren't tanned. Like other guests, we mostly used the pool. We were all-inclusive. Drinks were sometimes good, but often unavailable because they had no mint, or were improvised. The wait service was chaotic, and a few waitresses seemed unsure what they were doing. It took a lot of effort to explain an order, and even then the drink might not arrive. Breakfast was the same every day and I didn't like it much, so I mostly ordered an omelette with butter. Lunch was limited, though that made sense to me. Dinner tended to be best, with some variety and usually seafood, which I really liked. The desserts looked good but I didn't enjoy them much, they tended to be dry or oily. The fruit was outstanding. I'd never eaten so much jackfruit or passion fruit in my life. Christmas dinner was very well arranged, and the people who handled the arrangements and Christmas night tables did a really good job. There was a program after dinner each night. The Masai show held my interest briefly, but wasn't explained well. The acrobatics were really cool, and the dancers and break dancers were the best. I really enjoyed their show. I missed having kayaks or canoes for rent, which would have been helpful and added a lot to the location. Our apartment was quite far away and had good AC, but locked doors between apartments let sound through, so there was no privacy. You could hear everything from the next room. There were quite a few guards, which felt safe. At night they were on their phones, though, and you could hear noise, for example from the toilet.