Jambo Resort by Mambo Hotels

We had a great stay. The food was fresh and delicious, and there was a lovely atmosphere by the pool with local music. Everyone was kind and friendly. Our room had tea, coffee, and water bottles, all topped up each day. The hotel is right on the beach with a lovely view, and has a pool, two restaurants, and a spa with massage included. Best experience!

We had a lovely family stay, and the location, food, staff, pool and sunbed area, and bar were all good. The pool area is well kept, and the hotel is a nice place to unwind beside a beautiful beach. Still, the small issues can wear on you. One major problem was the car we hired through the hotel. I thought that was the safe option, but the brakes failed completely on the way to Stone Town. We had to find a mechanic, and the repair took more than four hours. I'd recommend hiring from a reputable local specialist instead. On our penultimate day, reception asked us to move rooms because guests arriving wanted ours, even though we weren't due to leave until the next day. I delayed our trip to discuss it with the manager, who was dismissive. There were also loud early mornings around the maintenance room where some staff sleep. Twice, at 3 a.m., walkie-talkies made a loud “please replace battery” sound. I went over, took them to reception, and we were finally able to sleep again. We're a family of four, but after cleaning we were often left with just one bath towel and no hand towels, so we had to go to reception for more. Some windows didn't close all the way, and some doors were nailed shut. The doors also weren't waterproof: after a heavy overnight downpour, water came into our room because the frame wasn't sealed. The hotel is officially rated two stars by the Zanzibar Tourism board, as shown on a certificate at reception, although it's advertised as four stars in many places. For a two-star hotel it offers a lot, but guests expecting four-star standards may be disappointed.

The friendly staff were the only real bright spot. They tried to make a bad stay easier, but the hotel gets at most 1.5 out of 5 from me. We arrived at 08:30, and the administration couldn't confirm our booking until 11:00. Then they said the room would be ready for check-in at 16:00. We were offered breakfast, so we assumed it was complimentary, but were charged without warning. The first night was awful. My wife is pregnant, and we'd travelled from Ukraine after two days of travel and flying. The room was unbearably hot, with no working air conditioning or ceiling fan, and the windows were locked for security. Our beach-view room was so close to the beach that locals could look directly inside or come in. There was no refrigerator, and the tap water pressure was very low. We used wet towels and periodically opened the doors, which I stood guard by, to cope with the heat. That night, locals held Christmas celebrations right outside our door and windows, with loud music, alcohol, and marijuana. We aren't saying the celebration itself was wrong, but nobody warned us about a party lasting until 05:00 or the wall built around our room. At 03:00 I went to see what was happening and found the room blocked off by a wall. To reach the administration, I had to move it or climb a fence to the public beach. (Photo attached.) The next day, nothing was done. We were promised another room on the third day of our vacation. We had an excursion at 07:45 the following morning and agreed that breakfast would be ready at 07:30 so we wouldn't hold up the bus. After another sleepless night in the heat, with a party outside until 03:00, I went to the dining room at 07:20 to ask about the food. There was none. I reminded reception of our arrangement, but the bus arrived at 07:45 and still there was no food. My wife was very upset by the lack of sleep and food, which she needs for the normal development of the child. During the excursion she felt terrible from not eating and from lack of sleep over four nights. When we got back from the excursion, we were told we'd been evicted for rudeness and racism. Our belongings were still in the old room. We spoke with the main managers, including Patricia. They said a nonworking air conditioner was normal for Africa, and that the fan didn't work because they'd lost the remote. They said they weren't kicking us out, but that we should leave because we weren't welcome, or they'd call security. Staff had complained about us, but I recorded a video asking them about rudeness and everyone said it wasn't true. They apologized and confirmed our room wasn't meant to be open for guests. We were told they'd had 12 hours to prepare breakfast and it was ready. They refused to refund the remaining days and told us to contact our representatives in Ukraine and Zanzibar. They said leaving was our decision, but they had kicked us out. We're now relaxing at a great hotel 10 minutes from jumbo resort for the same price, and the quality is vastly different.

We ended up finding another hotel at the last minute because, after all the disrespect, we didn't want to stay. We had booked a DELUXE DOUBLE SEA VIEW WITH BALCONY and had even confirmed it with the hotel a week before arrival after reading reviews about wrong rooms. Instead, we were shown a triple room facing the pool and restaurant. Staff said our room wasn't ready when we arrived, asked us to wait 15 minutes, and took longer than that. We were okay with the delay, but not the room change. The manager said they were fully booked, it was probably a booking mistake, and asked us to wait while she looked for a solution. After nearly an hour, the choices were to accept the room or get a refund. We weren't happy and called the boss, who was VERY RUDE and didn't seem to care about anyone or anything.