Toa Hotel & Spa Zanzibar

A full day of activities, impressive shows every night and a beautiful beach dinner once a week made this a wonderful stay for our whole family. The staff were friendly, attentive and always smiling, and they went out of their way to help. We arrived after the restaurant had closed, but they reopened it just for us and served us food. The whole team delivered outstanding service and made the stay unforgettable. Highly recommended!

You may be very bored at this hotel, and there’s no proper ocean swimming. We stayed for a week on an all-inclusive plan, between February 21 and March 1, flying directly from Prague to Zanzibar and then to this property. We didn’t feel it met five-star standards and would give it no more than 3 out of 5 stars. The biggest disappointment was the lack of real access to swim in the ocean. Anyone arriving in Zanzibar expecting to enjoy the Indian Ocean may be very disappointed. The hotel should consider a shuttle to nearby beaches such as Kiwengwa Beach, with a morning drop-off and evening return. Without something like that, many guests may not come back. The food generally tasted good, but the selection felt extremely limited for a five-star hotel. Most days there was mainly rice, fried potatoes, a few kinds of meat and very little salad, usually chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, with Caesar salad only occasionally. Desserts were disappointing too. There were about four choices, and they weren’t especially good. We’d expect at least 8-10 desserts and a much broader selection at this level. There was no à la carte restaurant, only a buffet. The snack bar wasn’t operating during the day, breakfast ended at 10:00 a.m. with no late option, and if you missed a meal you had to wait for the next one. There were no snacks between meals. The all-inclusive drink list was very limited, with around five basic cocktails and nothing special. Staff were polite, but service was slow and we often waited a long time for drinks. The pools were average, and the resort area was relatively small. Construction was ongoing and looked likely to continue for several more years, which affected the atmosphere and comfort. Entertainment was repetitive: one singer performed each evening, her voice wasn’t very strong and it didn’t sound very good. It became boring, with no other animation or entertainment during our week. This place seems more suited to older couples or retirees looking for quiet, sleep and food, since little else happens. There was also a serious hygiene problem in the buffet restaurant. Flies were everywhere at breakfast, lunch and dinner, flying around and landing on food. It was unpleasant and unacceptable for a hotel claiming five stars, and it affected our meals. In our view, the hotel doesn’t deserve five stars. The lack of ocean swimming was the main letdown. We’d rate it 1/5 and wouldn’t consider returning.

The staff welcomed us with huge smiles as soon as we arrived, and the rooms were amazing. I still miss the food every day. It was the best resort food I’ve ever had, and the best we ate on our whole 2-3 week trip around different countries. I made special requests sometimes, and even if an item wasn’t on the buffet menu, they’d have the chef make extra for me. The beach was beautiful, though Zanzibar’s tides come in strongly. At low tide the water went so far out that swimming wasn’t really possible, but we enjoyed walking out near the water, looking for little critters in the sand and watching the masai people walk by. Around 11am the high tide brought the water back and people could swim. The resort pool was amazing, with an in-pool bar, and the spa was great too. I highly recommend the African body scrub and massage. We loved it so much that we went back for the same treatment before leaving. The resort is on a very peaceful side of the island. I can’t wait to come back!

The pools beside each accommodation building gave us a quieter spot to unwind, and the beach was right across from the hotel. We also enjoyed the evening festivities every day and found the meal schedule flexible, which worked well when we spent time away from the hotel. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all excellent. We were there from 8 October 2025 to 13 October 2025. Our room was roomy, spotless, and well looked after, and the service stayed consistently strong. The hosts and staff were warm, welcoming, and helpful. The reception team and kitchen staff even made time to chat while staying professional. There was a small mix-up over checkout, but the manager quickly sorted it out and made sure we felt comfortable and safe. We were 200% happy with our stay and would definitely pick Toa Hotel & Spa again if we returned.