Five Palms

Nice up to date hotel. Location is quite secluded. Not the best beach in zanzibar

Not bad

We had booked this property in October 2022 for our December-end stay and were so looking forward to our stay here. We were totally disappointed and dismayed. Firstly, the person at the reception had no clue about our booking and how many people were in the family (though all of it was clearly specified in the booking). We realised later on that this was because the staff seem to have no system to track these things, no training and dont seem to be equipped to handle anything as the place seems to be remote-managed by the owner who hardly ever puts in a presence. So, though we paid for a couple and child of 13 years, there was no additional bed. We were simply told that they did not have any rooms available, that had an additional bed! So, no option- grin and bear! The food was passable at best. For dinner on the first night, the wait time for our food to be served was 100 minutes. Reason: they prioritised a larger group that arrived after us, and another couple who came to the restaurant after us. Not sure if there were any criteria for this prioritisation! Then the shocker- a New Years Party set menu at USD 40/person. And it was mandatory- option was to not eat at all as they would not take any a la carte orders. So we forked out USD 40/person and turned up for this dinner which had all of 4 items (soup, starter, main course and dessert). Most were OK, but the main course (Ravioli) was not even cooked properly. And given the portions, we were left hungry. As an icing on the cake, we came to know from other guests that it was not mandatory to take the 40USD/person set meal- we clearly had been taken for a ride. The property itself is very poorly managed- no hint of adequate maintenance. Then there is this sight of a small monkey tied up to the tree and held captive. All in all, a sad and poorly run place. Do yourself a favour and give this place a miss!