Hotel Riu Palace Zanzibar

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

Our trip to the Riu Palace Zanzibar hotel was very successful, except for the first impression when, after more than 20 hours of travel, it turned out that the travel agency MEIERS WELTREISEN made a mistake and we were not in the RIU Palace Zanzibar system. Since it was Sunday...

Our trip to the Riu Palace Zanzibar hotel was very successful, except for the first impression when, after more than 20 hours of travel, it turned out that the travel agency MEIERS WELTREISEN made a mistake and we were not in the RIU Palace Zanzibar system. Since it was Sunday morning, unfortunately, no one was working at the travel agency, so I had to pay more than 580,-€ for the first night, which was very unpleasant. Of course, everything was resolved on Monday since the accommodation was paid for and I had an accommodation voucher, but the hotel did not want to consider it. It has been 10 days since then, but the hotel still has not refunded my money, and to this day, neither the hotel nor the travel agency has apologized to me for the inconvenience caused. This was a major negative aspect of our trip. However, I still rate our trip from March 2-9, 2025, as excellent. The staff was friendly, the room was nice and clean. The food and drink selection was satisfactory. The oceanfront was beautiful, the hotel was well-maintained and very charming. However, there were construction works on the hotel grounds, so in some places, the noise and dust were unpleasant. The hotel and the travel agency did not provide any information about this either. Therefore, I rate the hotel as good, but the travel agency as very poor. Our trip dates: 2025.3.2. – 2025.3.9.

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

We stay at the riu palace for 10 days and it was a wonderful trip, our honey moon ! This hôtel is Very Perfect, many restaurants to eat différent food and the service is always Perfect ! Barman are cool, animation team is Very Very good (Roni, Basho, bony M),...

We stay at the riu palace for 10 days and it was a wonderful trip, our honey moon ! This hôtel is Very Perfect, many restaurants to eat différent food and the service is always Perfect ! Barman are cool, animation team is Very Very good (Roni, Basho, bony M), the service is so great (Abdul, Franck) We spend many goods moments Room are Perfect, confortable and the all place is wonderfull Beach unbelivable, blue sea… You must go here !!! Arfter our safari, we can’t dream more

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

We visit Riu palace Zanzibar for a stay of 15 nights for our anniversary. We are Diamond members, the complimentary upgrade wasn’t available at check in, but should be available in 3 days. That’s fine and understandable because the hotel was fully booked. First 3 days The luxury suite was...

We visit Riu palace Zanzibar for a stay of 15 nights for our anniversary. We are Diamond members, the complimentary upgrade wasn’t available at check in, but should be available in 3 days. That’s fine and understandable because the hotel was fully booked. First 3 days The luxury suite was an disaster. No hot water, no a/c, no tv, no phone and every 15 minutes power-cuts. No response to our maintenance requests. Visit the frontdesk and they told us that there was an incident at the construction site. Resulting in issues with our room. At check-in they know about the issues (but not shared with us). Because it was 30+ degrees (Celsius) in our room, we couldn’t sleep there. We got an basic room to spend the night. Next day we visited the frontdesk. There wasn’t a solution, only wait till Sunday (for our Diamond upgrade). Later the director promised that the issues should be fixed at 13:00 that day. We checked our room around 15:00 but the a/c wasn’t cooling. Also still no hot water. We could pack again to spend the night in room number 3 (close to the construction side) because it was too hot in our room. The maintenance ensured that all was fixed but after a re-check the situation remains the same. The director inspected our room and concluded that the report of the maintenance was false and our room was still broken. After 3 days Today we got our Diamond upgrade and finally got a room with all functionalities! We loved the jacuzzi room and received many bottles of wine in our room. From this moment our holiday started and we finally enjoyed 5 star palace service and accommodation! We loved the authentic style of our room, with many details of handmade wood! The food is very good. All you want is available, the food is fresh and delicious! The staff is very friendly and helpful. Also the theme restaurants are from outstanding quality. The service at the main pool is very good (there are 3 pools). You will always find an place to relax, but many lounge chairs are reserved by people that never show up. The beach is amazing, and the sea is beautiful for snorkeling and swimming (don’t forget to wear water shoes!). The quality of the drinks is very good. Just some drinks are frequently out of stock at the main bar. We don’t understand the complains about the sound of Riu Jambo, because it’s quiet before midnight and the palace is very quiet overall. If you want full quiet, you should book an room somewhere in the forest where no people are. Also no issues with the sellers at the beach. If you say ‘no thank you’ it’s all fine and no worries. We also loved the safari to Tanzania (1 day trip). In the hotel are many guests from Russia and Germany. Staff will talk German to you. If we look to our overall experience, we will give our holiday 4 stars. Communication should be improved and rooms should be checked well, specially in case of diamond or gold members. If we look after the 3 days, our holiday should get 5 stars.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Our Junior Suite was brilliant, so spacious. I think we struck lucky, we had a separate bathroom/dressing room attached to the extra large bedroom, plus a huge balcony. The furniture was a little tired looking, but I've heard that in November this year the hotel is to change from Adult...

Our Junior Suite was brilliant, so spacious. I think we struck lucky, we had a separate bathroom/dressing room attached to the extra large bedroom, plus a huge balcony. The furniture was a little tired looking, but I've heard that in November this year the hotel is to change from Adult only to Family Accommodation, so guessing that there will be improvements, replacement and decorating taking place. AT THE PALACE THE PROMENADE BUFFET RESAURANT offered an excellent selection of food for Breakfast, Lunch and Evening Meals, so much choice. Plenty of fresh fruit juices and if you want it, champagne is available at breakfast. Red and White Wine is served freely at lunch and evening meals. All staff in the restaurant were incredibly warm and welcoming. As lovers of sea food, my partner and I found THE BEEF STEAK RESTAURANT excellent, our servings of delicious lobster were huge, we would highly recommend this restaurant. We observed the mixed grill been served to a couple on the next table, enough food for four people!. Wonderful service from the staff. Would definitely recommend THE KRYSTAL RESTAURANT. It was excellent, again outstanding food and very elegant service from the staff. Whilst we loved the look of IA GREEK TAVERNA and could not fault the staff, they were so very friendly and attentive, the food was a let down. The dips were tasteless and the main courses on offer a disappointment. We had hoped for some typically Greek dishes would be available, but sadly not. THE JAMBO We loved the food at II PANZOTTO ITALIAN RESAURANT. On our first visit, we selected the antipasta platter to start and Langoutine with pasta for our main course. Absolutely delicious, so much so that we booked a second visit. This time we asked to share the anti pasta platter, as the portions were very generous and the Langoustine Pasta didn't disappoint. We had a table overlooking the sea, which was lovely, but a little dark. SUGGESTION: A light on or above the table would have been useful, especially as when trying to read the menu, we had to use the torches on our phones to see the choices. Food and service at The KULINARIUM is also very good, and definitely worth a visit. GINGER BAR A lovely clean and happy place to sit and enjoy good quality drinks and cocktails, served by polite, very warm and friendly staff. Veronica, never stop being the delightful young woman that you are, it was a joy to have met you. POOL & AREA (next to The GingerBar Spotlessly clean every day. The drinks service around the pool was excellent, as soon as we sat down, our order was taken, and any empty glasses were cleared away promptly. I loved the water aerobics classes that were held every morning, Jackson and Basho made sure we all had good fun and a good work out. Well done lads!! Such a shame that a number of guests chose to ignore the sign requesting them not to place towels on the sun beds and then walk off, leaving the beds unattended for hours at a time. There was only one morning, during our two week stay, that we were able to find a couple of free beds on the sandy area below the pool. MENT EVENING ENERTAINMENT We thoroughly enjoyed sitting and watching the variety of performers every night, then later joining in with the Conga line or doing the Macarana, I even surprised myselfc by remembering all the moves!!! SPA After a long flight, I had a fabulous facial and relaxing back massage in the Spa the day after we arrived at the hotel. Excellent value for $90. THE GARDENS & GROUNDS Everywhere was immaculately kept and looked beautiful. Every All member of staff worked tirelessly all day to ensure the garden and grounds were kept clean and tidy.

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

It was very good hotel to live with your family at very affordable price. I am from Spain and i was recently on vacation to zanzibar. I really enjoyed this hotel. I would recommend this hotel to everyone whoever come to zanzibar and looking for perfect hotel.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

This hotel is not worth the money and is possibly the worst all inclusive hotel I've stayed at in the last decade. We stayed for 14 nights myself and my partner There are some positives so will start with these: The country and people are wonderful Housekeeping is friendly and...

This hotel is not worth the money and is possibly the worst all inclusive hotel I've stayed at in the last decade. We stayed for 14 nights myself and my partner There are some positives so will start with these: The country and people are wonderful Housekeeping is friendly and super Location is good and the beach is well kept Staff and service in the promenade buffet restaurant are really friendly & attentive Gym is practical and reasonable equipment albeit not that big Now the bad: Food is not to a decent standard The themed restaurants if you can call them that are dreadful. I caught a stomach bug on my 2rd night from what im fairly confident was the lobster in the steakhouse restaurant, service was poor, the night we went only 2 servers for the entire restaurant and was clear they couldn't manage. The "Greek" themed restaurant is all fish which wouldn't be bad if the dishes resembled Greek recipe or food The Promenade buffet - whilst service was great options were initially quite limited, then magically a mystery guest from Riu group appeared for 4-5 days and standards drastically rose as did the options. Mini steaks and other meat were continually replenished on a more cooked to order basis rather than sat for long periods in oven dishes Food that had clearly been sat for awhile was being regularly checked and sometimes changed out. The food at the Riu Jambo (family hotel next door) is almost identical food but actually better because of the turnover and volume it goes through. A Chocolate fountain also suddenly appeared with the mystery guest, as part of the dessert table. However, once the mystery guest disappeared the food standards dropped away again. As did all the managers and department heads who were on show when he was around but once he was gone they were nowhere to be found, which leads onto next issue. When we stayed there's a fair amount of building work going on next door as another RIU Hotel is going up and the generators they have to backup the unstable power supply infrastructure in the country is poor. Multiple power cuts per day and often several minutes to come back as generators didn't kick in. However, you could not get to speak to a manager, the staff seem to be left to themselves, I once went to the front desk at 2pm I was told there was no manager till 7pm. Went back at 8pm due to dinner, manager had been and gone. The deputy manager "Diane" was an apparition she appeared occasionally and was gone as quick as you blinked or went to get her attention. You were always told "I've spoken to my manager on your behalf but there isn't anything we can do", and everyone was always very sorry at the front desk but generally unable to help. The pool areas are tiny and not enough beds. The pool area at the top of the hotel is actually the best one but was adjacent to the construction work (thank goodness for noise cancelling headphones) Bar staff - some are great, others struggle to understand you or forget things, so definite lack of consistency I hope someone from RIU group sees this but my guess is they won't, for those who have taken the time to read this review, thank you and I hope this gives you pause before booking. By all means visit zanzibar it's a truly great country but avoid staying at a RIU hotel

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

We have just returned from a truly WONDERFUL 2 week holiday at this hotel. The hotel facilities, the amazing cheerful and welcoming staff, the excellent , delicious food served daily snd of course the beautiful setting. Massive shout out to all staff; special mentions to all the amazing gardeners (you...

We have just returned from a truly WONDERFUL 2 week holiday at this hotel. The hotel facilities, the amazing cheerful and welcoming staff, the excellent , delicious food served daily snd of course the beautiful setting. Massive shout out to all staff; special mentions to all the amazing gardeners (you might not see them but they work tirelessly in that heat), Lina, Fatima, Sukina, Ramadan, George, Anna, Francis, Machano, Osman (scuba caribe), Sophie. We will be back🥰

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Wonderful experience! I can recommend with all my heart Hotel Riu Palace Zanzibar. I met the kindest people in my whole life. Especially thanks to wonderful crew: Jasmine, Weronica, Jackson 5, Paulina, Nastory and the chef Ramadan ♥️ Hotel provides a lot of entertainments so I’m sure u won’t be...

Wonderful experience! I can recommend with all my heart Hotel Riu Palace Zanzibar. I met the kindest people in my whole life. Especially thanks to wonderful crew: Jasmine, Weronica, Jackson 5, Paulina, Nastory and the chef Ramadan ♥️ Hotel provides a lot of entertainments so I’m sure u won’t be disappointed. Hotel is also located in a very good location. One note for the hotel: please change the umbrellas around the pool because it’s a shame for 5 star hotel to keep them functional on wooden sticks.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Wow, what an amazing holiday here in Riu Palace Zanzibar! Amazing food, entertainment, games etc. Especially thanks to Jackson 5, Veronica, Jasmin, Nestori and Paulina!!! We got reccomendation from our friends and we are glad we have listened to them and visited this beautiful hotel.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Great RIU hotel with SUPER service in every respect. Unfortunately, the hotel management shows little appreciation for loyal RIU customers - what a pity. Location and surroundings The RIU Palace Zanzibar hotel does not have the typical RIU style because it was not built as a RIU hotel, but previously...

Great RIU hotel with SUPER service in every respect. Unfortunately, the hotel management shows little appreciation for loyal RIU customers - what a pity. Location and surroundings The RIU Palace Zanzibar hotel does not have the typical RIU style because it was not built as a RIU hotel, but previously had the name "Hideway of Nungwi Resort and Spa" and was only taken over by RIU. You can still see the "H" in the iron fences at the Ginger Bar. We found this style unique and simply brilliant for a hotel for adults. It is doubtful that the huge new RIU Palace for adults, which is currently being built on the other side of the RIU "Jambo" (opening in winter 2025 (according to RIU Journal)), will also offer this charm. In the current RIU Palace hotel, the individual houses are very tastefully distributed on the mountain. Above is the reception and the houses with the room blocks 3XX and 4XX as well as a small pool, which had a temperature of 34 degrees. Anyone who gets a room here has to walk a long way to the beach, pool and restaurants. At first glance, you might underestimate this, but you will soon realise that the mountain takes its toll. The rooms in blocks 1XX and 2XX are ideal. Rooms The very spacious rooms are very tastefully decorated in a colonial style. If you place great value on German TV, you are in the wrong place here (no German channels available). The balcony door has an insect screen, which is a great advantage. The cupboards, including coat hangers and shelves, are spacious and there are enough of them. The only criticism here is the spartan lighting in the bathroom. The hairdryer is powerful. Short-term power outages throughout the hotel are normal - you are in Africa. The emergency generators then do a good job, much to the chagrin of the guests who are accommodated in room areas 332-345 and 432-445. Service We had several contacts with reception. We felt particularly well looked after by Samson. The towel service was excellent. There were always enough towels for the beach and pool available. I divide the sunbathing areas into 3 zones: Zone 1 - pool area Zone 2 - upper beach with access to the sea via a staircase Zone 3 - beach With a few exceptions, the sunbeds in zone 1 were occupied until 9 a.m. every day. The sunbeds in the first row in zone 2 were fully reserved before 6 a.m. every day. After 6 a.m. there were only free sunbeds in the back rows - but there were enough there. On the beach in zone 3 you could get sunbeds and parasols at any time. We generally preferred this area. The beach service does a really good job here. Many thanks in particular to Vuai, who always did his best, especially when the umbrellas/sunbeds had to be moved because of the incoming tide. In general, it must be said that tips are not explicitly requested from the service staff here in the hotel - of course, they are happy to give and are gratefully accepted. We see a major weakness in the hotel's management. You get the impression that loyal guests (e.g. us as guests with RIU Class Diamond status) are generally ignored. Consultation with other guests confirmed this opinion. The reception was willing, but if the management (Mrs. Ines / Mrs. Djana) doesn't want it, then it's not meant to be!?! We were not granted an early check-in or a late check-out, although there were definitely free rooms in the 3XX and 4XX. We were only granted an upgrade to the next room category upon arrival. I think the management here should familiarize themselves with the conditions and advantages that are granted to RIU Class guests according to RIU advertising. Very disappointing for us - we have never experienced anything like this in any other RIU hotel. For guests who remain in the hotel after check-out (until 12 noon), departure is as follows: You have the option of taking another shower before departure in 2 small rooms separated by gender without a toilet (not air-conditioned). We had to queue in front of these 2 rooms - towels had to be requested first. It was unbearably warm in the rooms (of course also due to the previous users showering), so that after leaving the room you were ready to take another shower - an impossible situation. Under the given conditions, I can only advise everyone to choose their return flight so that they do not have to stay in the hotel much longer than 12 noon. Gastronomy The hotel has a main restaurant and 3 specialty restaurants. The specialty restaurants (Krystal, IA, and Steakhouse) could be booked easily via the RIU app. We can recommend visiting all 3 specialty restaurants. In the neighboring RIU "Jambo" you can use all the facilities, but you can clearly see that this hotel only has class standards. We primarily used the back area of the main restaurant. We found it quieter and more pleasant there because it is also a non-smoking area. Special thanks to Dida, who literally read our every wish from our eyes and served us royally. We were very impressed by how head chef Vyas and his team conjured up culinary delicacies in the buffet room every day for all meals. Delicious South African wines were offered for lunch and dinner. As in every RIU Palace, sparkling wine was available with every meal. There were 4 bars in the hotel area, with the main bar by the pool (Ginger Bar) serving drinks around the clock. All other bars closed at 6 p.m. If you (like us) had your airport transfer after 6 p.m., you cannot order a farewell drink at reception. The only option is to go downhill to the pool bar, where you get drinks in paper cups on the way uphill to reception - sorry, but that's not the RIU Palace quality we know. The bar staff were extremely friendly and service-oriented. Special thanks to our "favorite" Zabron, as well as Jacob and Yusuf. The bar staff we particularly remembered were "little" Veronika and the "big" charming Joice with their exceptionally friendly manner. Leisure activities The hotel's animation team tries to entertain guests without being intrusive. We are passionate holiday bocce players, so Ronni from the animation team was happy to accommodate our request to play on the beach every day. Ronni was number 1 for us in the animation team. In the evenings there was often the opportunity to dance. There was often good live music. The animation team took the guests' request to reduce the volume or overdrive of the music into account - THANK YOU - that's not the case everywhere.

Travel Date: April 30, 2024

It was impossible to be better. Service is 5*, buffet is 5* and the restaurants a la carte are incredible and also 5*. The Nungwi beach is one of the most beaches in the world and is facing the sunset. There is other Riu next door…if u can stay in...

It was impossible to be better. Service is 5*, buffet is 5* and the restaurants a la carte are incredible and also 5*. The Nungwi beach is one of the most beaches in the world and is facing the sunset. There is other Riu next door…if u can stay in the Palace version because is memorable.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Due to an unfortunate circumstance, not of this hotels doing, we only stayed one night. In that short time we were able to appreciate how good this hotel is - location, fabulous; dining, outstanding both at dinner and breakfast the choices were vast and the quality superb. All staff could...

Due to an unfortunate circumstance, not of this hotels doing, we only stayed one night. In that short time we were able to appreciate how good this hotel is - location, fabulous; dining, outstanding both at dinner and breakfast the choices were vast and the quality superb. All staff could not do enough to make your stay the best possible I would like to make particularly mention of Innes (Head of Front Desk) and all her staff who made the situation as tolerable as possible down to making up the room, at last minute, with decorations to celebrate Valentine's Day and providing clothing from the hotel as our luggage had not been delivered. Well above and beyond - thank you Innes

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Just back from our two week holiday at Riu Palace. We stayed in a suite number 158 for two weeks, beautiful spacious room with a very comfortable bed and lots of outdoor space. The hotel is set in picturesque well maintained matured gardens with stunning views over the turquoise Indian...

Just back from our two week holiday at Riu Palace. We stayed in a suite number 158 for two weeks, beautiful spacious room with a very comfortable bed and lots of outdoor space. The hotel is set in picturesque well maintained matured gardens with stunning views over the turquoise Indian Ocean. It is also within 5 min walk to Kendwa Rocks which holds a monthly full moon party (highly recommended). I have to say without a doubt this is the best all inclusive hotel we’ve stayed in terms of food, the selection and flavours of the buffet restaurant was outstanding. The choice in the main buffet restaurant puts all other all inclusive restaurants to shame. We tried some other restaurants on the resort which were nice but the choices were limited compared to the main restaurant. The service was also very attentive especially we have to mention Glory in the main buffet restaurant, she made sure that we wanted for nothing. Bar staff made great cocktails and we have to give a special mention to Nora at the pool bar, she made sure we never went thirsty, as we are Irish that is quite a difficult task lol. Entertainment was also first class with Bashoo and Roni excellent at keeping guests entertained - my favourites were yoga and pool volleyball. Evening shows were very good too, Freedom dancers in particular, on par with a a West End show . We have also done a few day trips - stone town, spice island, safari blue, Mnemba (though not booked through the hotel) and would recommend Safari Blue and Mnemba in particular. This was by far the best holiday experience and we hope to be back again soon.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

Beautiful Location, stunning beach, amazing friendly staff throughout the hotel. Reception went above and beyond on discovering that my suitcase was delayed at Dubai airport, offering free laundry service, a t shirt and sarong, they also contacted the airport to track progress on my suitcase. The hotel is situated on...

Beautiful Location, stunning beach, amazing friendly staff throughout the hotel. Reception went above and beyond on discovering that my suitcase was delayed at Dubai airport, offering free laundry service, a t shirt and sarong, they also contacted the airport to track progress on my suitcase. The hotel is situated on a very steep hill, so would be problematic for people with mobility issues. We spent our days at the beach, yes there are vendors walking up and down the beach, but they stay on the shoreline and don’t approach guests whilst sunbathing. A polite hand up or no thanks when walking along the beach is all that is needed. Our accommodation was very large and spacious, and spotless. The maid visited during the day and also a visit in the evenings to change the towels and turn down the bed. I could honestly say that this has been one of our top destinations and will definitely return.

Travel Date: February 28, 2025

We are first time visitors to Kendwa beach, and we went for a long walk along the beach. Wanted to head for the village and climbed the stairs to - what we later understood - Hotel Riu Palace. A guard stopped us and refused to let us reach the main...

We are first time visitors to Kendwa beach, and we went for a long walk along the beach. Wanted to head for the village and climbed the stairs to - what we later understood - Hotel Riu Palace. A guard stopped us and refused to let us reach the main road. We asked for directions (since we are new to the area) but he gave us none, was just unnecessarily bossy. We are a couple in our 60's and during our travels in Zanzibar we have only met very kind and helpful people and staff. But not here. If you want to enjoy Kendwa Beach we recommend the southern part of the beach with less resorts/hotels.

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

My husband and I had an unforgettable stay at Riu Palace Zanzibar! From the moment we arrived, we were impressed by the immaculate grounds, well-maintained accommodations, and delicious food. A special shoutout to Frank, the bartender, who went above and beyond to remember our names and made every interaction feel...

My husband and I had an unforgettable stay at Riu Palace Zanzibar! From the moment we arrived, we were impressed by the immaculate grounds, well-maintained accommodations, and delicious food. A special shoutout to Frank, the bartender, who went above and beyond to remember our names and made every interaction feel personal. His friendly service truly elevated our experience. We also want to recognize Dorcas, our waiter at the breakfast and lunch buffet, for her warm hospitality and attentive service. The resort itself is stunning, and even when we had a minor issue, the manager promptly resolved it, ensuring our stay remained flawless. Highly recommend this resort for anyone looking for a luxurious and welcoming getaway in Zanzibar! We’ll definitely be back.

Travel Date: March 31, 2025

feeling started. The staff at the reception greeted us with a refreshing towel and a welcome drink. A golf cart took you to your room. The resort was very spacious and well-maintained. The staff was very friendly and helpful. I enjoyed doing yoga and water aerobics with the RiuFit team....

feeling started. The staff at the reception greeted us with a refreshing towel and a welcome drink. A golf cart took you to your room. The resort was very spacious and well-maintained. The staff was very friendly and helpful. I enjoyed doing yoga and water aerobics with the RiuFit team. The sea and the beach were a dream. Although you was approached by vendors on the beach. If you show no interest, they leave you alone. The buffet was absolutely delicious 😋! Special requests were quickly fulfilled. One of the best vacations I’ve had! Thanks to all the staff, and special thanks to Mariam (our room maid), Jema, Vanessa, Catherine (poolside service), Glory, George, Anna, Sabrina, Elias, Ibrahim, Josephine E. M. ... (service in the main restaurant), Basho and J 5 (RiuFit) and all the cooks from the Main Restaurant ❤️ ------------- Not so positive: Smoking almost everywhere is a bit bothersome, especially because no consideration is given to non-smokers.