Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa Zanzibar

“Highly recommend”

Fantastic stay at this hotel post a week long safai. We booked all inclusive in a garden room . Staff are 5* Rooms a little tired - but spotlessly clean , turn down service and mosquito nets etc View was of the gardens - colourful and well kept. Food and drink - delicious , lovely dining outsid… more

Fantastic stay at this hotel post a week long safai. We booked all inclusive in a garden room . Staff are 5* Rooms a little tired - but spotlessly clean , turn down service and mosquito nets etc View was of the gardens - colourful and well kept. Food and drink - delicious , lovely dining outside every evening whilst being entertained by local bands - who were great. Themed nights - BBQ , Asian , Fish etc great choice of dishes buffet beach lunch - great - no complaints. Customer service manager - Freida / and deputy - Pindo extremely helpful and went the extra mile Food and beverage manager Scott also - super helpful and made us feel very welcome. Only negative - no sparkling wine available by the galss / bottle on all inclusive option.

less

“Fantastic resort, but avoid the third-party snorkling&diving company”

The resort is fantastic and beautiful! The staff were incredibly friendly and attentive, making us feel very welcome. For example, The bar staff greeted us every time and asked if everything was ok. They were also concerned about my wife's toe when she was injured due to an incident, more informati… more

The resort is fantastic and beautiful! The staff were incredibly friendly and attentive, making us feel very welcome. For example, The bar staff greeted us every time and asked if everything was ok. They were also concerned about my wife's toe when she was injured due to an incident, more information about that a little later. The hotel's own nurse took care of the injury until flying back to home, so that part was handled fine as well. We had an all-inclusive package, which included not only breakfast and dinner, but also lunch at the beach restaurant. The breakfast offered a wide variety of options, while the lunch was slightly smaller but still very enjoyable. Dinner had its own food theme on each evening, and if a certain theme was not to your taste, then there was a so-called a pasta point, where you could choose your own fillings and pasta. Really plenty of different options for both food and dessert. The food was thoughtfully prepared to cater to Western tastes, though there were also options for those who enjoy spicier cuisine. Of course, there were some spicy food as well. The room was clean and of sufficient size. The shower quickly provided warm water. The room was cleaned well every day, and in the evenings, usually during dinner, insecticides were put in the room and the mosquito net was opened around the bed. No complaints about this either. One day my wife and I visited the spa, which located inside the Resort. We had a wonderful experience at the on-site spa, particularly after our safari adventure. The only criticism is not actually related to Ocean Paradise itself, but a third-party company operating within the resort, which offered e.g. diving and snorkeling services. We booked a snorkeling session for one day and I told them I was a first timer. They said that it was not the problem as long as I can swim. On the actual snorkeling day, a snorkling session was made in such a hurry that I thought of giving up in the middle of the session, even though I had mentioned to be as first timer in snorkeling again to the actual snorkeling session guides. The initial snorkeling session was challenging, as I was still getting used to the equipment and snorkeling itself. Fortunately, in the final phase, I started to catch on to the idea little by little, and I even got to enjoy snorkeling myself in the second session, which was a good experience. When session was over, returning was quite "rapid" again, and when my wife was stepping into the car, the driver of the company stepped on her toe, and blood started to flow. When we told to driver about this, he didn't react much, but at the insistence of others, other representative appeared and started to take care of the toe by cleaning that and apply a bandage. The driver did not apologize for the matter, so as soon as we returned back to resort, we went to complain about driver's behavior. Despite the clear evidence, the company refused to acknowledge responsibility for the incident, and the driver denied causing the injury even when there were many people who saw this. He told that at most, they would reimburse the ride to the doctor, but not the medical expenses. Fortunately, we then got the hotel's own nurse to attend, who took care of the toe. But there were no apologies from this company even afterwards. My wife went to the doctor about the toe after the trip, and the diagnosis was "broken toe". So thanks a lot! So please book the similar session from others instead of. For example we heard from one couple that they had taken a similar snorkeling session from the person, who has own "office" in the neighbor, and they had their own private snorkling session (we had lots of other people in snorkling session) and they can decide if they stop the session earlier. It was also much cheaper compared to this company, which we used. The reason for using this company located inside the resort was that they accepted credit card, when others accept cash only. I want to highlight that this was not Ocean Paradise's fault, and Ocean Paradise's manager was very angry about their behavior when we told about this. I hope they have serious discussion with this company afterwards. Apart from the one negative experience, I definitely recommend this resort if you value ease of use (e.g. no cash usage anywhere), want to relax properly and eat&drink well :)

less

“Zanzibar ”

5 star ⭐. 1 st class hotel, staff and food excellent. Different theme every night, Good variety of food. Entertainment every night. Trips bookable from guest relations. Pool side bar and good pool. Security 24/7. Water sports available. Great place, would go with Trailfinders again.

“Overall very satisfied with our 10 days here.”

Four of us have just had a great 10 days here, all the staff were very friendly and nothing was a problem, couple of issues with the room on first day which were sorted straight away. Good choice of food, whether for Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon tea or dinner. Very quiet location, only music was fro… more

Four of us have just had a great 10 days here, all the staff were very friendly and nothing was a problem, couple of issues with the room on first day which were sorted straight away. Good choice of food, whether for Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon tea or dinner. Very quiet location, only music was from the Aqua classes at 12.00, which were good fun. Located right on the beach, tidal coast line, so were limited to sea swimming when high tide was in, when low tide, you could walk out a few hundred meters, but the locals tended to want to escort you to sell goods or services. A few polite " no thanks" usually did the trick. Sea was warm, 24-25 degrees C, but as tidal was very murky and quite a bit of sea grass. Not a beach for snorkelling. We stayed in a garden view room, which had a large shower room, large bedroom, decking area facing the sea, air con unit was a little noisy, but was required at night. Only negatives for me was the tidal coastline, rooms could do with modernising and the pool needs retiling. If you want a holiday just to relax, unmind, read, some peace and quiet, then I would recommend this place.

less