The Sands Beach Resort

I loved my stay here! location- unbelievable with the most incredible view and paradise like experience! The pool and beach is serene, well kept and quiet. If you are looking for a beautiful, quiet place with great service this is the place for you! There is a gorgeous bar on the beach, a few steps from your room and beach umbrellas to sit under. The rooms- excellent! I went with a friend and we each had a bungalow, the rooms are in great condition and well kept with great air conditioning. The staff! Just amazing! They helped us with every thing we needed (from fixing the a/c to getting us sea shoes and aloe from an aloe tree when we were burnt). They hand pick their staff and it shows. The guest relations manager Ally is outstanding and a shout out to the dining and bar staff too (Hamida, Rasheed, Kelvin, Michael, George, Sporah, Edgar). They are friendly and helpful and will help your arrange excursions if you want or just get you a drink or coconut at the beach. I highly recommend this hotel! And would love to go back!

What a find! This place epitomises Hukuna Matata - no worries. Great accommodation (we booked two bed villa with pool right on the beach), stunning location (away from main tourist area but all within easy taxi ride), great food, fabulous cocktails, beer and freshly squeezed fruit juices (thanks Hassa!) and a family of staff, led by the charming and charismatic Ally, who could not make you feel more at home and where absolutely nothing is not too much bother - including installing a brand new AC unit as ours wasn’t working so well! Good snorkelling off the main beach (be sure to explore under the nearby jetty - some of the best we did, even compared to the main excursions) and great snorkelling just a 1.5km walk (or short speedboat ride) at the well known Blue Lagoon. Top recommendations include chilling out at Barista Zanzibar at kite surf central Paje (10mins in taxi), lunch at The Rock (pricey but good), the magical Maalum Caves (so good the kids wanted to go multiple times) and just relaxing and listening to the waves and wind in the palm fronds… Christmas in paradise - hard to beat!

We had a wonderful experience here with our family for three nights. The food was outstanding, especially the fresh fruit and the fish. Staff was attentive and professional and always pleasant and kind. Waiting for drinks at the beach bar was not a problem for us as we were enjoying the scenery and the ocean breeze while we relaxed. Great time of year to go. Weather hot but pool was perfect. Excursions to Jozani Forest and to snorkel were lovely. Tidepools were fun to explore, with tons of amazing shells (which we had to leave behind). Thank you Ally and all your staff for a vacation we will never forget!

We were in Zanzibar at the end of April/beginning of May and really enjoyed the "rainy season". The entire hotel and the beautiful beach belonged to us for the first few days because the tourists avoid this time. The whole staff was practically there just for us, we were more than spoiled every day. We would like to mention the most important points for people who have not yet been to The Sands Resort: -All public areas were very well maintained and CLEAN (despite low season) -The staff - from hotel manager, guest relations, housekeeping and everyone we met were 5* friendly (compared to 5* hotels in Switzerland) -The guys at the bar were our highlight - they do the job more than well and we were happy to see them every morning and evening! -Security - the traditional Masais have the whole resort and beach under control. Day and night they keep an eye on the guests and make sure they are safe and not harassed by the locals on the beach -Food & drink - high quality, varied and international, foreigners have no problems. Many thanks to the entire team who looked after us! There are many resorts to choose from but the friendliness and service of The Sands won!

After a two weeks stay we fell in love with The Sands. It is a truly boutique hotel that makes you feel at home in the best sense of the word. Thank you very much Shadya for the smooth organization down to the transfer and your tips on what to consider. From the first minute you start relaxing at its best, enjoy nature, the tranquil beach and the warm Indian Ocean and you feel taken care of by an extraordinary staff. The food was really delicious (Edgar, you are magic), be it at breakfast, diner at night or a snack in-between. Everything is fresh, prepared with that certain something and the service in the restaurant and beach bar was extraordinary (THX Mkami, Vis, Alex, Neema, and all). On top, we had a very special lobster diner in a wonderful prepared surrounding on the beach (THX Edgar, the lobster was excellent, and THX Isaya for the romantic setting of the scene with wonderful flowerage and braided palm leaves). We stayed in a villa with private pool, overlooking the beach. The villas are really spacy so that you can enjoy also a longer stay, and top clean (THX Neema). And not to forget Ally. He is the “soul” of the resort and always available when you need an answer, find a solution or just for a little small talk about life on Zanzibar. Although we were in the middle of the raining season, we enjoyed every minute of our stay and will definitely come back.

Location was tranquil and just what we were looking for at the start of our Zanzibar holiday. All the staff were amazingly welcoming and friendly. The team led by Ally are a credit to the hotel. The dining experience was quite special and we very much enjoyed the fresh barbecued fish at night, especially the huge tuna that a slice and thickness of your liking which was cooked there and then and served to your table … in fact the staff even do your toast for you in the morning! The cocktails are freshly squeezed and were unbelievably tasty!!! Overall, hotel was perfect for our family of 4 including teenagers.