Maru Maru Hotel, Zanzibar

Very centrally located... beautiful venue and facilities. Staff are very polite and try their best..... possibly increase the amount of waitrons during the Happy Hour on the Pool Deck? The pool deck is very welcoming and relaxing especially after a day out. The air conditioned rooms and mosquito nets around the beds adds to a very peaceful night. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.

The hotel is in an excellent location. We got good use out of the rooftop bar and thoroughly enjoyed the live entertainment. The the staff is exceptional and the hotel is under excellent management. A shout out to Babu, the food and beverage manager. He is a true gentleman. If I had to complain about anything it would be that we were travelling with three people and the room was a bit tight with the bunk bed and a king size, but you're not going to be in your room for long anyways. I saw the other rooms and they looked fantastic for just two people. Pretty much all the tours stop in at this rooftop bar and those guests have a separate entrance so they are not up and down in the hotel which was nice because it gets very busy during meal times with the outside guests. No problem, it adds to the atmosphere and the fun of the place. I could have stayed in the pool listening to the chill music all day long I was so happy in there and no outside guests can use it so perfect. I highly recommend staying at this hotel. It is so charming and has an excellent vibe.

Great location in old Stone Town, but... The hotel website touts 2 reliable elevators. One of their elevators has never been put in service. The only operational elevator goes to the rooftop terrace and restaurant. There are NO elevators going to 3 floors of guest rooms. Not suitable for anyone with mobility issues. If you have a 4th floor room you would need to walk down 3 flight of stairs and walk to take the elevator in another building to get to the restaurant. The restaurant food is okay. Their coffee machine wasn’t working properly at breakfast. They have loud live music on the rooftop every night until 10:30 PM. You can hear it in every room. Not great if you want to go to sleep early or if you have an early flight out. Tons of staff but they often come to check on the rooms without much of a knock on the door. Someone in my group had someone enter their room at 1:30 AM when they were asleep! The circuit breaker for my AC kept tripping my second night. Would only run for 2 minutes. They charged me $6 for a bottle of sparkling water. This is a 3 star hotel at best.

This hotel is located in a wonderful place in the center of StoneTown. The staff and service is excellent and Anna the manager was very helpful. The food at the rooftop restaurant was good and a great location for beautiful views of the town and ocean. The room is worn and things needed to be kept up a bit better, and the main elevator was out of service and who knows how long that has been. The room was clean and the bed was moderately comfortable. They have live entertainment every night at dinner on the rooftop, which is wonderful and it doesn’t stop till 10:30 PM so be aware.

Stayed 3 nights at the marumaru very well located , enjoyed the new year night buffet though left after an early dinner , over the festive period we were given many sovienors , breakfast well spread with fresh fruits & bakery items , egg station , asked for Dosa & truly enjoyed it , roof top restaurant is the cherry on the cake , staff very helpful & smiling , special thanks to the restaurant manager & Chefs , hats off to manager Anand Babu who spearheads the success . I would suggest the Hotel arrange with authoritys for street lights parallel to the Fort while walking to Marumaru as it's pretty dark (though Zanzibar is safe) , Marumaru too can have the street lights affixed for guests comfort & contribute to lighting the walk along the Fort to the property . Will definitely re visit Marumaru when in Zanzibar .

I don’t believe it. So they only had a room with windows outside. I realized this too late. So I told them. They only wanted to change in the evening if there is something available. So I booked another room and told them I will leave. They even wanted to charge me for the Pringle’s. And kept the money. No problem. And never again. You just took 150usd and then you get the room immediately back and you ask for 5$ of Pringle’s. So if that’s your philosophy. Very good I did not stay any minute longer. Thank you never again.

Had a great time at Maru Maru. The receptionists were helpful and friendly. The hotel is perfectly located for popular activities in the area. The room was clean and large enough for what we needed. Buffet is decent. Some entertainment was provided in the evening. Pool is beautiful and view is great. Only negative is the lift was not working which was not the end of the world as there are not too many floors. Overall I would recommend Maru Maru as a good value for money stay in Stone Town.

We stayed one night. Walking distance of ferry terminal. Located in old Stone Town so within walking distance of historical places, beach front and pedestrian friendly alleys. Sunset view from the top floor was good. Staff were helpful and very friendly. We felt safe.