Does The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar have a pool?

Yes, this property has an outdoor pool.

How much does it cost to stay at The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar?

As of Aug 25, 2025, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar on Sep 1, 2025 start from ￥34,499, excluding taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

Is The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

How much is parking at The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar?

Self parking is free at this property.

What time is check-in at The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar?

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: anytime.

What time is check-out at The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar?

Check-out is at 11:00 AM. Late check-out is available for USD 50 (subject to availability).

Does The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar provide a shuttle to the airport?

Yes, there's an airport shuttle that runs on request. A fee of USD 50 one-way applies.

Where is The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar located?

Nestled on the beach, this Dongwe hotel is within 3 mi (5 km) of Dongwe Beach, Bwejuu Beach, and Pingwe Beach. Paje Beach and Michamvi Kae Beach are also within 6 mi (10 km).

The Sands Beach Resort Zanzibar Reviews, Deals & Photos 2025

10/10 Excellent

Cassandra

Aug 20, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Overall this is the perfect getaway! No distractions just the sounds of the ocean and the amazing staff! This is perfect if you want to getaway and truly relax! Options to explore are available. The pool is large and clean. The rooms get serviced twice a day. The bar was definitely my favorite spot!

Stayed 10 nights in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

Janet

Jul 14, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Fabulous stay at this very quiet, clean, secure resort. Very comfortable room. Staff are very attentive. Beautiful beach. Highly relaxing! Really enjoyed the Swahili buffet and music!

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Omar

Aug 4, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

This is by far the best hotel we've stayed in in a long time, probably best ever. The rooms are spacious and spotless clean. Every little detail is thought of. The beds are very comfortable and room service pass by twice a day to clean the room and for turn down. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. Especially Khamis and John who went our of their way to make sure we are comfortable. Food at the restaurant was also lovely and service there amazing. Staff are constantly keeping an eye on the tables, plates are removed the second they're empty, water refilled immediately after drinking etc. Downside here was the entertainment on the Swahili night, the guys were playing more western music. The beach is very pretty, even at low tide which didn't impact our stay much. We swam 2 or 3 times in the ocean. Its not crystal clear water though, expect some sea weed. We weren't disturbed by any beach sellers like we saw on some of the other beaches. Only slight down side is that there isn't much to do nearby at night. We drove one day to Paje and that was fun.

Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Edward

Aug 20, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Very nice, quiet place with a lovely beach and excellent staff. Very good food, too.

Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2024

10/10 Excellent

Elias

Oct 2, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We had such a Wonderful stay at the Sands. Great service and premises!

Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Artur

Sep 30, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The staff at this hotel were incredibly welcoming and helpful throughout our stay. The rooms were immaculate and very comfortable. We also enjoyed the delicious dinner every night.

Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2024

8/10 Good

Jermaine

Dec 23, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Great hotel to stay to escape the busy hustle and bustle lifestyle. It is beautiful and quiet. Food is great. The only crtique i have is there are frequent power outages in the evening. Overall I would visit again.

Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2024

8/10 Good

antonio

Aug 21, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Relaxing on the beach

Quite good stay Excellent food and location on the ocean side Optimum service and very kind personnel

Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2024

10/10 Excellent

Shari

Apr 19, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The service was excellent. Everyone was very friendly and courteous. We really enjoyed our stay here

Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kelly

Mar 3, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We had a marvelous stay. Incredible beach staff went the extra mile always. We cant recommend this destination enough. 5 stars all the way.

Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Meagan

Jul 7, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The Sands was amazing! It was an oasis of beautiful beaches, a large pool, and great food. Highly recommend!

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Oliver

Oct 16, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Nice big villa

We did book a villa with an ocean view. And we got a very nice villa, clean and very comfortable. I would say it’s a bit of wasted money for the ocean view, because the villas are a bit behind the palm trees. But in general very beautiful and nice. Staff is very polite and friendly. Was a good experience.

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kara

Jun 16, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Absolutely stunning. Service beyond amazing. Quiet with gorgeous gardens and beach. Easy access for SCuBA diving. Incredibly friendly staff and felt completely safe with masai warriors guarding the hotel. Food was phenomenal Would absolutely go back.

Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Nasser

Mar 21, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

It's a great hotel, with great staff. Very simple, yet clean and well kept. No TV in the rooms which could be nice as the evenings are quiet with not much activity around the area

Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Esa

May 17, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Excellent experience. Small boutique like hotel with super friendly staff. Thanks Ally & team!

Stayed 5 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Benjamin

Oct 23, 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Amazing!!! All was perfect!!!

All more perfect and better than we can expected! Thanks a lot for making our honeymoon a reality!

Stayed 6 nights in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Bernhard

Jun 14, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

a wonderful place to relaxe. we stil had low season and allmost the whole place for us, fantastic. The best stuff on the island, helpfull, nice, allways trying to forfill every whish. The Sands and the whole team made our vacations to what it was, a dream. Looking forward to be back.

Stayed 18 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Shaarik

Jul 20, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

The Sands is a terrific resort, located on a beautiful beach, with incredible facilities, terrific food, and an amazing staff. Highly recommended. Go Deeper: The Sands Zanzibar Beach Resort is amazing. We stayed here with our two daughters in July 2023 and had an incredible time. This followed a safari on the mainland and then two nights in Stone Town at which point we were ready to relax and enjoy the beach. The Sands was exactly what we needed

10/10 Excellent

Mark

Apr 2, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

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 was cooked there and then and served to your table….in fact the staff even do your toast for you in the morning ! Overall hotel was perfect for our family of 4 including teenagers - if staying I would recommend a rental car to explore the local area, good deals can be found on arrival at the airport, we paid $30 USD a day and rental car company collected from hotel anywhere on the island for $20 USD.

Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Philip

Nov 1, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We had a great stay at the Sands. The staff were amazing, from Mr. Ally the GM to the executive chef and the cooks like Thomas who took care of us. The food was first class - this goes for breakfast right through to dinner. Amazing food and fantastic service. The beach was beautiful, clean and safe. We could not have asked for more. Even the Masai security guards were great! We loved it. Would definitely recommend the Sands in Zanzibar. We'll be back.

Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Miriam

Aug 4, 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We had a great stay here. Loved this quiet place, the friendly employees, the lovely beach and the pool. Our daughter got sick but we got so much help from the staff. We are very greatful! One thing they could do better was the food. Other than that everything was great! Thanks to everyone, especially mr. Ally and the friendly guys in the beach bar.

Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Jenny

Oct 7, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We really enjoyed our stay at the Sands Resort. Each suite is actually a separate bungalow with large, comfortable rooms and wonderful AC. There is an onsite restaurant that serves all day as well as a beach bar that serves snacks/meals during the daytime. It was very relaxing to be able to have all of our meals on the property. The staff were all very friendly and professional. Everything about the staff and property was wonderful. The hotel also offers excursions. The nice thing is that they are private which entailed having a driver and tours that were just for our party. However, I would not recommend doing the "swim with dolphins" excursion because there are too many other boats doing the same thing, and we didn't feel safe going in the water with so many boats moving around quickly to try to bring their passengers close to the dolphins. So, we stayed in the boat. Also, there were no life jackets available, and it was unclear how we would get in/out of the boat without a ladder or rope; the snorkel and other equipment was old, and we didn't get a chance to try the snorkel/mask before going on the water. We also did the Jozani Forest/Butterfly excursion, which was interesting to do to see the monkeys, mangroves, and butterflies, but the price the hotel charged seemed disproportionately higher than the experience merited; please note that I say this without knowing how much the hotel paid the driver to stay with us for several hours and for the forest guide.

Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Wayne

Feb 10, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Outstanding staff and spacious accommodations

Outstanding resort in Nungwi. From the time I arrived until my departure the service was top notch. If there was an issue it was resolved quickly to ensure you had the best possible time at The Sands resort. The gentleman named Ally was like having a vacation angel watching over you to make sure you were enjoying your time there. He constantly checked on us and other guest. We appreciate him for doing so. The food was delicious and each day a different selection of items. There were 2 chefs and both visited out table after dinner on various days. They did a great job. On separate days there was the whole tuna carving station one day and dorado carving stations another day, delicious as well. One of the chefs tried out his recipe for American pancakes on us Sunday morning and this recipe definitely needs to be a permanent part of Sunday breakfast, they were so good. The wait staff was great we had one gentleman a few times and he was great at anticipating our need’s and making dinner a pleasant experience. The beach bartenders were funny and great with the drinks and food service for lunch. The housekeeping staff was also excellent. I had to do some work one day and observed them cleaning the room. I doubt there was a spot missed as they were very focused on making sure the room was refreshed properly. When I return to Zanzibar I’ll split my time between Nungwi and Kendwa. I will definitely revisit The Sands resort in Nungwi. I wish all the staff the very best.

Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2023

8/10 Good

Amanda

Jul 3, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

We recently spent 10 days at The Sands Beach resort. If you want entertainment, night life and things to do this isn’t the place for you. There doesn’t appear to be much on the main road leading to the hotel and the nearest town of any note is Paje a 15 min drive away (taxi $25 return) Here there are lots of bars and restaurants. There was a slight mix up with the transfer the hotel arranged but this was quickly sorted out. We were met with drinks on our arrival and cold towels. Much appreciated as we had 2 long flights. We arrived at the hotel early 10am and were shown straight to our room by Ally, the guest relations manager who goes out of his way to ensure that you have a great stay. The hotel was very quiet probably no more than 5-6 rooms occupancy out of 20 rooms for most of our stay. Our room had been upgraded to a sea view. The rooms themselves are basic but huge. The bedroom consists of a comfortable king size bed with mosquito nets and crisp white sheets, a chair, desk and luggage storage bench. A separate area had a wardrobe, shelf space and a safe. The bathroom was huge, with shower and one sink. There is a water heater but this only sufficient for one shower. The soft furnishings in the rooms need updating they are dingy and old fashioned, plain brown curtains and brown light shades with tassels on. This could easily be improved with some bright colours. Outside you have 2 chairs and a table on the veranda. The rooms are cleaned daily to a good standard. Isaya a

Stayed 10 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Jun 19, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

We visited Sands Beach resort in mid-June for three nights. On the plus side, the staff (including Ally, guest relations manager) was consistently friendly, welcoming, and aimed to please. They were VERY accommodating, allowing a very late checkout with no additional charge, since our unit was not booked the evening of our checkout. The grounds of the resort were quite beautiful too. As was the beautiful pool area. Also the villas were very spacious. The meals were great and the servers were very attentive. They "hovered" a bit too much, but I'm sure they were trained this way. Americans may not appreciate "hovering" quite as much as Europeans. Not sure. Beach bartenders were also wonderful: Hassan and Isaya. Even the massage therapist was terrific! On the negative side: Our villa (and most others, we were told) had no WiFi. This was only available at the pool, restaurant or beach. The villa had very low lighting. Ally did offer to change to brighter bulbs but we opted not to bother them. Also the cabinet doors in the kitchen were all broken. We didn't need these cabinets but this issue was easy to spot by routine housekeeping, so they may have a limited repair budget. Finally, the resort would occasionally have power issues. They have their own generator when the local utility goes out, but if it ran too long, they might need to shut down ALL the WiFi. This happened just once or twice. Normally, the WiFi in the public areas was great.

Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023

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