The Zanzibar Beach House-North

I love the location and the set up of the cabins

The running water is way too salty and not quite friendly for domestic use.

The ocean view is absolutely perfect. The unit we stayed in is small and cozy, and we have never stayed in a place as unique as this. The balcony overlooks the beach and ocean. The host was very professional, and gave us the answers to everything we needed. We will be coming back again to stay longer

We liked everything about this place

A shipping container converted into a beach house. In the middle of nowhere. Far from roads, shops, restaurants. You can only use one electronic device at a time. Either you cook, or you watch TV or you let the AC run. The tap water contains salt and leaves your skin sticky after showering. You need to clean and change the bed linen yourself. Or pay for cleaning. If you want to get by taxi anywhere on the partially horrible roads, you pay another room’s price each time. But if all this does not disturb you, you will enjoy your “tiny home” out of which you can literally jump into the ocean at high tide. Or take a morning stroll at low tide. And get nourished by the elements. 🌍💨🔥💦📿Where the beach is so forlorn and far from any settlement that you will not be disturbed by the usual crowd of merchants. You will watch the seabirds catch their breakfast and the crabs clear out their tunnels every day. The owner Mikhail will be in constant contact with you and will come up for your requests. Tersem (the janitor) is always on site so you will feel safe and get lots of your requests met. If it had not been for them (and my husband who is a local Zanzibari man) I would have felt VERY lost there. And would have run away after a day.

We were there in the rainy season and we suffered a lot from the dampness. We were sweating at night. Since we could not leave the windows open because the rain was coming into the room. The AC was either directed onto our bodies or it was not much help either. The floor was also constantly damp and VERY slippery (therefore dangerous). The clothes I washed did not dry in a week. And the shoes (and everything else that I did not use) got mouldy (!) in a couple of days. The bathroom (I suppose the whole container) is misaligned. The water does not run down but stays in the tray. Rather disgusting. Same for the whole bathroom. If there is water on the floor, it will not run down the drain but out into the lobby. All in all. The whole house does not breathe. Therefore we think that such a metal box is NOT suitable for a beach-house. We were in another place (stone building) for a night during our stay and there EVERYTHING was normal. I hope the owner takes these comments to heart and does something that will help not only to catch but to keep his customers.