Emerson on Hurumzi

Rooms at this small Stone Town hotel come with open-air bathtubs, ornate tiled floors, and the Zanzibar night pouring in whether you invited it or not, including the morning call to prayer. That's not a design flaw; it's the whole thesis. The rooftop restaurant looks out over old-town rooftops to the Indian Ocean, which at sunset is exactly as good as it sounds. A Michelin Selected Hotel, and a long way from anywhere ordinary.

One honor, in evidence: