The Top 14 Hotels Near Be Zanzibar Boutique Hotel

Polished concrete walls, natural wood, and layers of woven straw give the rooms a texture that makes the neutral palette feel earned rather than generic. This boutique hotel sits on Zanzibar's East-South Coast, a few minutes from Jambiani, in the patch of shoreline that kitesurfers and slow-travel types have quietly claimed. Bungalows and suites come with private terraces or plunge pools, the restaurant leans into seafood and plants with a Mediterranean drift, and yoga classes happen poolside.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

On Zanzibar's quieter southeastern shore, eleven roomy villas face white sand and private pools, with freestanding outdoor tubs tucked discreetly into the tropics. The spa leans into locally sourced seaweed, coconut, and island spices, while the bar progression runs from beach cocktails to a rooftop champagne perch at sunset. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key. A watersports center on site doubles as a gentle hint about the kitesurfing conditions outside.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

A 500-foot jetty stretches into the Indian Ocean from this sprawling resort on Zanzibar's southwest coast, pulling double duty as a watersports launchpad by day and a sundowner perch once the light goes gold. The 66 standalone villas mix African, Omani, and European details, each with a private pool, floor-to-ceiling doors, and an outdoor shower tucked into its own courtyard. The lagoon is warm and clear enough to swim straight from the beach.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended

Coral limestone walls built from material quarried on the island give this small boutique resort on Zanzibar's south coast a texture you want to run your hands across. Raw concrete, local textiles, and wooden furniture do the rest. A dramatic staircase drops straight into clear Indian Ocean water below the infinity pool. The team behind it pulled in architects from Mumbai and Auckland, and it shows in the best possible, unhypey way.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Nine villas tucked into coastal forest on Zanzibar's east shore, each with a private pool and a personal butler on call. The architecture pulls from Arab and African traditions rather than the blank-slate international style that follows resort developers everywhere, so the place feels grounded in the island it's on. You could spend several days without leaving your compound, and guests often do, until the beach or the restaurant eventually wins.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

The plunge pools come standard in the one-bedroom villas, which sets the tone for this small, handmade boutique resort on Zanzibar's east coast. An infinity pool anchors the days, mobile spa treatments can find you wherever you've settled, and the restaurant pulls from Swahili, Indian, Thai, and Japanese kitchens in the same meal. Excursions run from snorkeling to dolphin swims to Jozani Forest hikes, so leaving the pool is, occasionally, rewarded.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Thatched roofs, jungle pressing in on three sides, and the Indian Ocean filling the rest of the view: this boutique resort on Kiwengwa's northeast coast feels genuinely removed from everything, which is rather the point. Rooms mix local crafts with modern fixtures, the terrace serves a Mediterranean-Swahili menu at sunset, and the diving offshore is serious enough to anchor a whole trip. The Michelin Guide has it among its Selected Hotels.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Eleven rooms in three centuries-old buildings on a pedestrian lane in Stone Town's ancient Kasbah, each one packed with a lifetime of antiques under high timbered ceilings. This small hotel was once an aristocratic home, and it still feels like one. A courtyard garden restaurant sits below; a rooftop Tea House above, where the evening begins with sundowners over the Stone Town skyline and moves into a five-course tasting menu.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

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.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A 14-room boutique hotel in the heart of Stone Town, The Neela was put together by interior designer Nelly Levin using local materials and Zanzibari craft, with the result feeling grounded rather than themed. Bronze fixtures and crisp linens keep the rooms from tipping into fussiness. The rooftop is where candlelit cocktails meet the cooler end of the day, a useful gear-change after Stone Town's dense, layered streets below.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Whitewashed arches and carved Swahili detailing make the architecture feel earned rather than decorative at this Indian Ocean resort on Zanzibar's northeast coast. Ninety suites spread through tropical gardens, most with terraces or balconies, and an infinity pool and Healing Earth spa face the water directly. At dawn, local women tend seaweed gardens along the shoreline, which does more to set the scene than any welcome drink could.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

On the northeast shore of Nungwi, where the water turns that implausible turquoise, Essque Zalu Zanzibar is a luxury resort of suites and villas arranged for real privacy. The staff here call themselves Navigators, a nod to the island's trading past, and they handle everything from reef dives to spa bookings with a discretion that almost feels old-fashioned. The Jetty bar, perched over the water, does live music and hookah until leaving feels genuinely rude.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels