Editor Pick
Sultan Chic at the Beyt al Chai/Stone Town Inn
- August 2, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
midtownmjd from New York, New York
Beyt al Chai (or the Stone Town Inn, as it’s also called) looks and feels like I’d hoped my Zanzibar hotel would. It’s a grand, old house with six open-air rooms decked out with rich, jewel-toned silk pillows and curtains; carved-wood, four-poster beds with mosquito nets; and a common room with oversized couches and exotic hookahs. The attention to detail is impressive, with beautiful Omani-style touches everywhere you look.
The hotel is located in Kelele Square, a 4,000-schilling taxi ride from the ferry port and a wonderful location to use as a Stone Town base. It’s quietly beautiful, in a crumbling sort of way, but it’s safe and just far enough removed from the center of town that there aren’t street touts to dodge. The leafy square is lined with small hotels and a mosque from which the call to prayer emanates five times each day. It’s a fitting atmosphere for the exotic Beyt al Chai and I felt very comfortable there.
When we arrived, Sophie at reception was expecting us and greeted us by name. It turned out that my friend and I were the hotel’s only guests that night, so although we’d reserved the Beyt al Dahl room (the hotel’s cheapest option), she told us to choose our favorite room but still pay the Beyt al Dahl price (about US$75 per person). We chose one that promptly sprung a toilet leak, so we headed to room #2: Beyt al Hukm. It was much like the others: big and grand, with two different beds and a bathroom pairing modern amenities with traditional Arabic style (my journal reads, "sultan simple chic"). There was even a hairdryer.
At 6pm, the staff preps the rooms for the night, drawing the shutters and curtains, turning down the sheets, letting down the mosquito nets, and spraying for mosquitoes. The hotel’s small staff is wonderful—casual but accommodating (which generally sums up service in Zanzibar and Tanzania). The hotel also employs a Masai guard, Paul, who is unfailingly polite and helpful as well.
The other fabulous thing about Beyt al Chai is its restaurant. We ate two meals there and were the only guests each time (because we were the hotel’s only guests, but also because Zanzibar was empty in general due to some power problems earlier in the month). The food is absolutely delicious, and the service wonderful as well. For lunch, I had penne in an olive-oil sauce with wild mushrooms and roasted red peppers, and it was as perfectly al dente and seasoned as any pasta I’ve ever had. My friend had an Indian-style coconut-chicken soup that was just as good. And because it’s Zanzibar, the spices—even just black pepper—are awesome, and the coffee is strong and delicious.
Breakfast the next morning was almost as good: mango-papaya juice; fresh fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya, banana, and passion fruit); toast, bread, and butter cookies; and omelets. And, of course, that great coffee. Our server was chatty but endearing (and probably bored), wanting to exchange email addresses and asking a lot of questions about the US.
After breakfast, we paid for our room, checked out, and left our bags in the front office for free so we could explore some more before catching our afternoon boat back to Dar es Salaam. In truth, I was ready to leave Stone Town by then, but I was sad to leave the Beyt al Chai and vowed to send anyone heading to Zanzibar to this charming hotel. It's not cheap, but it's comparable to most Zanzibar hotels, and you'd pay much more for the experience at home—if you could find something half as lovely.
From journal Tanzania from 0 to 19,340 Feet