ABOUT BALADIN ZANZIBAR BEACH HOTEL
Baladin Zanzibar Beach Hotel & restaurant is a boutique resort located on the southeast coastline of Zanzibar in the town named Pingwe, just a couple of meters from the most famous restaurant in Zanzibar – THE ROCK RESTAURANT. You’ve probably heard of it.
The hotel is situated in a quiet and idyllic location surrounded by turquoise tropical waters, palm trees and a white sandy shoreline. It is a very popular and well known hotel in Zanzibar for a good reason. People simply enjoy and love staying at Baladin … and so did we!
The hotel is designed in a very modern but yet very traditional way. We totally adore the concept of this kind of style. It is very similar to the style of the hotels in Tulum, Mexico, which we had the chance to explore earlier this year.
The “blueprint” (layout) of the resort looks like some kind of a small tribe village. I don’t know how to describe it better. It is really magical and we loved the vibe of it so much! It felt like we were on some paradise retreat! You really have to see it yourself to feel the same way! 🙂
SUITES AND BUNGALOWS
The resort consists of only 8 bungalows and 4 suites which together can host 20-40 people maximum. Therefore it is very peaceful and secluded. You know that we always search for places exactly like this one!
We stayed at their beautiful spacious two-storey bungalows with a traditional makuti palmed roof which can host up to 4 people and we totally fell in love with it! It was love at first sight 🙂 . Each of the bungalows has its own name and our was named Giza. Even though they all look the same, we really loved our Giza bungalow because it was the only one that had a huge tree with beautiful pink/red flowers in front which I am totally in love with. Coincidence?! I don’t think so! 🙂
On the top level there is a four-poster double bed with a fan and a window with a view out to the ocean. On the ground floor there are 2 single beds and an open-air bathroom which by now you might already know we are totally obsessed with! If we lived in a tropical place, open bathroom would be my first demand! It is so beautiful how it connects you with the nature.
Each bungalow also has its own terrace with lounging beds and a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean.
On the other hand, the suite is made of en-suite air-conditioned bedroom with a double and single bed and an en-suite bathroom complete with a large bathtub with vintage bronze style fittings. We would love to stay at their suite next time we visit Zanzibar just to compare the differences.
GASTRONOMY
Baladin Zanzibar Beach Hotel offers on-site restaurant which is run by a talented French chef. The food is really delicious and we can recommend you to stop by even if you are not staying at the hotel, as the restaurant is also opened to the public.
Some of you might know that BALADIN was firstly “born” as a brewery of Italian crafted beer and that’s something very special about its restaurant. It offers and serves a large variety of craft beer and many other special drinks. On their menu, next to each dish there is a picture of a suggested beer/drink that goes best with that specific meal. We found it very cool and thoughtful. We really enjoyed trying all of their special drinks and we can say that some of them we had never tried before. A tip for non alcoholic drinks – try their Cedrata and Mela Zen soft drinks.
As the Baladin brewery originally comes from Italy, aside from the local cuisine, they also offer many Italian dishes which you can imagine we enjoyed very much!
Breakfast is included in the price of the room and it was delicious! They can be served as continental, a la carte or vegetarian breakfast. You have many options to choose from so you won’t be eating the same thing every day.
Next to the restaurant there is a table on the beach with swinging chairs. We really enjoyed having our meals here and we can recommend you to do the same. It’s a very cool seating that we haven’t seen anywhere else.
FACILITIES
They really played with the designs of their lounging areas. You can choose between so many relaxing setups starting from a “swinging bed” to a “hanging egg” (those are obviously names we gave them 🙂 ). This was one our our favourite thing about this hotel – countless possibilities to relax.
Another one of our favourite facilities is the infinity pool! It is shaped in an eye form just like their logo and it is hanging on a small hill over the beach. You can swim and chill here while you watch the ocean tides change. We loved spending time here so much! Especially early in the morning it is the best place to watch the sunrise from. YOU CAN’T MISS IT.
Another great thing is that they offer a private jacuzzi time! You can book a 1h time slot for 7,5USD/person (15USD/couple) and have it all to yourself. It is hidden in a small cabana behind the bungalows in a private secluded place. Such a cool experience!
If you would like to do something more “sporty” after relaxing all day, you can rent their transparent kayak and head on an ocean adventure! Transparent kayaks are so amazing! You really get to see everything that’s underneath you, all the beautiful marine life! It’s a must thing to do!
The hotel also offers many tours that you can book via them for example: Mnemba island, Jozani Forest, Spice tour, Stone town and others. You have the brochure with all the excursions, activities and its prices directly in your bungalow/suite.
They can also arrange a transportation for you if you need to go to the airport or if you are switching hotels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Staying at Baladin Zanzibar Beach Hotel was very special to us because it was very unique and different from all the other hotels we stayed at in Zanzibar! As we already said, we were totally charmed by the traditional modern style and the layout of the entire resort.
A big thank you deserves also the entire personnel of the hotel! They were always very kind and helpful and made our stay unforgettable! You might not realise it at first but it has a huge impact on your holidays when the staff is welcoming and they make you feel at home! 🙂
If you are planning on visiting more of Tanzania, check out our safari blog post about the most beautiful and luxury safari camp in the Ruaha National Park: http://borntotraveldiaries.com/asanja-ndembo-the-most-beautiful-safari-lodge-in-ruaha-national-park-tanzania/
We highly recommend you to go check out our instagram @borntotraveldiaries where we shared the best moments of our visit, all the videos we couldn’t share on this blog post. Check out our story highlights Zanzibar and Zanzibar II and also the videos/reels and pictures on our feed.
We hope this blog post was helpful to you and you are gonna have a great time staying at Baladin Beach Hotel Zanzibar. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below or contact us via email or even better via Instagram @borntotraveldiaries. Thank you for your time and stay tuned for our next diary page 🙂
