Karafuu Beach Resort & Spa

כפיר אונגר

Thanks to Karafuu Beach Resort & Spa I will always look back at Zanzibar with a smile. The hotel is location was perfect in my opinion. beautiful beach looking eastward to the ocean with turquoise water that blends breathtakingly with the sand and pine trees. The hotel is not that far from the airport and is relatively close to the main attractions. The crew is amazingly kind with smiles all around, trying their best to speak to me in my native language as much as possible. The pools are fun, the gym equipment is brand new and there tennis courts. The Scuba Diving team took me on a great scuba session and I've got to see quite a lot. I had a great massage at the spa. Thanks to the excursions team we received the best safari experience I could ever imagine and also a great trip to Salaam Cave. I (24) came with my parents (50) and brother (18) and we had a great time. Few important notes: The hotel was built in the 70's, it's maintained well but don't expect brand modernity Zanzibar is a low-resources island which means the food in the hotel is good but limited, it isn't gourmet. We arrived during the low season so the hotel was at 20% capacity, because of that there weren't a lot of staff (not that we needed more), there were some constructions and the some areas in the hotel felt abandoned. The weather was perfect though, just some rain but mostly sunny. Several crew members I'd like to positively point out: Dennis, Julio, Muhammad.

Noi 2

Thank you to the entire hotel team! You are wonderful people – always smiling, friendly, and kind. You helped us have an unforgettable vacation. The food was good, the service impeccable, and the cleanliness outstanding. The location is also very good, with a beautiful garden and offering a breathtaking view and easy access for different activities. Everything was about relaxation, surrounded by warmth, smiles, and kind words. A heartfelt thank you! Asante! Room kumi.

MM MM

The hotel is in a beautiful garden in the beach. Even when the tide is out on the beach, the pier is long and at the end of the pier there is a beautiful lagoon for swimming. The hotel has 3 swimming pools. My stay in the hotel was wonderful. I think such a beautiful place deserves modernization.

Jacob S. Laursen

The hotel is beautifully located by the beach. It is almost a lavish setting, and it is clear that a lot has been done to create a lovely atmosphere. We lived in a beach house with a perfect location right down on the beach where we could sit on a covered terrace and enjoy the view. The tide means that you can only swim for a limited time and before you reach the sea you have to fight your way through 10-20 of the village's local vendors who want to sell souvenirs and excursions. Fortunately, they stay on the beach because of the hotel guards. The hotel staff is constantly working hard to create a good atmosphere and service. They are incredibly friendly. Behind the facade, however, lurks a hidden reality. They work up to 16 hours every single day. This cracks the glossy image and I couldn't help but get a bad taste in my mouth when I found out. I have enormous respect for their efforts and correspondingly little for the hotel's owners and management. When you are at the hotel, there are no alternative restaurants or other service options nearby. Therefore, you are forced to use the hotel's services, and the owner knows that. We had booked all inclusive and I must warn that it is far from everything that is all inclusive. They should instead call it: Allmost inclusive or All exclusive. It's laughable. Not even an ice cream can be had without paying several dollars. Pasta costs extra in the pizza restaurant and in the fish restaurant, nothing is included and everything is priced high. Even the house wine is expensive, but free elsewhere. Excursions cost double what the locals sell them for on the beach and there is no difference in quality. A taxi also costs twice as much as e.g. booking.com and was both ways a run-down car where the seat belts and air conditioning did not work. If you run out of dollars, you can withdraw money at the reception, but the hotel charges 15% for the service. Even when you have to pay the final bill, the hotel takes 15% if you don't pay in cash. I am left with an ambivalent feeling. The staff get top marks and the owner's policy and exploitation get not so much.

Radka Lopomo

Stayed 15 nights in January 2025, and had the best time. Our room was located in the Bondemi area, furthest from the beach and closest to the road, which I was initially worried about - but it turned out to be the quietest place. Despite the room being close to a pool, we hardly heard any noise from either the pool or road, and it was indeed a good relaxing place to stay. As for the room, ours was spacious - we had a massive bed with protection against mosquitos, an extra bed for one, small corner with a table and chair, mini fridge, large bathroom with shower (big enough for two :-)), toilet and a small halfway with open wardrobe and safe. There is really nothing we really missed in the room, as we stayed there only to sleep. I appreciated the twice-daily housekeeping - first mid-day to clean the room, and second around 19.30 to prepare your bed for sleeping, out the mosquito nets and spray the room against bugs - much appreciated. The room was always tidy and clean. The only small complaint would be that the bed mattress was not super comfy - but that's my personal preference, my husband on the other hand considered it super comfy. The hotel has 4 restaurants - main restaurants, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served (if you have All inclusive, or Half-board) - opened air and inside with fans, Massai restaurant, fully open air, opened only Monday and Friday, pizza restaurant and seafood restaurant at the beach. We visited all of them during our stay, with mixed reviews. Safe to say, that this is not like a delicious cuisine. It's a hotel restaurant buffet style cooking. The main restaurant was weakest - food was a bit bland, not always best stocked and repetitive. It was however always fresh!!! I am a difficult person to please when it comes to food, so please don't take me too seriously - food will keep you fed and healthy, there is plenty of veggies and fruit - mainly the fruit was a star for me. Massai restaurant was great! Loved the open fire, loved the cooking and more local flavours - wish it was opened more often! Pizza was sad - but again, I'm difficult to please, used to eat Napolitan style pizza. Beach seafood - overpriced and boring. When it came to facilities, there were 3 pools, we frequented 2 - in our Bondemi area and main pool. Main pool is busy and noisy, here and there also the water quality suffers. But it's nice enough. Bondemi pool, next to the pizza restaurant is much more chill and quiet, also with less people - ideal. And on a windy day, there is hardly any wind, Big plus! There is also a gym and a conference room, plenty of small stores (jewelry, cosmetic products, beach stuff, clothes...), kids areas... Plenty to do, without being too busy or annoying. And the best. BEACH! We really loved the beach beds with mattresses, there are maybe 10 of them scattered around the resort, we managed to score one almost every day. The regular sunbeds are plenty and you ALWAYS find plenty to choose from - the only place that gets busy is around the main pool. The beach is clean, with the softest sand possible. What I appreciated most is the access to water. As the tides are a huge deal, having a paved path to a small Laguna is an absolute advance - it's the only access to water during the low tide on the entire beach, unless you want to jump over rocks and corals with plenty of urchins. The laguna is with the soft sand again, no urchins anymore. The beach is absolutely fantastic! I really also liked the surrounding gardens - they provide nice shade and keep me happy. Overall, there are small things to improve - but nothing really serious. It's a lovely place to stay for a vacation and we'll be happy to come back!