What happened to me at Spice Palace Hotel, Soko Muhogo in Zanzibar is something I would not wish on my greatest enemy, let alone any traveller.
I was robbed, and not by a random stranger (these things happen) but by the very people entrusted with my safety.
This isn’t a minor complaint or a petty inconvenience, it’s a violation, and
if you’re considering on staying there, you need to read this.
My husband and I checked in on 19 February 2025. We were given Room 302, which had a safe.
A Masai man escorted us to the room. He pointed out the safe, which was already open, entered some code, and then asked me to input mine.
I had to ask him to step aside so I could do it privately. At the time, I found it strange that he asked
me to put in my code, without the courtesy or the privacy reserved for someone using a sensitive PIN number.
In hindsight, I should have trusted my instincts—been more suspicious, more guarded. But who
expects to be robbed by the very people meant to host them?
We checked out on 26 February 2025, heading to Villa Serenity in Paje. When we arrived at our new hotel and I opened the envelope I had securely kept in the safe, I was dismayed to discover that $300—money entrusted to me for a recently bereaved who had lost a spouse—and £200 were missing.
I immediately called the tour guide who had booked us into Spice Palace Hotel. He was genuinely apologetic and promised to speak to the manager on my behalf.Later, he informed me that he had spoken to the manager, given him my number, and that the
manager said he would call me.
He never did!
Not even a missed call. Not a text. Nothing.
And before anyone tries to make excuses—I had a local SIM. A call would’ve cost him practically nothing.
But even if I didn`t have a loocal simard—basic decency would still demand a response. An apology. A show of
concern. Anything. That’s what customer care is. That’s what human decency looks like.But I got none of it.
I was ignored. Dismissed. Neglected.
I wonder doesn t the hotel have CCTV in the corridors? ( This is expected of any hotel which priotizes safety)
Not a follow-up. Not even the
pretense of investigating the theft.
I doubt if the manger investigeted from the staff who had the means to access my room and what is supposed to be a secure safe?
The only person who showed any concern was our tour guide, Mr Hassan Kalinga. He followed up
with me several times to see if the manager had made contact. He kept his word, always showed up on time, and genuinely cared.
He deserves all my thanks. If you ever need a tour guide in Stone
Town Zanzibar, I highly recommend him. (Tel.
+255 655 226)
As for Spice Palace Hotel—stay there at your own risk.
I’ve already warned someone from the mainland who was planning to stay there, and I’ll keep warning others.
The staff i the roof top restaurant were nice, so if youn plan to popp in for a meal, go ahead, but to stay in the room and use the SAFE, o it on your own risk.
Our stay at Villa Serenity was a relief. The manager, Mr Faida, was kind and helpful.
Sadly we weren’t able to visit all the places we’d planned in Paje because of the money stolen from us at Spice Palace Hotel.
It was our 30th wedding anniversary and I informed the hotel of this when I booked our room - a double beach front room. When we arrived, the greeting was excellent but our room was very disappointing, Number 9 was sandwiched between two 'honeymoon' suites and was very inferior. The mosquito nets had holes in them, there was. no 'woven wardrobe' as stated in the description, just a rail with a few shelves. there was no plug in the wash hand basin and the bathroom surfaces were stained and cracked. It did not resemble the photos on the website at all.
I cannot fault the staff or the location of the hotel. The food was good and the beach
lovely. The Masai on the beach were a continual presence but sometimes you felt that you couldn't just walk on the beach without being pestered.