Bellissimo Boutique Hotel

Breakfast was nice, but without much variety. There was a choice of fruits and vegetables, croissants, toast etc. No cheese. You order eggs, sausages, bacon etc from the staff and they bring them. Sitting on the rooftop to have breakfast in the morning is a very pleasant experience, with a view to the sea and over the rooftops of Stone Town. The staff were super friendly and helpful. The hotel itself is beautiful, including very nice design concepts. The bed was very comfortable. The location is a good one, as far as Stone Town is concerned. Most of the town is comprised of narrow alleys, on one of which the hotel is located. But this one is just a short walk from the seaside promenade and the car park where you will be picked up by car if you arrange an excursion for yourself. Some other hotels are much deeper into the mesh of alleys.

One thing that stood out in our room was a lack of storage space - no closet, no shelves, no hooks... nowhere to put anything. There was a rail with some clothes hangers, to be fair, but nothing else. We spent 5 nights in the hotel and lived out of our suitcases on the floor, but the room was big enough to enable this comfortably. They provide good quality toiletries - shower gel, shampoo etc. However, space to store them near the sink is limited. By a sort of rustic design, the sink in the bathroom rests on a surface of rough waterproofed plaster, nice to look at but impractical. The bottles are made of glass and the floor is stone. There was always the worry of a bottle not sitting properly on the rough surface, falling and smashing. None did, but it was always a balancing act. They should put up some shelves. It's simple and cheap to do. Like other boutique hotels in Stone Town, the hotel is basically a beautifully refurbished old building 4 stories tall, with a rooftop restaurant. There is no lift. So take into consideration that you need to be fit enough to do quite a bit of up and down on the stairs. That's probably the same in other, similar hotels in the area. We were in a room in the front of the building. Take into consideration that it can be quite noisy at times. Closed windows do a reasonable job at keeping the noise down, but not completely. There were sometimes loud activities in the alley below, well into the night. It didn't bother us much, but may bother some people. The rear facing rooms are less prone, and also have a balcony, which the front facing rooms don't.

Central location, nice design, súper friendly and helpful staff

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The staff is very friendly and helpful

Nothing

The staff were very friendly and there were thoughtful touches in the room! The shower was quite strong.

The staircase was noisy, due to poor sound insulation. It was only noticeable in the early morning. The location is a quiet area and people may feel uncomfortable at night walking as result. The provide breakfast is quite basic.