Name: Dolphin Safari Lodge
Address: Dolphin Safari Lodge, Kizimkazi, Kizimkazi, Kizimkazi, 2527, Tanzania
Rating: 8

Restaurant

Meals

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At the hotel

Zanzibar International Airport

Julius Nyerere International Airport

Dolphin Safari Lodge

Nice place for relaxing close to the nature , good food and many excursions like mangrove trip , dolphins tour , pic nique on sand bank, trip to the forest with monkeys.Kizimkazi is a small fishermen village .Zanzibar .Clear water.

Superb location, awesome views of sunset, great choice on day trips .. Run by great people, Astrid & Patrick, who practically take care of every single detail 💕 Beautifully decorated rooms with plenty of space . Last but not least, delicious meals prepared by Patrick and his staff 💫 Looking forward to our next visit 🙏🏻

Quiet spot with nice beach, Astrid was very kind and helpful during our stay. Dinner was very tasty, but unfortunately too late for us (around 8 P.M. - maybe an alternative dinner time around 6.30 would be nice). Therefore we went to the nearby Culture Village for dinner, which was also great. Wifi is weak and slow, but the tranquility and beauty of the lodge compensates that. All in all, we had great time at Dolphin Safari Lodge, and would most likely book again. 

Kizimkazi

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ROBINSON CRUSOE PLACE

Paradise found ..

Peaceful spot in Zanzibar

We traveled to the Dolphin Lodge as a rather large group.

The standard of the hotel was, considering the price, satisfying. Our room was clean, the bed was comfortable, but there were frequent power outages due to Tanzanian infrastructure, and the floor of the bathroom was at a slight angle, so none of the water actually went down the drain but rather flooded the floor and drained in a corner underneath the sink. Also regarding the showers, the water is salty and is warmed by the sun, so therefore I would not advise to take a late night shower unless you are comfortable with cold showers.

As for the owner, he was a man that for the life of him did not own a shred of decency. He often berated employees within earshot and view of the guests. At one point I overheard him dismissing the bartender in a rude fashion over a minor disagreement. 
In another instance, one of my fellow travelers had been locked out of their room by housekeeping upon returning at night. They had not requested room service, as per the agreement, and had left their door unlocked with the key inside but when they returned and found the door locked and requested to get the door open the owner took no responsibility, but instead laid all blame on them. Not professional. 

Ahead of the departure we were given the bill, and the opportunity to go through our orders at both the bar and the resturant. There were many mistakes in the summaries of the bill, and two of my fellow travelers were listed for a cost almost 50% higher than what they actually had purchased. I advise to go through the bill carefully.
During our departure there was an issue with the credit card terminal caused by Tanzanian infrastructure, and due to promises from the owner that we could pay by card we didn't initially have enough cash to pay everything upfront, the owner was not solution oriented, and would not listen when we tried to ask about payments online or invoices. He interrupted us and raised his voice at many occasions, and even threatened to call the police as one of my fellow tried to ask further about online payment. Luckily we had other fellow travelers at the nearby Promised Land Lodge who had enough cash to cover our bar/restaurant bill. 

All in all I would NOT recommend this hotel, and I hope Patrick the owner reconciders how he handles disagreements and how he manages his staff. If it wasn't for the lovely staff the week we spendt at the Dolphin Lodge would have been a disaster.

Arrogant owner, but nice staff.

Liked · The support staff were very friendly
The view was very nice
The food at dinner was good

Disliked · Bungalow #5 - The bed linens, mosquito netting were absolutely gross! Many many disgusting stains! When the linens were changed it was minimally better. The so-called bathroom in our tent was dark, smelly and disgusting. The shower, toilet and bowl for a sink (which you empty into the toilet or shower drain) are all in the one room. The shower drain in the middle of the bathroom was the highest point in the floor and the water drained everywhere else but down the drain. We spent our days enjoying the view and warm weather.  We dreaded the nights and having to sleep in the "bungalow".  We booked the lodging and it was to have breakfast included for the 2 of us. When we arrived the owner asked if we could speak French. We said no. She then proceeded to point to an area on the printed booking form (which was in French) and told us that it said breakfast was NOT included. She said there had been some kind of mistake and it was not possible to have breakfast included at the price we had booked and paid for through Booking.com. She then said that we should make it fair and split it and pay for 1 of our 2 breakfasts. What were we to do? We were in the middle of nowhere with nowhere else to go! We felt that we needed to just agree and carry on. But in hindsight I am pretty sure that what she pointed out to us (written in French) did NOT say what she said it did. I believe it said that the breakfast was non-refundable not that it wasn’t included. I feel we were lied to. Very bad taste in our mouth from this place and owners. I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy.  We also found that they placed their own review on their own resort giving themselves 5 stars. Don’t believe it!! Yes, the price we paid was cheap but other places we stayed in while in Africa where cheap too and were much better! Please if you are considering staying here, even if it is cheap, be warned!!! We told you so!!

Would never return nor recommend to even my worst enemy!

At the beginning we were quite happy about the Dolphin Lodge. We had a nice welcome fruit shake the beach was looking like on the pictures and the team seemed quite friendly. After 30 minutes everything changed. Our „luxury bungalow“ was ready to move in. To describe that room is impossible. Kind of a canvas with a shower in the middle of the room that was completely dark. We complained because we had booked a bungalow. After several discussions we had a bungalow. In principle the same situation the only difference was that the „shower“ was in a seperated bath room. There is a good reason why there are no pictures from the rooms in the advertisement. To be honest we had the opportunity to have a look in another canvas from a german couple. That was ok but not the level you would expect for roughly 80 dollars per night. 
There was nothing good there. The breakfast 7 dollars for each person was half an egg horrible sausages burned bread jam and coconut butter with an horrible instant coffee and some fruits. The dinner the same, one evening chicken barbecue, next evening chicken paella and the third evening chicken curry. The 4th evening the chicken barbecue was gone and the „restaurant“ closed. We left after a few nights because no room service, most of the time no electricity horrible breakfast and food. The relationship with them didn‘t end because we had a tour that I paid cash and I hadn‘t a receipt. My failure. So permanently emails because of the money. We spent 5 horrible nights there paid 10 nights and they started an argument about 40 or 50 dollars I had already paid but no receipt.
There are 2 or 3 canvas that are looking like the pictures. If you like that and if you don‘t expect any service you are right there.

Dolphin Safari Lodge

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