AVO Boutique Hotel

The rooms face the water. AVO Boutique Hotel sits on the beach at Uroa, on Zanzibar's east coast, where private terraces look straight out over Uroa Bay. Each room mixes traditional Zanzibari decor with plainer modern comforts: air conditioning, Wi-Fi, a terrace to sit on. The restaurant and bar carry the same view out over the water, open for meals and a drink through the day. Outside, a pool and a stretch of private beach give guests somewhere to settle without leaving the grounds. A fitness centre covers the days guests want to move rather than float. Uroa Bay and its local markets lie a short distance off, easy enough to reach on foot or by a quick ride. The hotel also arranges tours further afield: paddleboarding and dolphin trips, a full-day sail out to Prison Island and its sandbank, snorkelling at Mnemba Atoll, and excursions inland to Stone Town and the spice farms. It is a compact stay, built around the beach rather than around the island's busier resort strips, with a restaurant kitchen and front desk that both work at a personal, almost family scale.