Exclusive use
The maths works from about six, as it does everywhere
Below that a small beach hotel is the better buy, and almost nobody runs the comparison.
What you are taking
A whole house — typically four to ten beds — with its own staff, a cook, a housekeeper and a pool, for your party alone. Some come with a driver; most will arrange one.
The change is not the square footage. It is that every decision belongs to your group: when to eat, whether anybody dresses for dinner, whether the children swim at seven in the morning, and what is in the fridge.
The arithmetic
A villa is priced whole, so the per-head cost falls as the party grows. Somewhere around six people it crosses the cost of the same party in hotel rooms, and above eight it is frequently a clear saving — while also buying a cook and a house.
| Party size | Usually better |
|---|---|
| 2 | A small beach hotel |
| 4 | A small beach hotel, or a villa out of season |
| 6 | Genuinely close — price both |
| 8–10 | A villa, on cost and on everything else |
Where they are
More on some coasts than others. The north and north-east have the widest choice; the east and south-east have fewer and they tend to be simpler; the west has some very good ones near Stone Town.
Which means the coast question and the villa question interact: if you need a specific coast and a villa for ten, the list is short and it books early.
What to check
- What staff are included, and whether the cook shops for you or you shop and they cook. Both arrangements exist.
- What the house actually sleeps, as against what it advertises. A "ten-bed" villa is sometimes eight beds and a sofa.
- Whether food is in the rate, which varies enormously — some quote a villa rate plus a food budget, some are fully catered.
- Air conditioning in every bedroom, or only in some, which matters a great deal in the hot months.
- How far to anywhere. A villa with no walkable restaurant and no driver is a taxi every evening.
- Generator cover, since mains power is not always reliable and a house without a generator is a house without a fan at three in the morning.
Who it suits
Families, particularly with small children — meals when children are hungry, a pool nobody minds being splashed in, and no other guests to consider.
Groups of friends, where the house becomes the holiday. And multi-generational parties, for the same reason they work everywhere: three generations have three body clocks and a hotel has one.
Who it does not
Couples, on cost, unless it is out of season and the villa is small. And anybody who would rather have a hotel’s staff, restaurant and other guests than a house’s privacy — which is a perfectly reasonable preference and is not the one villas are sold to.
Ready to turn this into a real itinerary?
Send us your dates, who is travelling and roughly what you want to spend per person per night. Our Zanzibar specialist comes back within 24 hours with a plan built around them and a costed quote.