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Shangani House |
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Shangani House is a small Hotel, run like a private house, for those who want to immerse themselves in Stone Town, who enjoy the noise of the children playing in the courtyard below, who appreciate the sound of the mosque and the cockerel at dawn.
Shangani is a totally restored traditional coral stone merchant's house in the heart of Stone town only 200 yards from the sea. The House, which is a traditional coral stone merchant's House has been beautifully restored by Nigel Brown of House of Wonders and Emerson Skeens of Emerson and Green. There are only four exotically decorated rooms and a little wooden tea house on the roof that seats eight with spectacular views.
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| 15 minutes by mini-bus from the airport. Please note that Shangani is a private house not a Hotel so only our drivers know it. To get back to the house ask for Shangani Hotel, Shangani House is directly behind the Hotel on the little piazza. |
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The house is situated on three floors and has high ceilings throughout.
All the rooms and bathrooms are very large. The house is designed for eight but can sleep a maximum of ten in four rooms.
The ground floor of the house was probably built at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th Century and the upper floors were added in the second part of the 19th Century. The House was originally the home of Arab merchants, but is now held on a very long lease from the Royal Al Busaid family, former Rulers of the island. Restored in 1994, we have taken great care to maintain the original features.
The ground floor : dark and cool, there is a reading niche separated by a heavy Arabic arch.
The kitchen is small but well equipped with gas cooker, fridge/freezer. An occasional bedroom is lit by a series of high slit windows carved out of the massive stone walls and incorporates an exotic raised open bath surrounded by hand painted tiles. Despite its charm, this bedroom is rather simple and not usually used by guests.
The first floor: Two rooms and a bathroom lead off from the central hallway. The two bedrooms run around three sides of the house.
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The second floor: The stairways lead onto a large light seating area, from where access is gained to the two bedrooms with a shared bathroom.
The third floor: Stairs lead up to the third roof level terrace area used for drying laundry and for relaxing. Perched above the terrace is a small wooden covered tea house with a large table which seats eight. the views over the sea on three sides and over stone town behind are spectacular, as this is one of the highest roof tops of Stone Town.
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Furnishings : The whole house is furnished throughout with Zanzibari antiques, original colonial furniture, kilims and raffia carpets, lamps and shades from India and Turkey. The beds are all traditional Zanzibari four poster beds with mosquito nets with colonial fans inside the netted area for maximum ventilation. The fans are rarely needed however given that all the rooms benefit from the sea breeze that blows through the house.
Food : Whilst most guests tend to eat out most of the time in the many excellent restaurants in town, the house has a fully equipped kitchen, a barbecue and tableware for 8 people. Suleiman and Miki our staffs are competent cooks and are there to help with preparation of meals, we suggest barbecued fish or lobster on the roof terrace. With the exception of breakfast, food is at the expense of guests.
Water and electricity: There are four hot water tanks, one for each bathroom and one for the kitchen and a feeder tank in the roof to give good pressure. In case of power cuts the house has a large generator.
Telephone: Shangani House does not have a telephone but there is a card phone box outside the old post office on Kenyatta Road 50 yards away. You buy a phone card in the Post Office. Once you are connected, there is a button that you have to press to be heard at the other end. For long distance calls we recommend to buy a card for 2000 units. In addition GSM mobile phones work well in Zanzibar.
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