Hotels in Tanzania fall into six broad groups: city hotels in Arusha and Dar es Salaam, safari lodges and tented camps inside the national parks, beach resorts on Zanzibar, base hotels around Moshi for Kilimanjaro climbers, historic guesthouses in Stone Town, and budget rooms in the safari gateway towns. Most travellers combine two or three on one trip. Tanzania is an East African country whose accommodation spreads from the Indian Ocean coast to the Serengeti plains, priced across every budget.
Where you sleep in Tanzania depends less on price alone than on what part of the country your safari trip passes through. A single two week itinerary can move you from a business hotel near the airport, to a canvas tent pitched beside a river full of hippos, to a beach villa with the tide lapping the reef. Each of those beds answers a different need, and knowing which is which before you book saves both money and a fair amount of second guessing. What follows walks through the main types, region by region, with real properties named so you can picture the range.
See our full range of Tanzania safari holidays for more ways to explore the country.
Arusha City Hotels for the Start of a Safari Tour
Arusha is where almost every northern safari tour begins, so its hotels are built around arrivals, first nights, and the day before a climb or game drive. The town sits below Mount Meru, a couple of hours from Kilimanjaro International Airport, and it has the widest spread of standards in the country. You can pay very little for a clean room or a great deal for a coffee estate suite.
At the top sits Gran Melia Arusha, a large five star property with an outdoor pool, gardens, and views toward Meru, plus the newer international pull that comes with a global chain. Mount Meru Hotel keeps a strong reputation for its infinity pool and grounds. For something with more character, Arusha Coffee Lodge, run by Elewana, places chalets among the rows of a working coffee plantation on the edge of town, which suits guests who want the safari mood a night early. Onsea House gets repeat praise for its food and its quiet, and many guides quietly rate it the best value in Arusha.
Below that, mid range and budget rooms are plentiful. A simple room with a private bathroom runs cheap by international standards, and backpacker beds are cheaper still. Because most safaris collect you from your Arusha hotel in the morning, staying central or near the arterial roads shaves time off the transfer. Ask your operator which side of town they set off from before you book.
Dar es Salaam City Hotels and Business Stays
Dar es Salaam is the commercial capital and the main gateway for anyone flying in from the coast side or connecting to Zanzibar by ferry. Its hotels lean business rather than safari, and that shows in the fittings: meeting rooms, airport shuttles, reliable air conditioning. This is a stopover city for most visitors, a night or two rather than a base, though the harbour and the seafront give it more to do than people expect.
The Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, in the old Kilimanjaro hotel building on the waterfront, is the standout five star address, aimed squarely at travellers who want dependable comfort near the ferry terminal. Holiday Inn Dar es Salaam City Centre sits in the business district roughly twenty minutes from Julius Nyerere International Airport, with a ten minute walk to the ferry, which makes it handy for a Zanzibar crossing. Chains such as Golden Tulip and Crowne Plaza fill the four star band with pools, restaurants, and the sort of predictable service business guests plan around.
Serengeti Safari Lodges and Tented Camp Stays
Inside the Serengeti, accommodation splits cleanly between permanent lodges and tented camps, and the choice shapes how close you sleep to the wildlife. Tented camps are the most common option inside the park itself. These are walk in canvas rooms, often the size of a hotel room or larger, with solid beds, thick mattresses, and en suite bathrooms that run from bucket showers to full plumbing depending on how upmarket the camp is. Simpler camps cost far less than the decorated ones, which can match a luxury lodge on price.
Lodges are permanent buildings of stone, timber, or brick, with pools, wide decks, and hotel style rooms. Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, north of the Seronera River valley in the central park, is the best known of the luxury lodges, with a pool that looks over a waterhole elephants use and free standing villas that come with a personal attendant. It suits guests who want park access without giving up any comfort.
Then there are mobile tented camps, which move with the seasons to follow the great migration across the plains. During the calving months in the south and the river crossing months in the north, a mobile camp puts you within a short drive of the herds rather than hours away. Sightings are never promised, but position helps, and a camp that shifts with the animals gives you the best odds. Book these early, because the good ones sell out a year ahead for the peak crossing window.
Ngorongoro Crater Rim Lodges and Karatu Safari Stays
Around the Ngorongoro Crater, hotels divide into two camps: those perched on or near the crater rim, and those down in the farming town of Karatu, about fifty kilometres away. The rim properties trade on the view and the short morning descent into the caldera. Karatu trades on price and on the calmer, greener setting of the coffee country below.
The rim’s grandest address, andBeyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, sits right on the edge with four poster beds, roll top baths, and a butler for every suite, though it is currently closed for a full rebuild and due to reopen later. Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is built into the rim in river stone and creeper, with 74 rooms and the best mid range crater view going, which keeps it in steady demand.
Down in Karatu, the mood shifts. Gibb’s Farm is a much loved lodge set on a working coffee farm, while Plantation Lodge, The Manor, and Ngorongoro Farm House spread across the same fertile belt at a range of prices. A Karatu base means a longer drive to the crater gate each morning, yet the rooms cost less and the setting is softer, which many families prefer for a safari stay of two or three nights.
Zanzibar Beach Resorts and Island Stays
Zanzibar is where most safari trips end, and its beach resorts carry a completely different feel from the parks. The island is a semi autonomous part of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean, long known as the Spice Islands, and its coast is ringed with everything from backpacker bungalows to villas with private plunge pools. Where you stay depends heavily on which beach you pick, because the tides and the atmosphere change from one shore to the next.
The northwest coast, around Nungwi and Kendwa, has the liveliest scene, the best sunsets, and beaches that stay swimmable through the tide. Zuri Zanzibar and Essque Zalu anchor the upper end there, while Gold Zanzibar sits directly on Kendwa’s tide friendly sand. Over on the southeast at Paje, the mood turns younger and the wind draws a kitesurfing crowd, so the stays lean toward laid back guesthouses and kite lodges rather than grand resorts.
Peak season on the island runs June to October and again December to February. During those windows the well rated resorts fill fast, so a beach island stay booked at the last minute often means settling for whatever is left. Reserve the sea facing rooms months ahead if a specific resort matters to you.
Stone Town Historic Hotels and Heritage Tour Bases
Stone Town, the old heart of Zanzibar City, is a UNESCO listed maze of coral stone houses, carved doors, and narrow lanes, and its hotels sit inside that history rather than beside it. Staying here for a night or two before the beach gives you the museums, the seafront, and the evening food market at Forodhani within walking distance, which makes it the natural base for a heritage tour of the island’s trading past.
The Park Hyatt Zanzibar is the leading modern address, central to the old town’s sites and a short stroll from Forodhani Gardens, the Old Fort, and the House of Wonders. The Zanzibar Serena Hotel, in a restored building on the western seafront, is the quiet choice for those who want calm and sea views. For real period character, Emerson on Hurumzi is one of the town’s legendary old houses, packed with Zanzibari antiques and rooftop dining above the rooftops.
The western strip near the water is the more touristic part, while the lanes closer to the central market feel more local. Both put you inside the old town, so the pick comes down to whether you want polish or a rougher, more lived in edge. First time visitors usually do best near Forodhani, where the dining and the movement are easiest to reach on foot.
Moshi and Kilimanjaro Base Hotels for the Climbing Trip
Moshi is the closest town to Mount Kilimanjaro, which makes its hotels the standard base for the night before and the night after a climbing trip. Climbers usually want somewhere to sort gear, sleep well, and rinse off a week of mountain dust, and Moshi covers all of it across every price band, with Kilimanjaro itself hanging over the town on clear mornings.
In the mid range, Springlands Hotel is a long standing favourite among trekkers, with a pool, a garden, and the kind of steady service that suits a pre climb night. Budget climbers lean on places like Moshi Backpackers, which is good for meeting others heading up, or homely spots such as Kibo Home Stay and The Secret Garden. Toward the mountain, the historic Marangu Hotel sits near the Marangu route trailhead, which trims the morning transfer for anyone taking that path up.
Many climbers stage from Arusha instead when their flight timing suits it, since the two towns are roughly ninety minutes apart. If you land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, though, Moshi is the shorter hop, and starting closer to the gate means a less rushed first morning on the mountain.
Budget Guesthouses and Backpacker Stays Across Tanzania
Not every bed in Tanzania costs a safari premium. The gateway towns feeding the parks, places like Karatu near Ngorongoro and Mto wa Mbu near Lake Manyara, are full of budget guesthouses and simple lodges with private bathrooms at a fraction of what an in park lodge charges. Sleeping in these towns and driving into the parks by day is how many travellers stretch a trip without giving up a real room.
In Arusha and Moshi, backpacker hostels put a dorm bed within reach of almost any budget, and a basic private room with its own bathroom stays cheap by any measure. These places rarely have pools or big grounds, yet they are clean, social, and close to where the transfers leave from. For a first safari on tight money, a mix of gateway guesthouses and camping cuts the daily cost sharply while still getting you through the park gates. The trade off is distance and simplicity, not safety.
Choosing Where to Stay for Your Tanzania Trip
Handpicked Nyerere safari packages
Pulling it together, the right hotel depends on the leg of the trip more than on a fixed budget. Arrival and departure nights work best in a city hotel near the airport or ferry. The park days call for a lodge or tented camp chosen by how close you want to sleep to the wildlife and how much comfort you are willing to pay for. Zanzibar and the coast reward matching the beach to your mood, lively northwest or quieter southeast, with a Stone Town night folded in for the history.
A common northern loop might run a night in Arusha, two or three nights of lodges and camps through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, then a flight to Zanzibar for a stretch on the sand. Booking the in park camps and the peak season beach resorts first makes sense, because those sell out earliest, while the city hotels can wait since they rarely fill the same way. Your safari operator will usually bundle the park accommodation into the tour price, so the pieces you book separately are mostly the bookend city nights and the beach.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hotels in Tanzania
How much do hotels in Tanzania cost per night?
Prices swing widely by type. Backpacker dorm beds in Arusha or Moshi run around ten to twenty dollars per night, and a basic private room with a bathroom sits near twenty dollars. Mid range city and gateway hotels land roughly twenty five to a hundred dollars. In park tented camps and lodges range from about eighty dollars for simple semi permanent camps to several hundred and beyond for luxury properties. A mid range crater view lodge such as Ngorongoro Serena falls around seven hundred to eleven hundred dollars per night at the top end.
What do Zanzibar beach resorts cost?
On the popular northwest beaches around Nungwi and Kendwa, upper tier resort rooms commonly run between about two hundred fifty and six hundred dollars per night. Guesthouses and simpler stays, especially over on the Paje side, come in well below that. Rates climb during the June to October and December to February peaks, when the best rated resorts book out early, so reserve ahead if a specific property matters.
Is it cheaper to stay inside the parks or in the gateway towns?
Gateway towns are cheaper. Budget lodges and guesthouses in Karatu near Ngorongoro or Mto wa Mbu near Lake Manyara often run around fifty to a hundred dollars for a simple room with a private bathroom, well under most in park lodge rates. The trade off is a longer drive to the park gate each morning. Sleeping inside the park costs more but puts you closer to the wildlife at dawn and dusk.
What is the difference between a safari lodge and a tented camp?
A lodge is a permanent building of stone, timber, or brick, with hotel style rooms, pools, and wide viewing decks. A tented camp is a walk in canvas room, usually the size of a hotel room or larger, with a solid bed and an en suite bathroom that runs from a bucket shower to full plumbing. Camps sit closer to the wildlife and range from simple and cheap to as costly as a luxury lodge. Mobile camps move with the seasons to track the migration.
Should I stay in Arusha or Moshi before climbing Kilimanjaro?
Both work. Moshi is the closest town to the mountain, so it means a shorter transfer to the trailhead and a less rushed first morning, and it has everything from backpacker hostels to the trekker favourite Springlands Hotel. Arusha, about ninety minutes away, suits climbers whose flights or safari plans already put them there. If you land at Kilimanjaro International Airport with a climb next, Moshi is the shorter hop.
Where should I stay in Stone Town, Zanzibar?
Most first time visitors do best near Forodhani Gardens in the western part of the old town, close to the museums, the seafront, and the evening food market, and within walking distance of the ferry and most sites. The Park Hyatt and the Zanzibar Serena lead the modern comfort end, while Emerson on Hurumzi offers real period character. The lanes nearer the central market feel more local and less touristic if you want that edge.