Life & Work

Serena Inn enthrals with its rustic charm of old Zanzibar

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Zanzibar Serena Inn melts into the Indian Ocean. PHOTO | COURTESY

Outside, Zanzibar Serena Inn Hotel blends in spectacularly into the tapestry of the lumbering historic ‘lost world’ of Zanzibar. Rest assured, you will easily miss it.

A strong brand elsewhere, you feel the restraint Zanzibar Serena imposes on itself as if to revere the boiling Swahili culture bubbling all around it.

Or maybe this ‘restraint’ is intentional; maybe this is how Serena wants to appreciate the historic architecture of stone town Zanzibar.

Still, you can’t fail to feel its soul, the Serena soul, when you walk in through the large Swahili doors into the cool rich foyer where a gallant chandelier in the middle of the room drops down many floors and hangs over your head.
Only then does Serena show its hand.

Once upon a time, what stood in the place of the now 51-room hotel were two historic buildings – the old Extelecoms house and the Chinese doctor’s residence.

The former was built around the new century, according to historic records, while the latter, an old Arab house, was built dates further than the stone house itself. Both were rehabilitated (starting 1995) leaving the rich Omani Arab architectural influences intact.

The contractor tasked with restoring the buildings brought in skilled wood workers and plasterers from India, Kenya and Tanzania to work alongside local Zanzibar craftsmen.

The elements infused were stunning; about 200 pieces of 18 century Dutch plates made in the potteries of Holland – a preserve of affluent households of Zanzibar – line the walls of the hotel.

Antique brassware and furniture from Pakistan and Afghanistan are scattered in the public spaces. There are beautiful ceramic tiles on doorframes.

If you walk along the corridors you will see very old telecommunications equipment from the 19th century, historic remnants retrieved from the old Extelecoms building, which was a major hub in the under-sea telegraphic cable that circled the globe. There are the large chests. These antiques are carefully encased in mahogany-framed glasses.

Beautiful seaview

From the seafront where it stands, the hotel is flanked by sultan’s palaces, forts, dhow harbours, open squares framed by large palm trees, and stone benches from where you can sit with a book or just watch the locals walk by in their Swahili chatter and bazaars.

To say Zanzibar is an enchanting town is to try impress Carlos Santana with your guitar skills. The numerous doors facing Stone Town all remain wide open to invite in the chakra of the town. Nobody can walk into the hotel, I was informed. Nobody steals or goes inside another’s home uninvited in Zanzibar.

The Swahili windows that face the sea are wooden and large (there are no curtains, only window shutters) to bring in as much of the sea-view as you can possibly stand – which you will be surprised to learn is quite a lot.

If you get bored of the sea-view you can go to the main desk and pick a free map of Stone Town and wander about. Have ice cream by the seafront kiosk.

Spice market

Meander between the numerous curios shops looking for a unique memento for people back home. Stop by the imposing and ‘washed out’ building that is the Palace Museum, where sultans used to live, and watch a bunch of bony-kneed kids kick about a ball. Get spices from the spice market and while you are at it, walk into the fish market and watch the fish mongers dexterously disembowel the fish.

Visit the famous Lukmaan Restaurant, one of the legendary eateries and tick it off your Zanzibar bucket list. Stand aside and let a motorbike zoom past.

Look up, and see a buibui-clad face stare from a small open window in a wall. Smell the coffee coming from a dark nondescript coffee house.

Later, watch the sunset from a park bench in Forodhani square, after which at dusk try out a shawarma, a roasted banana, sugarcane juice or a chicken tikka from the numerous food vendors that bring the plazaar alive with local cuisine.

After, head back to the hotel, take a long cold shower then go down for a light dinner from the excellent al a carte menu, waited upon by waiters in pristine white Swahili uniform.

Beauty of life

At some point, some two chaps in guitars, called Seka Band, will stop by your table with a smile and ask you for a song, which they will play softly as your date stares at your lovingly with that look that seems to say, “I’m so lucky to have you!” Zanzibar Serena is a romantic place that just wants everyone to be happy.

Mornings are the best, when the blue of the sea seems like a party trick.

You will make some tea as your date sleeps in, and ease yourself outside on the hammock with a book and watch the beach slowly come alive with fisherman and shirtless tourists trotting by, and dhows from overnight fishing escapades head home with the catch of the day.

I can’t think of a better scene that paints the beauty of life.