tinytina

I actually live in an apartment in Dar es Salaam for the short term, but I wanted to get away from my ant/roach-infested apartment for one night so decided to check this place out. Having been converted from a Kempinski just two months ago, they're still learning about Hyatt and points and what to do with people with statuses, but overall pretty good. Gorgeous entrance with soft huge maroon carpet leading to the door... I was in heels and kept sinking into the carpet.

Location: Very close to the ferries that would take you to Zanzibar or South Beach. Away from most of the embassies/consulates and from expats who live in the Msasani Peninsula area (10-45 min drive away, depending on traffic).

Check in: Very friendly and nice front desk staff, though they didn't seem to know I was a diamond until I asked "do I get an upgrade as a diamond member?" She asked, "Are you a diamond member?" and I pointed her to my profile. She then checked and said that since the Uganda High Commission had booked the club rooms / suites, there were no rooms available for upgrade. I did get "upgraded" from the city view to the water view.

Room: There were security guards on every floor, so it felt very safe. The hallways on the room floors were bleak. All white, looks like it's trying to be new/modern but the white was just a teeny little dirty, a little off. Wooden doors. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the doors to my non-upgraded room, a regular sized room that looked new, minimalist, and modern. Glass windows with wooden blinds between the bathroom (there's a jacuzzi tub, large enough for just one person, a small walk-in toilet area, and an equally small walk-in shower with a rain-showehead) and the bed (which was really springy and didn't sink in when I landed in it like I expected it to as with other Hyatt beds; the pillows were thin, couples who love pillows would probably ask for more pillows in the room). No portico products, thank goodness - it's white river falls / waterleau, which I hadn't seen before but smelled nice enough. I had a view of the water and the smallest infinity pool I'd ever seen. There's not much to see of the water though, just a tiny island I really wanted to be a part of and also commercial ships/boats. The view of the water faces southeast, so there's not really a great view of the sunset or sunrise.

Toothpaste: (Yes, toothpaste deserves its own category in Hyatt reviews.) I miss the tubes of Aquafresh toothpaste and unfortunately they didn't have that here. They have simple dental kits though. It took a while for housekeeping to come with the dental kit though, but it looked like they were making rounds at night with a huge cart of toiletries for everyone, so I didn't mind.

Lounge: Small but nice. At 6pm, they lay out wines (5 different types of champagne/whites/reds), hard liquor, fruits, cheeses (goat cheese, brie, cheddar) with crackers, appetizers (very flavorful little cups of things like calamari with tomatoes; smoked fish with parsley; shredded chicken bits with slices of onion and green onion), and desserts (chocolate pudding with cookies on the bottom topped with white chocolate shavings; plain vanilla cake with raspberry/strawberry swirls topped with dark chocolate shavings; fruit tarts). I'm really appreciative of the desserts here because good ones are hard to come by in Dar. It's sort of too bad the lounge (as with all of the better rooms) faces southeast with a view of the water: there's no view of the sunset as you enjoy your hor d'ouerves. Oh, there's someone by the door but no one asked me for my room number or anything. Seems like anyone can could just walk in - no key access.

Internet: Free for diamond members. They give you a voucher. I was able to use the same voucher number for both my phone and my computer simultaneously. Fast enough.

Spa facilities: I checked out the Anantara Spa too late, but they gave me a full tour of the facilities anyway. The steam room/saunas were already shut down for the night but they offered to start it up for me. I said I'd come back another day. The receptionists were so geniunely nice! They said they're all Thai. The place smelled really nice, as spa facilities always do. Every time I walk into one of them, I want to buy everything they display at the reception desk (by the way, all of the scents, candles, little boxes are 20% off if you buy it there). Women/men have separate saunas/steamrooms/whirlpools, which looked like they were in fine condition. The spa rooms for couples were large and looked quite nice. The prices aren't too steep. I took a glance and I think I saw some 45-minute treatments for 60,000 TZS / $35.

Breakfast: I had breakfast at The Palm included in my rate, but forgot to ask if diamond members get it too (the lounge is open for breakfast too, but didn't have time to check out what was there). Excellent breakfast buffet for just 25000 TZS (about $15). Ten different types of breads/pastries. Ten different types of veggie/fruit juices. Actual fruits. Stewed fruits. Yogurts. Congee (plain and chicken). Proper sausages. Bacon. Mushrooms. Tomatoes. Fried noodles. Baked beans. Honey glazed ham. Omelette station. Cold cuts (6 diff types). Waffle station with syrup, honey, etc. Salads/olives. Cheeses. Tea/coffee. Cereals. I was pretty full. Though if this isn't included in the rate, I probably would have just gone into town and gotten my usual breakfast in Dar es Salaam (chapati with honey, 2 chicken samosas/sambusas, and other assorted breads for less than 1500 TZS / $1).

Alright, back to my ant-infested apartment...