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Circumstances Force my Hand
With my back up against the wall because of time, and knowing that I could make a booking without a credit card, I went ahead and booked TanzanIce Farm Lodge.
Luckily, I was eventually able to get in touch with the lodge once I’d made my booking, so at least I had some sort of assurance, as I headed to Karatu, that my booking was indeed valid though I still didn’t know what I’d find once I got there.
Great Find Number 1 Through Booking.Com: Tanzanice Farm Lodge, Karatu, Tanzania
Oh my gosh, TanzanIce Farm Lodge was lovely!
The service at TanzanIce Farm Lodge was just fantastic! The staff went out of their way to fulfill our every need.
There is something special about holidaying in a place that feels as cozy as your own home.
This is true especially when you are travelling with a good group of friends and/or family.
I think all of us on the trip will remember TanzanIce Farm Lodge fondly!
Great Find Number 2 Through Booking.Com: Kasha Boutique Hotel, Matemwe, Zanzibar
A couple of months later, some friends of mine & I decided to go on a weekend getaway to Zanzibar.
Although, I am quite the budget traveler, my friends are not.
Despite being the person who had lived longest in Tanzania and probably had been to Zanzibar most often, I did not want to deal with the burden of being the person to choose our accommodation, in case my friends didn’t like it.
We eagerly discussed what we each wanted to do during our weekend getaway.
When it came to specific accommodation choices, though, I left that decision to the person who had spearheaded the trip.
What l did do, in an effort to be somewhat helpful, was to point her in the direction of Booking.com, letting her know that I and some other people had had some great luck booking accommodation on the platform in the recent past.
We spent our first night in Stone Town.
READ ALSO: Where to Stay In Zanzibar Comfortably Today in 2025 & More
For that first night, my friend booked us into Kisiwa House, a hotel she had stayed at before and liked a lot.
For the second night, we were set on exploring a new Zanzibar beach that none of us had ever been to.
Arriving at Kasha Boutique Hotel
After driving way longer than any of us expected, and after I think we’d all started to doubt whether where we were going was worth the long drive, we finally arrived at Kasha Boutique Hotel on the northeastern coast of Zanzibar.
Oh, my God, I kid you not: it was one of the nicest places I had stayed at in a long, long time.
My Impressions of Kasha Boutique Hotel
With its bright colors, and good food, its honeymoon suites complete with a personal plunge pool, its swimming pool that seemed like an infinity pool into the ocean, Kasha Boutique Hotel was simply divine! (For those of you who follow me on Instagram, I am sure you’ve seen the pictures, but you’ll also see some of those here in my next Instagram recap post.)
How My Friend Had Found Kasha Boutique Hotel
At first I thought it was just my friend’s impeccable taste, but when she told me that she had found and booked Kasha Boutique Hotel on Booking.com, I thought, hey, there might really be something to this service.
Great Find Number 3 Through Booking.Com: Salmiya Place, Nairobi
A couple of weeks later, I found myself in a family situation that necessitated an urgent trip to Nairobi.
It was a medical situation, so a couple of my family members would all be congregating in the city at the same time.
Long ago I lamented to you, in this post, about the exorbitant prices of hotels in Nairobi.
With several hotel rooms to be booked, there is no way I was OK with giving away that kind of money just for a roof over our heads.
Hoping against hope, I checked out Booking.com, just in case I might be able to find a Nairobi hotel room for under US$100 a night.
For standard Nairobi hotels in certain areas, some of you may know that this is virtually impossible!
READ ALSO: Kiloran House Nairobi & 4 Other Places to Stay in Nairobi for $50 or Less
As soon as I got on Booking.com, I came across a listing for an apartment turned bed-and-breakfast in Lavington where double rooms were under US$65 a night.
Of course, that put a big question mark in my mind about what the apartment and room would be like.
Salmiya Place, Lavington
The bed & breakfast, Salmiya Place, was conveniently located in a neighborhood I knew well and that I had in fact lived in when I used to live in Nairobi.
What really surprised me, though, was that Salmiya Place had a user rating of 9.6/10 after hosting many, many guests.
Surely, those couldn’t all be fake reviews!
The pictures were alright, and all the reviewers had only the best things to say about Salmiya Place.
Again, I decided to take my chances.
Arriving at Salmiya Place
Wow!
I know some of you think I am “gloriously enthusiastic”, but guys, it really was special.
First and foremost, the decor!
Every little detail was something to look at. After staying there for five days, I was still ooh-ing and aah-ing about design choices.
The beds were comfortable, the service outstanding, the breakfast—even for a non-breakfast-eater like me—was worth writing home about.
Pauline, the caretaker, answered all our questions and catered to our every need.
No request was too big or too small for her to pay attention to.
One particular occurrence impressed me most. One day, when I was staying at Salmiya Place, I met up for lunch with a dear childhood friend.
The lunch turned into dinner. Dinner turned into a sleepover just like we used to do when we were younger.
Pauline handled the unexpected guest with such ease and grace.
As she told me, this was because the price of the room was per room not per person sharing.
She then proceeded to be the epitome of welcoming hospitality to my friend at breakfast the next morning.
What?!
Let’s just say, I’m not sure I would ever stay anywhere else when I am visiting Nairobi (unless, of course, I were to stay with a friend).
Salmiya Place really was as good as the user reviews on Booking.com said. (You can book your stay at Salmiya Place here!)
And that’s when I knew I’d have to write this post.
My favorite travel discovery last year was definitely Booking.com.
From now on, if I even think of a destination I want to travel to, Booking.com will be the first place I look to find that great value-for-money gem off the beaten track. (In fact, it was quite a lifesaver just last week in Zanzibar!)
What Are Your Thoughts on Booking.Com?
Have you ever used Booking.com?
If so, were your experiences good or bad?
Would you recommend the service to fellow travelers?
What I will say if ever you do use Booking.com is pay close attention to other guests’ ratings.
In my experience, high ratings really do translate to great places to stay.
Note: You don’t have to have a credit card to use the service.
Also, if you are travelling to a place where you can’t possibly imagine that value bargains would be listed online, just try it.
I did and loved what I found.
Until the next time,
Biche
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Photo Credits: Clara Sanchiz