Hotels With Kids Clubs in Dar es Salaam
4 family-friendly hotels with kids club in Dar es Salaam . Handpicked for families who want the best.
Four hotels with kids clubs in Dar es Salaam sit in three different parts of the city, and the address decides how much the club is worth to you. Sea Cliff Hotel holds the Masaki cliff position on the Msasani Peninsula, five kilometres out from the centre. Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel sits on Ohio Street in Kivukoni beside a golf course, three kilometres from the middle of town. Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro takes the harbour front, 700 metres from the Zanzibar Ferry Terminal. Tiffany Diamond Hotels LTD - Makunganya is the budget option, on Makunganya Street in Kisutu, a nine minute walk from the National Museum and House of Culture. Ages and opening hours are not published by any of the four, so confirm them when you book.
Dar es Salaam is a working port city before it is a beach city, and that reads on the ground. Kivukoni smells of the fish market at dawn, dhows unload beside the Zanzibar Ferry Terminal, and the Askari Monument roundabout gridlocks by half past seven. Head north over the peninsula and the register changes completely: Masaki and Oyster Bay are quiet, tree-lined and residential, with Coco Beach filling up on Sunday afternoons with families, grilled maize and football. Kids notice the switch immediately. Most parents end up choosing one of those two moods and commuting to the other only when they have to.
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๐งWhy Dar es Salaam is Great for Hotels with Kids Club
Start with the logistics, because they are what break a Dar es Salaam stay. All four kids club hotels have air conditioning, family rooms and free private parking, which sounds unremarkable until you try to cross town at five in the afternoon on Ocean Road with two tired children. Sea Cliff Hotel and Serena both run 24 hour front desks and 24 hour room service, so an early ferry to Zanzibar or a delayed arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport does not leave you negotiating dinner at midnight. Serena is thirteen kilometres from the airport, Sea Cliff twenty four, and Tiffany Diamond ten, which in practice means forty minutes, an hour and thirty minutes when traffic is against you.
By age, the four properties split cleanly. Under-fives do best at Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel, where the kids club sits inside extensive tropical gardens with an outdoor pool and a playground, and the babysitting service covers the evening meal. Six to ten year olds get more from Sea Cliff Hotel, where the Masaki cliff position gives beach access, a pool and the Sea Village shopping centre next door for a rainy afternoon. Older children are better served at Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro, which has a game room as well as a kids club and sits close enough to Kivukoni Fish Market, 1.1 kilometres away, to make an early morning walk worthwhile.
On value, the gap between these four is wide and worth thinking through. Tiffany Diamond Hotels LTD - Makunganya is a four star at 8.3 from 588 reviews with family rooms, a hot tub, a fitness centre and a restaurant that runs continental, buffet and full English breakfasts, and it is the only one of the four inside easy walking distance of the National Museum and House of Culture. The three five star addresses buy you gardens, sea views and pool space rather than more childcare. If the club is the reason you are booking, Serena and Sea Cliff give the most usable outdoor ground around it; if you mainly need a comfortable base with a pool near the museums, the Kisutu option costs far less for the same number of beds.
Parent's take
The useful hour turned out to be eleven to twelve at Serena, when the garden still had shade along the pool edge and the nine year old joined the club while the four year old fell asleep in a lounger under a frangipani tree. We ate the buffet breakfast late, walked out to Ohio Street at four when the heat dropped, and were back before the mosquitoes arrived. Nothing about that day was ambitious, and it was the one everybody remembered.
Our Top 4 Picks
Hotels in Dar es Salaam with kids club, sorted by guest rating.
Sea Cliff Hotel
Dar es Salaam
Excellent
255 reviews
A kids club, a pool and beach access on the Masaki headland make this five star the most self-contained family address on the Msasani Peninsula. Rooms combine Swahili-inspired design with air conditioning, flat-screen TV and minibar, and the Executive Suite adds a separate living area, sea views and a freestanding bath. There are two restaurants, the Coral Cliff Bar, a fitness centre, a beauty salon and a tour desk, with the Sea Village shopping centre next door.
Why families love Sea Cliff Hotel
Families staying here get the widest set of on-site options in Dar es Salaam: club, pool, beach access, salon and shopping without leaving Toure Drive. Karambezi Cafe serves local seafood beside the cliff, and 24 hour room service covers late arrivals. The airport is 24 kilometres away, which is an hour in traffic. A casino operates on site, and the club's age range is not published, so confirm before booking.
Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro
Dar es Salaam
Excellent
614 reviews
A game room and a kids club under the same roof, 700 metres from the Zanzibar Ferry Terminal, make this Kivukoni Front five star the best fit in the city for families with children of different ages. There is a spa, an outdoor pool and a fitness centre. Rooms mix African and European decor with air conditioning and flat-screen TV, and are rated highly for bed comfort. Level 8, the rooftop bar, runs evening entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays.
Why families love Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro
Families staying here can split a nine year old and a four year old between the game room and the pool without leaving the building, which solves the hardest scheduling problem of a family trip. Kivukoni Fish Market is 1.1 kilometres away and worth an early walk. Concierge, laundry and 24 hour room service cover the rest. This is the business district, so weekday traffic noise reaches the lower floors.
Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel
Dar es Salaam
Very Good
284 reviews
A kids club, a playground and a babysitting service inside extensive tropical gardens make this Ohio Street five star the most complete childcare package in the city. The hotel sits adjacent to a golf course and gymkhana club with Indian Ocean views. There is an outdoor pool, a sauna and a fitness centre, two restaurants, the poolside Island Trader, a patisserie, a cafe and the Kibo Bar. Rooms are air conditioned with flat-screen TV and minibar.
Why families love Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel
Families staying here can hand over the children in three different ways, which no other Dar es Salaam hotel offers. The gardens are large enough that a four year old can run without meeting a road, the pool sits in tree shade for most of the day, and the babysitting service covers an adult dinner. Meals are highly rated by guests. The centre is three kilometres away, so sightseeing needs a car or a taxi.
Tiffany Diamond Hotels LTD - Makunganya
Dar es Salaam
Very Good
588 reviews
A kids club and family rooms at four star level nine minutes' walk from the National Museum and House of Culture put this Kisutu address in a category of its own. Rooms carry air conditioning, city views, a minibar and a TV. The hotel adds a hot tub, sun terrace, fitness centre, bar and free private parking, plus bike rental. The restaurant runs African, Indian, British and Asian menus, with continental, buffet and full English breakfasts.
Why families love Tiffany Diamond Hotels LTD - Makunganya
Families staying here trade pool space for walking distance, and in central Dar es Salaam that is a fair swap. The museum and the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre are both reachable on foot with a child, which no other kids club hotel in the city can claim. The wide breakfast range covers halal, vegan and gluten-free eaters. There is no swimming pool, so budget an afternoon elsewhere in the heat.
๐กTips for Choosing a Hotel with Kids Club in Dar es Salaam
- 1Confirm the kids club age range and hours by email before you pay. None of the four Dar es Salaam properties publishes them, and clubs here often run shorter sessions outside the December and July peaks.
- 2Book the Masaki side if your children are under six. Sea Cliff Hotel and the Msasani Peninsula keep you out of the Kivukoni rush hour entirely, which is worth more than fifteen minutes saved on the airport run.
- 3Ask Serena about the babysitting service at booking, not on arrival. It is the only childcare in this group that can cover an adult dinner, and it needs notice during Tanzanian school holidays.
- 4Plan the Bongoyo Island boat for a club-free morning. Boats leave from the Msasani Slipway and the round trip takes most of the day, so pair it with a hotel afternoon rather than a second outing.
- 5Travel between June and September if you can choose. Those months are the driest and coolest, and outdoor kids club sessions are far less likely to be cut short than during the long rains from March to May.
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