See why so many travellers make Hotel Zambeze their hotel of choice when visiting Tete. Providing an ideal mix of value, comfort and convenience, it offers an array of amenities designed for travellers like you.
Wifi is offered to guests, and rooms at Hotel Zambeze offer air conditioning.
Guests of Hotel Zambeze are also welcome to enjoy an on-site restaurant.
Taking into account that this is in Tete and therefore you should not expect too much, this hotel isn't too bad really.
I had a 'junior suite' on the 1st floor - basically a stretched normal room with some chairs and a table in the extra area. The furniture is basic but fairly new and the room was clean. The queen bed was 2 singles pushed together but was comfortable enough and the sheets and towels are poor quality (like everything in Tete!) but again were clean.
Had no problems with hot water, wifi (plenty fast enough for e-mail and web browsing) and everything that should work did! The room has a mini-fridge, modern air-con and LCD TV (not that there is much to watch). The location is good - supermarket up the road, lots of ATMs right outside the hotel and a short walk to the river, shops and local markets. It is on quite a busy intersection and you can hear local life going on outside at all times of day and night so bring earplugs if you are a light sleeper.
Breakfast and dinner are simple and basic but they do the job and seemed to be about the same level of quality of food as anywhere else I ate in Tete (which is to say edible and you won't starve but the ingredients are all poor quality - never got ill so it must be safe). Great view of sunrise from the restaurant over the bridge and river. The public areas and corridors in the hotel could all do with a big spruce up. I guess you just have to remember where you are and adjust expectations accordingly.
There is no hair dryer, no kettle/tea/coffee/cups and no iron (although the laundry service was fast and good). I requested a kettle which wasn't available according to the first person I asked but when I asked somebody else later I got one. This proved to be the general rule - if at first you are told no then just ask someone else and eventually you get a yes!! And this is where the hotel falls down - service. A smile or bom dia from the staff is a rarity and they don't seem all that bothered about giving any sort of service for the very high room rate they charge. There are new chain hotels being built in Tete and I think when they open then the Zambeze is going to have to have a rethink about service and/or rates. But at the moment, this seems to be the best place to stay and is more than acceptable for a place like Tete, I heard horror stories about the other accommodation options!
Read more
Date of stay: July 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was the dark, grungy hotel that I dubbed the 'Twilight Zone hotel' after a 3 night stay in late 2006. Since then, Hotel Zambeze has undergone renovations to provide the business traveler, aid worker and occasional lost tourist a reasonably comfortable lodging option in Tete city.
*Acknowledging that you are in Tete, Mozambique:
Reception: pretty friendly at first but when they asked us to pay for our rooms up front, we protested and they got unpleasant. We spoke with the general manager and he set the reception folks straight. Also, if you are on a tight budget, insist on the cheapest "economico" room, even if they say that they are all taken. When I told them that it was okay for me to stay on the first floor (where the hall way had not yet been carpeted but all other renovations had been completed), economico rooms suddenly opened up. My two colleagues had some problems (funky smell in one room; exploding toilet in another) and reception was able to move them to other rooms without any problems. The attempt at decor in the lobby is discotheque-chic.
Rooms: I had an "economico" on the 1st floor, which is second floor American, (about USD 72) that consisted of two single beds pushed together, basic ensuite bath with toilet, sink, shower, DSTV, writing desk and air conditioning (important in Tete!). Room was clean, bed was comfortable. Furniture, sheets all appeared to be very new. Colleagues staying in slightly pricier (about USD90) "standard" rooms had a bit more decor plus mini fridges.
Noise level: pretty bad on the first floor. Construction going on outside plus the last of the hotel renovations made for a lot of noise between 8am and 5pm. Also, waking up to the sound of high heels clacking on the granite stairwell at 2am was unpleasant.
Food: The restaurant on the fifth floor has surprisingly good food. Breakfast is included in the room price and provides eggs, sausages, beans in tomato sauce, yogurt, fruit salad, cakes, toast, coffee, tea, juices. We had dinner in the restaurant twice and were pleased. The matapa (traditional ground squash leaves with coconut milk and shrimp) was flavorful and the naca na pedra (raw beef served on sizzling hot stone to cook at table) tender. There is also a lounge that serves sandwiches, fries and hands down the BEST cafe com leite I have had in Mozambique. Thick espresso sludge is served in a cup along with a tea pot of hot milk. Excellent! The lounge, a good place for informal business meetings, also has a great view of the Zambeze river and bridge
Read more
Date of stay: June 2008
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check-in / front desk
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at the hotel for one night. It's the only hotel in this surprisingly bustling and nice town in northwestern Mozambique, with very friendly people. It is located at a lively intersection in the heart of the city, with lots of foot and car traffic throughout the day. Even at night you can hear noise from outside in your room, which is essentially my main complaint. Otherwise, the rooms were okay; they were recently renovated, generally clean, and had all the necessary features, especially air conditioning and LCD TV. Breakfast was pretty basic and offered in the fifth floor restaurant which had a nice view over the beautiful Zambezi bridge. The hotel's corridors and stairways were a bit dingy; renovating them--and better insulating the windows--would go a long way toward improving the hotel's overall impression.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have stayed in the Zambeze 2 times, in march and july 2011, along with some colleagues, in business trips to Tete. Due to the flourishing coal mining business in Tete, Zambeze is almost all the time 100% booked, and it's very hard to get a room. Prices are the same as top quality Maputo hotels, but staff commitment to quality and good service is nearly none. The hotel is nicely placed and that's about it. Rooms are awful. Think in smoke smell, dirty sheets, pillows that smell like sweat. Leaking toilets. Bad reception small tube TVs, large and noisy A/Cs with no temperature control... You can expect bad infrastructure given you're in Tete, but dirty sheets and the uncommitted staff is truly unnacceptable. There were 2 times when my colleagues arrived, asked for the room and it was denied. After arguing for a while, the clerk gave them the room key that he originally wasn't planning to give. Breakfast and dinner aren't very good, but passable. Don't come on tourism, unless you are the hardcore-style tourist or backpacker. If you are coming on business, bring clean sheets and some snacks, just in case.
Read more
Date of stay: June 2011
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Â There's no good room here. Suggest you bring your own clean sheets.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have stay in this hotel first time I was in Tete on June 2008. I went for a week to facilitate training sessions for a big company staff members. At the time there were going on some renovation and expantion activities on the hotel. My room was ok, with a big bed, TV, nice bathroon, but no internet on the room. The bar was the only place you could have access to wireless. The food is nice but sometimes take time to be ready. One thing i didn´t like was hear drunk people screeming on the corridor during the night when I was sleeping.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I've stayed at this hotel on numerous occasions over the last few years. For a long time this was the least worst accomodation option in Tete, usually fully booked by mining companies.
During my last visit I stayed in a 1st floor suite, that was large with a sofa, desk, double bed, LCD TV (with limited channels), air con and mini fridge. Sheets were clean, but bathroom had a cracked loo seat and could have done with a lick of paint. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised that there was hot water on tap 24/7 (not the case in the past).
Staff attitudes - including management - range from surly to downright rude. Food at dinner and breakfast is just OK.
There are a couple of new hotels being built in the area (a Park Inn and a Hotel VIP) that should provide better accommodation options.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Â The suites are large and cleaner/better kept. Avoid the small rooms to the rear.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed 1 night at M3000 for a single room with twin beds (a little firm) and aircon. Relatively modern room and quiet with smallish but acceptable bathroom. Water was hot although the nozzle in Room 415 needs replacing as the flow wasn't even. Restaurant and bar on L5. Food was pretty good. Breakfast included. Paid WIFI available from bar and also worked fine in the room. Enough staff spoke English well enough for me to get by. VIP Cafe close by (out the front door cross the road and head towards the bridge) had good coffee (and cakes) as well as free WIFI. Definitely not cheap but very central and taxis across the road. M500 and 25 minutes in taxi to airport. I think the rooms on the 4th floor (and there are many) have recently been upgraded as the floor was significantly more upmarket than the lower floors (but didn't see any other rooms)
Read more
Date of stay: July 2015
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The parking is non existent, the rooms are 3 star, the bar is excellent and the Portuguese inspired kitchen is excellent. The lift works, the shower works and the beds are comfortable. The check in system is abominable but it is a two star hotel and that said it is excellent value for your money. Remember that it was an old colonial hotel and still runs like one and if you can live with that you will have a good stay.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2013
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tete, and its coal industry, has gone through a boom-and-bust period. It is currently in the bust period. I called here and was shown to two different standard of rooms. Neither impressed me. They were dark and gloomy. They certainly did not seem to warrant the price quoted. I, perhaps stupidly, chose a vastly overpriced hotel instead.
But, overall, I don't regret my decision. This place may have been extensively renovated, but evidence of that is hard to note.
Read more
Date of stay: June 2016Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Was there for a week and found the location very convenient for business.
The rooms were very large. It is old but kept very clean.
There is a currency exchange next to the entrance and an ATM across the street. If you need a local SIM card there is a phone shop across the street as well. Airtime available on the street corner.
There is limited parking but felt it was relatively secure as it was right in front of the hotel entrance.
Breakfast was ok. Dinner was very average.
Internet time can be purchased and is sufficiently fast.
The elevator freaked me out! It stopped between floors and I was stuck in there for about 15 long minutes. Not really the hotels fault but I did walk to the fourth floor after that happened!!
I would definitely stay there again.
Read more
Date of stay: August 2014Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Tete area.
LOCATION
MozambiqueTete ProvinceTete
NUMBER OF ROOMS
336
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
