Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel
Garden pool, swim-up bar and golf course views
About this hotel
The pool here sits inside a tropical garden next to the Island Trader Bar and Restaurant, close enough that ordering a drink barely means leaving the water. Mornings tend toward the fitness centre and sauna before the heat sets in; afternoons settle into loungers under palms with the Indian Ocean visible past the hedge line. Two restaurants cover dinner, while the Kibo Bar picks up the evening with live music once the pool closes for the night. The hotel sits adjacent to a golf course and gymkhana club rather than the beach clubs further north, three kilometres from central Dar es Salaam and thirteen from the airport, with a travel desk on hand for excursions and a baby-sitting service for families.
- Outdoor pool with swim-up bar
- Spa, sauna and fitness centre
- Two restaurants plus Kibo Bar
Our take
This suits travellers who want a resort-style pool afternoon without leaving the city, especially couples or families drawn to the swim-up bar and garden setting. The golf course-adjacent location is a genuine trade-off: it is calmer and greener than the Msasani Peninsula hotels, but further from Coco Beach and the boutique bar scene in Oyster Bay. Travellers wanting to walk to the beach after their swim should look toward the peninsula instead.
- ✓Book a garden-facing room if quiet matters more to you than a sea view, since the pool side stays busiest in the late afternoon.
- ✓Eat at least one dinner at the Island Trader Bar and Restaurant beside the pool rather than the main restaurant for the full swim-up feel.
- ✓Arrange transport into central Dar es Salaam ahead of time, since the hotel sits three kilometres out near the golf course rather than downtown.
Why we love it
- Swim-up bar inside a tropical garden
- Golf course and gymkhana club next door
- Kibo Bar's live evening music
- Travel desk for local excursions
Why guests love itA stay here settles into a simple rhythm fast: breakfast on the garden terrace, a late morning at the pool with a drink ordered straight from the Island Trader Bar without climbing out, then a slow retreat indoors once the midday sun gets serious. The golf course next door keeps things quiet, and the short hop into central Dar es Salaam makes an afternoon errand realistic without losing the whole day. Evenings drift toward the Kibo Bar, where live music runs later than the pool stays open.