A long-standing and popular place with friendly and relaxed staff, the Kiponda has simple but clean rooms (all with fan, some with air-con) on three floors. Breakfast is served on the top-floor terrace, which is also a great place to relax during the day (it's got wi-fi too). Free transfers from the ferry or airport.
The hotel has close links with Sama Tours, which offers a good range of local excursions.
Fans of historical minutiae may notice the small tomb in the hotel yard; the resting place of Ahmad Naamah, Zanzibar's first envoy to the USA in 1840.