Zanzibar International Hotel

What Zanzibar International Hotel does

Zanzibar International Hotel (operated as Zanzibar House) is a privately-held, founder-owned luxury holiday rental business headquartered in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, United Kingdom, owned by Max and Katie O'Rourke. Its core asset is a seafront property configured as a 5-star large-group holiday house, sleeping up to 16 adults plus 2 children across 8 ensuite bedrooms, and including amenities such as a hot tub and (from Autumn 2026) a dedicated basement studio for yoga, cinema, and dance. The company targets multi-generational family celebrations, hen and stag parties, wellness retreats, corporate offsites, and dog-friendly group stays, positioned 80–90 minutes from London to attract premium weekend and short-break demand from the South East of England.

The business operates as part of the Big House Specialist portfolio, which comprises three large luxury holiday houses, giving the operator shared marketing, brand, and back-office scale. Bookings are taken primarily through the Hotels.uk.com platform (operated by Queensborough Group), supplemented by direct enquiries via the company's own website, Instagram presence, and word-of-mouth referrals. Revenue is generated on a per-night accommodation basis at premium nightly rates consistent with the 5-star positioning; no corporate, B2B, or subscription revenue streams are disclosed.

There is no evidence of external funding, institutional investors, or material capital raises, and no disclosed headcount or financial KPIs. The operating model is therefore best characterised as a founder-led, asset-heavy hospitality micro-operator whose growth is constrained by the physical capacity of its properties and dependent on continued occupancy pricing power in the UK luxury group-stay segment.

Name

Zanzibar International Hotel

Legal name

Zanzibar House

Website

https://zanzibarhotel.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2026

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zanzibar International Hotel operates Zanzibar House, a luxury 5-star seafront holiday rental in St Leonards-on-Sea sleeping 16+2 across 8 ensuite bedrooms, serving family celebrations, hen/stag groups, wellness retreats, and corporate offsites via Hotels.uk.com within the Big House Specialist portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Luxury Holiday Rental / Hospitality Services

NAICS

Other Traveler Accommodation (72119), Traveler Accommodation (7211)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAGANAI

Family & Group-Friendly Rentals (Large Homes, Multi-Unit Compounds)

Travel & Hospitality/Lodging & Accommodation/Vacation Rentals (Short-Term Rentals)

SECONDARYTHAMAAAF

Beachfront & Lakefront Homes

Travel & Hospitality/Vacation Rentals & Short-Term Stays/Whole-Home Vacation Rentals

SECONDARYTHAMAEAE

Luxury Beachfront & Waterfront Villas

Travel & Hospitality/Vacation Rentals & Short-Term Stays/Luxury Villas & Premium Rentals

Keywords

• Luxury holiday rentals
• Group accommodation
• Coastal holiday houses
• Boutique hotel conversion
• Dog-friendly stays

Headquarters

HQ city

St Leonards-on-Sea

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Short-term Holiday Rental: Revenue generated from nightly and weekly rentals of the luxury holiday house to groups. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed on website. Booking managed through integrated Hotels.uk.com platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Zanzibar International Hotel (trading as Zanzibar House) operates a single luxury seafront holiday rental property in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, sleeping up to 16 adults and 2 children across eight ensuite bedrooms. The offering includes a private seafront hot tub, dining room for 18, lounge bar, fully fitted kitchen, BBQ terrace, and a multi-purpose basement studio. The property is part of the Big House Specialist portfolio of three luxury coastal holiday houses that can be booked together for groups of up to 54 guests.

Product overview

Zanzibar House is a single award-winning luxury seafront holiday house operated by Max and Katie O'Rourke as part of the Big House Specialist portfolio. The property offers accommodation across eight ensuite bedrooms (sleeping 16 adults + 2 children) along with amenities including a private seafront hot tub, ground-floor social spaces (kitchen, dining, lounge bar), and a basement studio opening Autumn 2026. The Big House Specialist portfolio includes two additional properties (Cliffhanger House with 7 bedrooms, Hastings House with 9 bedrooms), which can be booked together for groups up to 54 guests. The offering is a unified luxury holiday rental product, not a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Zanzibar House Luxury seafront holiday house in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, sleeping 16 adults + 2 children across eight ensuite bedrooms, with private hot tub, dining room seating 18, lounge bar, fully fitted kitchen, BBQ terrace, and direct seafront views. Available for short-term group rental to celebration, family, wellness, corporate, and friend groups.
• Big House Specialist Portfolio Multi-property booking option encompassing Zanzibar House (8 bedrooms, 16+2 guests), Cliffhanger House (7 bedrooms, 12+4 guests), and Hastings House (9 bedrooms, 16+2 guests), accommodating up to 54 guests across the three properties for very large celebrations, retreats, or corporate events.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb: Global short-term rental marketplace, including Airbnb Luxe for premium listings. Sets the baseline digital booking experience and trust infrastructure against which a single-property boutique house must compete on discoverability and conversion.
• Plum Guide: Tech-led, curated marketplace for high-end vacation rentals with a UK coastal presence. Less specialized in very-large group houses than Zanzibar House, but a direct substitute at the bookable-listing level for premium UK coastal stays.
• Sykes Cottages: UK's largest holiday-let agency with broad coastal and group-rental inventory. Not focused on luxury — instead a broader-incumbent benchmark for occupancy, distribution scale, and competitive pressure on the South Coast.

Direct peers

• Unique Homestays: Curated portfolio of unique, design-led UK holiday homes — including large group houses and coastal properties. Mirrors Zanzibar House's positioning as a high-design, characterful private house for celebrations and stays, with a similar portfolio-led GTM.
• Canopy & Stars: Curated collection of unique, design-led UK stays including large group houses and coastal retreats. Closely matches the boutique-group-and-celebrations positioning and the South Coast / country location mix.
• Boutique Retreats: UK specialist in hand-picked luxury self-catering holiday homes for groups, with a focus on design-led properties across the South Coast and countryside. Directly comparable in customer (affluent group bookers), product (large luxury whole-homes), and booking-flow model.
• Under The Stars: Boutique UK agency curating unique group holiday houses, often coastal or rural, marketed to celebrations and family gatherings. Closely comparable product format, target guest, and South-Coast-Wales-Cornwall geographic mix.
• Wilderness Reserve: Luxury private estate in Suffolk offering large-group houses for celebrations and corporate retreats with on-site amenities (similar concept to Zanzibar's basement studio). Useful comparable for high-ACV UK group-stay economics and multi-property upsell.
• Oliver's Travels: Specialist UK-based luxury villa and large-group holiday rental curator with a strong portfolio of UK coastal and countryside houses. Comparable offering for multi-generational gatherings, birthdays, and hen weekends across Britain.

Emerging players

• Stay One Degree: Members-only referral-driven platform for curated luxury large-group houses. Overlaps with Zanzibar's group-rental niche via word-of-mouth-led demand, particularly for celebrations and friend gatherings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/zanzibarhousehastings
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zanzibar-hotel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zanzibar International Hotel