Le Pavillon Vert, Ouagadougou: A very cheap oasis!
by sarahandgareth
Le Pavillon Vert is quite a small 'African-style' hotel, which means that many of the rooms have fans rather than air conditioning, and the toilets and showers, though scrupulously clean, are quite basic. The washing basins are also open, so you do your teeth-brushing and shaving alongside the other guests.
The hotel is French-owned, but almost all of the day-to-day staff are African, from a number of West African countries. The place is popular with French people working outside Ouagadougou, who love to use the hotel as a base for their R&R trips.
It's got a leafy garden which is one of the best places in Ouagadougou to sip a cold beer. The restaurant is decent, too, and is quite atmospheric at night.
Unlike many Ouaga hotels, they are very reliable as regards advance reservations, very useful around FESPACO time. I wrote and faxed four months in advance, and my room was ready the day I arrived (call them to get the postal address; it's a post office box number).