Burundi Hotels

Hotel Uhuru: Comfortable, secure and well located

by CatherineReichardt

(work in progress)
Hotel Uhuru is a pleasant hotel located on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, just south of the port.

Rooms are clean and well maintained, with functioning air conditioners and mosquito nets and good en suite bathrooms. Its pleasant gardens feature a lovely swimming pool, open air bar and Kiboka’s Pub and Grill (justifiably celebrated for the excellence of its pizzas). It also has ample off road parking and enjoys good, unobtrusive security.

An unexpected added bonus was that our room came complete with a separate lounge, including a fairly well equipped kitchenette, so self catering would be an option if you were so inclined.

From our point of view, the highlight of the hotel was its resident pair of crowned cranes with strut around the grounds as though they own the place. These are habituated to people, and I was delighted to discover that they are tame enough to take crumbs from your hand (although you might want to examine the size of their beaks and perhaps reconsider the wisdom of this). There is also a very large and ancient tortoise-in-residence.

Amahoro: Very basic

by yurxlnc

This hotel is basic.
It is a four storey building, and I was on the third floor.The restaurant is on the first floor and the conference/meeting hall on the fourth. The latter is well equipped for the purpose with translation booths. There is no lift, which is not ideal for someone with heart problems and a bad knee.
Bed and breakfast accomodation costs $70 per night.
Internet connection is free. The room and bathroom are adequate for sleeping and bathing in, though only one towel is supplied, and it is only changed on request, by going down to reception.
Breakfast is basic:- tea OR coffee Or fruit juice . If you have more than one it is extra. Omelette, Fruit salad OR a piece of fruit.

The privately arranged buffet meal for participants of the workshop was good. Food was mainly fish with green beans.

NOVOTEL - BUJUMBURA: NOT 4-STAR ANYMORE !

by DAO

The Novotel should be as good as it gets in the center of town. Unfortunately it has a reputation as being grubby, hot, dirty, in disrepair and over-priced. When I toured through the complex it did look past its prime. It is a ‘4-star’ hotel with a full shopping complex and the best swimming pool in Bujumbura. This slight high-rise offers everything from poolside drinks, to a nice restaurant, souvenir shops, money exchange/transfer and even a tour operator for excursions far and near. You can definitely see the rich and powerful of the Burundi elite including the odd General or two sitting around the pool area.

So what do you get?
24-hour reception, buffet breakfast, free Wi-Fi, a large room with a bathtub, children stay for free and there is car parking. Rooms are air-conditioned, but there are reports that it often does not work!

Business facilities: Meeting room, presentation equipment

Extras: Doctor on call, Massage services, room service, deposit box, children's play area.

Complex facilities: Restaurant, sauna, beauty salon, currency exchange, outdoor pool, Internet services, swimming pool, tennis court and private car park

** DAO’s VERDICT**
For this kind of money you should not stay here. Go for a swim in their pool, have a drink and just visit. It should tell you there are problems when you cannot see pictures or book this hotel on Novotel’s own website!

YOU WANT CHEAP?: HÔTEL LE DOYEN - BUJUMBURA

by DAO

Don’t expect a lot as you won’t pay a lot. This hotel is located right next to the Craft Market and sports stadium which means it is in the middle of everything. From the outside it looked like it had closed years ago. Even their new sign looked worse for wear. It is still open and may have once had grand rooms. I would suggest you have your own sleeping bag. The nice man at ‘reception’ was happy to show me a room that looked clean, but really faded. You should be able to negotiate a lower price that first asked. They seemed to have a lot of rooms and few guests. Having said that, they had 24 hour security and the 2 buildings were secure. They have budget options with shared bathrooms or large rooms with massive en-suite bathrooms.

It’s open, it’s cheap and it’s available.

* Cheap
* Well located

That's it.

SAGA RESIDENCE: IT'S COOL IN BUJUMBURA

by DAO

The Saga is an interesting hotel. It’s also right in the centre of everything. Most of this somewhat boutique hotel is open to the sky and it creates a very nice atmosphere in the bar/restaurant area. They seem to have different classes of rooms and I was duly shown room
8A which I took just because of the great look of the room. It had a very large bed, chairs, rugs, air-conditioning, a massive fan, TV, wardrobe and a lot of tables. It was very large and looked great. After I checked in I discovered the long bathroom - which was absolutely basic. The toilet had no seat, the shower tray needed to be replaced and it was bare. Having said that it was functional, gave me place to wash and hang clothes to dry and the shower gave me endless hot water at a good pressure.

The second night I was there loud music pumped from the restaurant right into my room which concerned me, but at 9pm it was promptly shut off. The hotel is lovely and quiet at night, they have a well reviewed restaurant and bar and the staff are helpful.

They are located right across the street from the Yahoo! Bus location, 1 block from the Post Office, main market, grocery stores, 2 blocks from immigration and a cheap taxi moto ride from the beach.

In a word – perfect. For what you get, where you get it and what you pay you just can’t beat this place.

By the way the TV’s in Burundi only get 1 channel.

REMINDER: You need mosquito repellent at night in the restaurant/bar as it is open air effectively.

Unique Qualities:
* Quiet
* Central location
* Good restaurant/bar
* Big rooms with a/c and fan

Hotel Botanika: relaxed little place at central location

by sphynxxs

A little hotel at central location in Bujumbura, a few doors away from the Tourist information center. despite the location, rooms are quiet as facing the courtyard with the garden restaurant (which can also be warmly recommended, offering French inspired meals) Rooms have internet, and there is WLAN in the courtyard

spacious clean rooms, black and white pictures of jazz musicians from the 1930´s New York scene blending with the discreet smooth jazz playing in the background when sitting in the patio/garden restaurant

karera beach at karera beach: luxus bungalows at lakeside

by hanspeter_W.

luxury bungalows direct at karera beach, big accomodation, clean, safe with a/c and fridge
friendly stuff
direct attached to restaurant

excellent restaurant beside...try sangala-fish

Hotel Burundi Palace: Nice staffs

by jorgejuansanchez

People treated me very well

During my stay in Bujumbura I stayed in the splendid hotel Burundi Palace where I only paid 10 US dollars a night in a single room. It was clean, centrically located, and the staffs nice and helpful.
They can arrange you excursions around the country and tickets by boat through the Lake Tanganika (the second deepest in the world after Baikal Lake in Russia) to Tanzania, Republic Democratic of Congo or Zambia.

From Kigoma in Tanzania to Bujumbura in Burundi the boat journey will take you 12 hours. Usually it leaves during the night.

From Bujumbura to Kigali (capital of Rwanda) there are daily services which journey takes 12 hours.

3 Hotels

Other Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Hotel Uhuru: Comfortable, secure and well located

Amahoro: Very basic

NOVOTEL - BUJUMBURA: NOT 4-STAR ANYMORE !

YOU WANT CHEAP?: HÔTEL LE DOYEN - BUJUMBURA

SAGA RESIDENCE: IT'S COOL IN BUJUMBURA

Hotel Botanika: relaxed little place at central location

karera beach at karera beach: luxus bungalows at lakeside

Hotel Burundi Palace: Nice staffs

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