InterContinental Asmara

Asmara Palace

Arrived at the hotel after a late night flight from Frankfurt. Staff was always pleasant especially the ones who work at the Milano bar and at the restaurant. Not so the management at the reception desk. We were told that the waiters are all conscripts while the folks who work at the reception are well connected to or relatives of the hotel upper management.
The hotel is no longer part of the Intercontinental chain and has been renamed Asmara Palace and is now run by the government ministry of Tourism. We were (again quietly) told that this happened because the government could not afford to part away with some of its meager foreign currency to pay for the franchise. The last time we visited (2006) the hotel was far better managed. This time around things have visibly deteriorated with smoking allowed freely in the lobby area itself where there is little ventilation! There is no longer a lunch buffet except at dinner time. Both the buffet and the breakfast are extremely expensive with food choices far limited and of lower quality than in the past. Rooms are still OK -- even though the carpets are showing their age due to lack of maintenance and poorer management which is now all local. The place is hardly affordable to the local population. We were told that the only visitors /guests one sees are the spoiled kids of a few local businessmen and the military who run the country. One also seems to be always watched by some rotating but government informants who pretend to be visitors. So it is best not to talk much openly about anything.They also tend to force you to pay for your stay in hard currency even after you show them official receipts that you already exchanged your foreign currency into the local nacfa.

Definitely no longer recommended. There are far better hotels and far cheaper elsewhere in the city.