Kiriri Garden Hotel

I’ve never stayed at Kiriri Garden Hotel, and after how they handled a payment problem, I never will. I dealt with them over a work meeting lunch and saw a pending transaction on one terminal. They asked us to pay again on another terminal with a different card. Two days later, both payments showed as successful, so we let the hotel know. They first tried to make it sound like our fault. After three phone calls and a visit, they admitted the mistake was theirs and said they would refund one payment to an international bank account. That promise went nowhere. We later found out they hadn’t even started the refund on the day they said they had, which was very disappointing. After that, I spent a long time messaging an employee on WhatsApp. They eventually stopped replying and told me to come back in person to sort it out. During a fuel crisis in Burundi, that meant another $15 for an 8-minute taxi ride just to get my own money back. In the end, I had to stand my ground at the front desk. I spent about $30 on taxi rides, nearly missed a flight to Brussels, and finally got a cash USD refund. The service over such a small bill was unacceptable. Imagine paying a $2,000 bill twice because of their system error, then finding out only after you’re back home. They seemed unable to fix it remotely. The only thing that worked was physically going back to the hotel. Stay at Safari Gate instead. The people there are lovely, without the arrogant management attitude. Astere did a wonderful job in a difficult situation and handled things as best he could, even though management and accounting clearly let him down. The food was moderate, with sweet Indian food and slow service. Take this as a warning if you're deciding whether to stay here.