Onomo Hotel Kigali

Check-in and check-out were both terrible, and the staff and service felt ill-mannered and uncaring. They stood watching while we unloaded boxes and loaded them into the car. My driver even asked them to help, but they wouldn’t. When I tried to order food from my room, I couldn’t use the phone and had to go downstairs to reception. They could see us struggling and just walked past without helping. The room design is terrible too. The toilet and bathroom smell flows into the bedroom because there’s no external ventilation from the toilet. It’s just a half door opening into the bedroom, so the smell gets into the room.

The hotel sits on a steep hillside and has beautiful views, plus good food. Breakfast was included daily for those of us at our meeting, with a really good variety at the buffet. I stayed in a simple, very clean room with a studio-like feel. I would have given it 5 stars, but there were a few issues with my room.

The food was good, and the menu was long. They seemed to have most of the items, and it came pretty quickly after ordering. Breakfast was plentiful too, with fruit, yogurt, hot dishes, and sweets. The location in Kigali is great, with a bar, restaurant, breakfast area, and rimflow pool overlooking the city. It’s a French chain hotel that looks the same everywhere. The service was great, and most staff had clearly had some kind of service training and were OK in English. Even the cleaning lady understood my English note asking them not to set the A/C to 16 degrees or tuck the sheets way under the bed. Reception staff were very friendly, but breakfast staff sometimes didn’t communicate clearly with them. On my first morning, the breakfast attendant had my room down as not including breakfast. I was in a hurry and said I’d clear it up with reception later, and he had me sign a slip for extra breakfast on my room. Reception later confirmed my booking did include breakfast, but the mistake was still there the next morning. That attendant lady was better and cleared it with reception herself. Even so, a breakfast was charged to my room at checkout. Reception was friendly and helpful, though. The rooms are cleverly designed in some ways, and the windows are well insulated. The shower door doesn’t close properly, though, so quite a lot of water leaks onto the wooden floor by the sink each time. The guest has to try to mop it up with the floor towel.

Giovanni and Sandra at reception were really kind and helpful, and Eugene at the bar was too. I had a lovely suite on the 5th floor with great views over Rwanda. What a lovely hotel. I’m looking forward to coming back.