The Vacation Homes villa

Our booking wasn’t fully honored because they said the rooms we had booked were in use, so we were moved around and left with unsustainable sleeping arrangements. Rooms were often dirty, and both water and electricity were intermittent. The booking site said we could pay by credit card, but staff said we couldn’t. Then someone demanded payment again, leaving us in a frightening, uncomfortable situation where we were effectively held there for at least an hour. The stay was awful from beginning to end. Avoid this place if you don’t want to lose your booking and money.

We were a group of 34 and had booked through booking.com well in advance. We’d also checked with the hotel beforehand that they could accommodate us all. When we arrived, the facilities didn’t match what was described, and there weren’t enough rooms for our booking. There was no water for two days because, we were told, the tanks behind the 'hotel' hadn’t been paid to be filled. Showers had no hot water, the cookers had no gas, and most fridges didn’t work. The promised sofa beds were just sofas. There were no laundry facilities, not enough crockery or kitchen utensils for self-catering, and only one pillow for the double bed. Room fans were broken, there was no air conditioning, no kettles, and no daily cleaning. The pictures on booking.com and elsewhere weren’t accurate. We made do until the penultimate night, when things got very unpleasant. The manager/owner locked our whole group and our Rwandan friends in the compound and demanded cash for the stay, even though we were visiting to deliver cricket to a local school and support local initiatives. The local Police came and the situation was calmed down on the hotel side. The hotel told them, as well as us, that it had no card machine and that we had to withdraw cash. After a lot of heated discussion, a resolution was reached. We made sure to leave before 10am the next morning. Somehow, the hotel had then 'found' a card reader and let us pay by card. They lied to us and the Police. Visit Rwanda has been notified about our shocking experience. I’ve since read other reviews saying the hotel claims it has no card reader when asking for money, and that claim is untrue. My advice: DO NOT STAY HERE.

They were very accommodating when we arrived and took us straight to our apartment. I was happy with the facilities, although construction opposite meant my room didn’t have much of a view. Breakfast came with the stay. It wasn’t anything special, but I appreciated having it. Paying was the hassle: their card machine wasn’t working, so we had to find a cash machine.

I had a great stay here. The apartment was clean, well cared for, and in a good location. The kitchen had what I needed to cook, and the Wi-Fi was fast. Only small complaint: the shower could use better water pressure.