Utopia Lodge Hotel

We trusted the high rating and comments on booking.com, but were shocked by what we found. We planned six nights and left after just one. The village and nearby area are nice, but the owners seem more focused on the bar than the neglected hotel. In our room, the wall was cracked, the bathroom door was broken and wouldn’t shut, and there was moss on the bathroom wall plus another crack in the wall decoration. I found a bunch of hair on the bathroom floor, and the cracked shower tube left some of my hair behind in the shower. The bar right in front of the hotel played loud music until 11 pm. Breakfast only started at 9.30, was quite poor, and the breakfast area smelled strongly of camels. The outdoor furniture was old and dirty, and I didn’t want to touch it. I couldn’t enjoy the breakfast or imagine staying any longer. I saw comments saying the price was fair, but I completely disagree. For the same price, we found a great, clean, quiet, and neat place in the next town, 10 minutes away by car, with a king's breakfast and a lovely host. I absolutely don’t recommend staying in Utopia. They also took payment in advance and charged us an extra one-night price because we chose to leave.

We only had a quick look around the ghost town, but stopped here for a few drinks. The lemonade was spectacular. We thought they’d brought us an extra-large one by mistake, but it turned out to be the normal size at the normal price. Brilliant!

The owner was really friendly, and I had a lovely time sharing a beer with some local expats at the bar. The bed was extremely comfortable, the shower pressure was good, and breakfast was good too. Great value for money. We also loved giving apples to the donkeys and camels!

We only went to the bar for a few drinks and didn’t stay at the hotel, but it turned into the most incredible night. Special mention to Lilly, the bartender, who’s such a fun and truly wonderful person. Thanks for a great evening!