CBD Hotel

After long days of work, the food was a real comfort, like home cooking, and exceptionally good. Mr. Giri took personal care to make sure I was comfortable, and the staff were friendly, attentive, and quick to help. I had a very pleasant, welcoming stay on my business trip and would highly recommend it to business travellers.

It felt like one problem after another. Our airport pickup driver was at the wrong terminal, even though our agent had sent the flight details in advance, and it took 15 minutes to sort out. Check-in was chaotic. We arrived at 7 pm, well after normal check-in time, and hotel staff had picked us up, so they knew we were on the way. Still, preparing the room took 10 minutes. They asked whether we wanted one bed or two and assured us the single bed was a king, but the hotel only has queen and twin rooms. We would have chosen twin if we’d known. The first room’s AC was broken. The second smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, which triggers my health conditions. When we complained, the bellman said, “I thought you are smokers,” though we aren’t and hadn’t said we were. The third room, on floor 1, had a sharp air freshener smell that seemed to cover a smoky odor. The bellman said he’d sprayed it to cover mustiness from being unused for a long time, not smoke, and said the smell should dissipate soon. It didn’t, even with the window open and the fan on. There was only one towel, so we called down for another. We then realized the bed was a queen. We were tired of switching rooms and considered staying, but the smell wouldn’t go away, so we moved again, this time to a twin room on the third floor. The finishes were outdated, the lighting dim, and the furniture and fixtures worn down. The staff were reasonably gracious about trying to meet my requests, but the language barrier and short staffing slowed things down. I don’t recommend this hotel for anyone with asthma or headaches triggered by smoke or strong smells. I wish they’d focus on getting the basics right for tired travellers arriving late instead of unimportant extras like welcome drinks.

The manager, Giri, and the staff were extremely welcoming and helpful with anything we needed. It’s also close to the airport. Great service, and I’d stay here again.

The strongest point for me was the EXCELLENT Indian restaurant on site. People who aren’t hotel guests seemed to come especially for lunch, and I rarely eat at hotel restaurants, but I ate here three days in a row. The hotel feels a bit dated and tired, like other places at this price in Dar es Salaam. Staff were generally friendly, but our first room had a strong tobacco smell despite being non-smoking, and we had to ask three different people before they moved us. The pool gets a lot of attention in the online listings, but it’s only a few metres from a busy highway, so it’s not a place I’d want to relax. We chose this place after reading many extremely positive reviews online, but I left convinced that a large number of them were fake. It’s not a terrible hotel, but I hope this is a more honest assessment.