Collubus Hotel

The rooms have plenty of space, and I liked the big windows. They give you a nice city view and let in fresh air when you want some ventilation.

We felt welcome here, and I think it’s a great place for tourists. The staff arranged our airport taxis without any trouble and looked after our bags and valuables while we were out. Breakfast was included. Our 4th-floor room was spacious, had strong air conditioning, and a nice view. The shower pressure was a little weak and breakfast was somewhat sparse, but neither was a big deal.

It’s a good place to stay, though the hotel needs to improve its service to guests, especially the people staying there.

Service was friendly but basic for Dar Es Salaam, and staff were unprofessional in how they treated female and trans people in our group. The hotel markets itself as good quality, but it didn’t feel that way. We also struggled with a real language barrier between Swahili and English, which made even basic communication difficult. The aircon in our room was broken. When we asked for a repair and came back that afternoon, staff had packed our things and moved them to another room without telling us or asking permission. They said they couldn’t fix the aircon. The room they moved us to was worse, without the balcony our first room had. My friend had left toiletries in the old bathroom; staff said they’d retrieve them, but didn’t. She later knocked on the old room and found a new couple there. They had asked the front desk for that room, and we became suspicious that we’d been moved because they were willing to pay more for a high-floor room with a balcony. Breakfast was mediocre at best, and drinks were overpriced. Buying them just outside the hotel cost half as much as at the bar. After we checked out, we waited for a taxi in the evening and searched for a friend. A distant camera caught the security guard taking earphones from a bag by the patio-bar. When we noticed the item was missing, the manager wouldn’t help. It took him two full days just to let us or anyone else view the camera footage. He delayed and stalled when we asked to cooperate and report the missing item to police, gave police misleading information about what was missing, and wouldn’t even help us make a local phone call. He wouldn’t bring a key so we could view the footage, and ignored us at work after we asked the staff to find him, then acted as if he didn’t know what was going on. Another person in our group had money stolen from his room in the middle of the night. He chased the man out, but management said they couldn’t see anything on the cameras as he left the hotel. At night the front desk staff fell asleep, making it impossible to get in. Several people from another group were locked out for over 20 minutes while the receptionist slept behind the desk. I’ve travelled the world and have never seen management this incompetent. The staff were unhelpful and lethargic, beyond what a language or cultural barrier could explain.