Stay Report: ibis Abidjan Plateau (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire - December 2017)

Stay Report: ibis Abidjan Plateau
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In looking for a place to stay in Abidjan, there are many local hotels available but few Western-brand hotels.  Accorhotels was one of the few Western-brands in the country, and since I have stayed with them before I booked the ibis hotels.  Ibis hotels are a part of Accorhotels and they are a mid to lower-priced brand.  The hotels generally provide basic amenities including a decent room, fast wifi, a restaurant (with complimentary breakfast, depending on which rate you book), and sometimes a gym and/or pool.  It was very easy to book the hotel through the Accorhotels website or phone app, and when I had booked Accorhotels was having a sale so I got a really good deal.    

In partnership with other Accorhotel properties, the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle to and from the airport.  I had emailed the hotel about this and they said as soon as I got out of the arrival halls, the desk should be there; and it was.  There are specific timings for the bus, but these were not mentioned before so I waited for about 15-20 minutes for the driver to come.  The bus is a big (20 people) passenger bus but it does not have any hotel branding on it; it’s just a plain bus.  I got on the bus and 45 minutes later I was at the ibis Abidjan Plateau.

There are two ibis hotels in the city, one outside the city and one inside; I choose the ibis inside the city.  From the outside, there is not much curb appeal to the hotel.  The hotel from the outside looks dated and there is not really an entry way to the hotel.  From the sidewalk, you walk into a patio with outdoor seating and go through a metal detector to go inside the hotel.  Once inside the hotel, you have to put your stuff through an x-ray machine.  Opposite of the x-ray machine is a sitting area, the elevators to go up to the rooms, stairway to the parking garage, as well as access to the meeting rooms.  Right behind the x-ray machine, on your right hand side, is the check-in desks.  Straight ahead was the bar, a lounge/sitting area/ as well as the kitchen and dining area where the complimentary breakfast was served.  Behind the check-in desks was the ‘business center’, which consisted of two computers you could access and print your boarding pass. The lobby had a lot of seating area so it was a decent lobby.  I went to the check-in desks, received my key and took the elevator to the 4^th floor to my room.

Exiting the elevator it looked like a standard ibis hotel, and as I opened the door to the room it also looked like a standard ibis room – basic and compact (although it did have some room to maneuver).  As you opened the door, you entered into an entryway with a wall on the left and on the right was the entrance to the bathroom.  The bathroom contained a shower, a toilet and a sink but it was compact and tiny – there was not a lot of room to move.  In terms of bathroom amenities, ibis provides minimal amenities so this hotel had towels a pump next to the sink as well as one in the shower – this all-encompassing pump was the soap, bath gel, and shampoo all in one. 

As you went further into the room, on the right side was the bed set against the right side of the wall.  The bed was a standard ibis bed with two small night stands on either side.  The bed itself was a decent in both size and comfort.  The bed had a nice duvet and was generally comfortable; again not a great sleep but a decent sleep.  In front of the bed was the TV nook which had a TV on top and ibis menu and tv guide on the bottom.  Next to that was some space and then there was the open closet.  Ibis has open closets which basically amount to a line of shelves connected to an open area where you can hang your clothes.  It was a small space but decent enough to house your clothes.  The closet was connected to the desk which ran along the wall and looked out onto the window to the city.  At the end of the desk, underneath, was a sitting bench with plugs on the wall.  At the end of the desk was also where the small coffee pot and tea pot was located.  Overall, it was a small and compact room with a decent size bed that provided a comfortable night sleep.

The best amenity ibis provides is the free and fast wifi.  Their wifi speeds are very good and they generally do not limit the number of devices that can be logged on.  In addition to the wifi, other amenities included a restaurant that provided complimentary breakfast (based on which rate you booked), complimentary parking, and meeting rooms.  My rate included complimentary breakfast so I did try that – there was a decent selection of mostly cold items including cheese and salads with some hot items (included eggs) and a large selection of bread and croissants.  Juices, coffee and tea were also available.  With ibis, it was a decent and good breakfast; not great, but good. 

Overall, it was a decent stay at the ibis Abidjan Plateau.  The rooms were decent, if not small, but they provided a nice and comfortable sleep.  The wifi was free and fast and the complimentary breakfast, if applicable, was good.  The complimentary airport transportation was a bonus, and the location was good as it provided easy walking access to many sights with the Plateau neighborhood.  The service was also very good at the ibis, so overall it a typical ibis room with good service and nice amenities.