Stay Report: ibis Lagos Airport (Lagos, Nigeria - December 2017)

Stay Report: ibis Lagos Airport
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I was connecting from an international to a domestic flight in Lagos, Nigeria but that is not convenient so I had to overnight in the city.  The closest Western-brand hotel to the airport is the Ibis Lagos Airport so a lot of passengers use this as a transit hotel.  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.  The ibis does not provide complimentary airport transportation, but can arrange for airport transfer through their taxi partners.   

My company had booked the hotel but it is very easy to book the hotel through the

Accorhotels website or phone app.  Check-in is usually around 4pm and we arrived at the hotel around 5pm but our rooms were not ready.  It took over one hour for our rooms to be ready, and that only after pleading with the receptionist to get our rooms ready faster (as I was coming off of an international flight).  During the waiting period I got a good look at the lobby – as you enter into the lobby, on the right is the seating area while on the left is the ‘business center’ which are two computers next to the check-in desk.  The check-in desk is connected to the bar which leads into the restaurant; complimentary breakfast is served here along with buffet lunch and dinner.  There is a large seating area for the dining area which looks onto the pool and outside garden.  The elevators are located in front of the check-in counters, and I took the elevators to my room when I finally received my key.

The hotel is shaped like a V with the elevators located at the point; once you get off the elevators you can either go left or right to access your room.  My room was to the left.  As I opened the door, I realized it was a standard ibis room – basic and compact (although it did have some room to maneuver).  As you opened the door, there was a wall on the left and a little entryway that led into the room.  As you go into the room, on the left was the door to the tiny 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 (also, ibis provides minimal amenities; this hotel only provided soap, shampoo, and a towel). 

The bed was in the middle of the room and on either side of the bed were small night stands.  The bed itself was a decent in both size and comfort.  The bed had a nice douvet 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) as well as lunch and dinner; a gym with basic equipment; a pool; and meeting rooms.  My rate included complimentary breakfast so I did try that – there was a decent selection of fruit as well as hot items so it was a good and decent meal.

Overall, it was a decent stay at the Ibis Lagos Airport.  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 decent.  The major thing the ibis lacked was transportation to and from the airport – if it was complimentary it would’ve been better, but even paid transportation would have been useful given the amount of traffic to and from the airport.  There is also a general ‘musky’ scent that comes with the AC; this is something the hotel should look into.