Stay Report: Hilton Addis Ababa (Ethiopia - January 2014)

Stay Report: Hilton Addis Ababa
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Photo Courtesy of Hilton.com

I had a really long layover in Addis Ababa (over 14 hours) so instead of spending it at the airport, I decided to use my points and relax at the Hilton Addis.  Overall, the hotel is very large and expansive with lots of amenities, but definitely needs to be updated.   

After you exit customs and enter the arrivals hall, there is a Hilton booth/stall where you can wait for transportation.  The hotel does not provide complimentary transportation, rather there are two paid options; either the Hilton shuttle or a private car.  The private car costs a little more, and since I had been flying all night and had assumed the private car would be quicker, I had booked that option; I was very wrong.  I entered the booth/stall with another couple who had paid for the shuttle; they waited for 2 minutes and went into the shuttle while 15 minutes later I was still waiting for the private car.  When the car finally showed up, it was dirty with trash all over the floor, looked run down, was uncomfortable, and the driver was playing a rap song with a lot of cursing and inappropriate language.  It was definitely not the way you want to start your trip. 

Photo Courtesy of Hilton.com

The hotel is located near the UN building but there is not much around it in terms of walking. The hotel does provide maps for shopping and other amenities if you want to take a cab or private car.  The hotel is a big complex with lots of people and is very busy. From the outside, the hotel looked like it was nicely built for the 1980's and has not been updated since then.  From the entrance, you walk up an outside walkway to the main lobby.  When you enter the lobby, straight ahead are the check-in desks while to left is the sitting area and to the right are other services/desks (see below for the facilities available).  Check-in went smoothly, I was given my key and quickly went to my room.  The first room I went to had an odd smell to it so I asked to be switched to another room. 

Photo Courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

The room was a decent size but was very outdated as both the room and the bathroom looked very good for the 1980's.  As you entered into the room, on the left was the bathroom while on the right was closet.  The bathroom had a sink, a tub, and a toilet, all of which looked outdated and were very low to the ground.  Further into the room, against the left wall was the bed while against the right wall was the chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV on top and a desk next to it.  I had a room with a king size bed, so that was against the wall with a nightstand on either side.  The bed itself was large and decent but not extremely comfortable; it was not uncomfortable but not extremely comfortable either.  

We had access to the club lounge and we went there for breakfast as well as cocktail hour.  The Club is not that big and it is divided into two sections – the first section on the left contained the food and drinks while in the right section was the seating area.  The seating area was enough for 15-20 people, which was fine for breakfast as there were not many people; however, for cocktail hour there were TONS of people so it felt congested and tight. 

As I said earlier, the hotel has a very big complex and there are lots of facilities for the guests to enjoy including:

Photo Courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

• a money changer with good rates (note: remember to keep your receipt as we had charged food to the room and needed to pay that but the hotel needed a receipt from the hotel money changer to verify the exchange)
• Airline offices – Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways
• Safari and Tour Group Bookings
• An Olympic size pool (which was very busy in the evening time)
• a promenade with shops
• a restaurant near the pool (with decent food but service was a little slow and hectic)
• a spa and sauna with one of the best, and cheapest, massage I have ever had.

Photo Courtesy of Hilton.com

While the facilities provided for the guest are a great positive, a huge negative was the lack of customer service.  After the issue with the airport pick-up, I had asked the hotel to make note of it when I checked in.  When I followed up, I had to talk to multiple individuals because nobody spoke to each other.  It was very frustrating repeating the same information due to lack of communication amongst the staff.

Overall, it was an interesting stay at the Hilton Addis.  The positives were the nice facilities and amenities available to the guest.  The negatives were the poor room quality and the poor front desk customer service.  It was definitely not the Hilton experience I was expecting, but it was better than sleeping at the airport.