The Novotel Umubano in Kigali has positive and less positive sides. I stayed there four times during the last three years.

The plus: The restaurant, bar and pool areas have greatly improved over the years (particularly the garden and tennis facilities) and the staff is generally friendly and helpful. The lobby bakery and restaurant are very popular meeting spots for the local mix of NGO people, businessmen and government officers. Thanks to the French chef the food quality is generally good. The location is conveniently located half way between the airport and the city centre, taxis are easily available. Rwanda has a dual language policy and the hotel staff knowledge of both French and English has improved greatly. There is also a bank office open every day.

The minus: The rooms are ok, but generally a bit dated and would definitely benefit from a renovation. There are no rooms with air condition, a great minus if you have a room on the street side where the sun hits during the whole day. Ask at check-in for a garden side room – much more quiet as well. For those who count on working – there are not enough sockets in the room so that in the evening you either have the choice to work in the dark (using the table light socket) or without the fan. A great minus is the highly advertised wireless internet connection in all rooms and the public areas. While connecting is easy through a standard procedure using prepaid cards purchased at the reception, the connection speed and reliability of service is close to zero. Forget about accessing e-mail attachments – they just won’t load. Even using Skype is not possible at times. The so called business centre uses the same snail speed connection and has no PC equipped with CD-drives.

Considering the average rate of 145USD&Tax you may want to take the newly renovated Serena Hotel into account (ex Intercontinental), the location is more central and the general level is more than one star above the Novotel. The Serena comes at around 200USD&Tax for a standard room which leaves no choice to some but makes it a must for others. Considering budget and local ambiance I would stay at the Novotel again, considering comfort the choice would definitely be the Serena Hotel - where the internet connection really works.