I have stayed in Grand Hotel Kinshasa in several occasions in the past few years. Kinshasa is not the most beautiful capital city in Africa and this is understood that this is difficult to run any businesses smoothly in this economical and social environment, but this is no excuse in my view for the Grand Hotel to over charge so shamelessly their clients (some 200 usd a night). The hotel is old and rooms are relatively clean and poorly furnished. The bathroom was under normal standard for such hotel's category and anemities are non existent. The swimming pool has a good size but would deserve some refurbishing. Food is lousy and very expensive. The breakfast buffet was charged 25 usd and was not worth it. Services is generally lousy although staff is generally friendly.

Grand Hotel Kinshasa is definitely not a good value for money, regretfully as many if not most of hotels available (at least known by me) in Kinshasa.

I read previous reviews on this hotel before travelling and so was pleasantly surprised.
If you speak French to the reception staff you will have no problem, and some of the waiting staff in the breakfast cafe made good efforts to communicate in English. The omelette maker was particularly helpful!
The hotel is in the process of refurbishment so a large section was not available, including the pool but we were not disturbed by any works. Generally it is a tired and tawdry 1970's concrete box but everywhere was clean and tidy, the bed was comfortable and the linen spotless. Most of the facilities in my room worked fine apart from the TV remote. Chipped sanitaryware and rough decorations indicated the need for a make-over.
UN and government forces were much in evidence and there is a metal scanner in the reception though this was only used erratically. $250 a night is steep, but that comes with the secure territory.
In summary it's a perfectly satisfactory place to stay but the maximum stars I could give it would be 3.
I have stayed in worse so-called 3-star hotels in Paris though!

I was booked in this Hotel from January 19th till January 30th. Two weeks! The Hotel - new tower (built in 1985) has not seen any paint since then, it looks run down and old. They are however busy upgrading the old part and the new building does look impressive and up to world standards.

My stay there was bad, but I have stayed in worse places. The room smells musty , but that could be because of the overall climate of the country. They do try very hard to give the appearance of a world class hotel, but with 5 Stars - I expected a bit more. Then I must say that the 5 Stars are equal to 2 - 3 Stars in a first world country.

The hotel is overpriced for what you get. I paid $295 per night, and that included breakfast at $35 per day. This is a discounted price as the normal price is now $305 per night.

There is no coffee facilities in the room and the mini bar is extremely expensive, with a Gin & Tonic working out at $19.50. You do get two complimentary bottles of water, but they do NOT replace these everyday during your stay.

The hotel does have a couple of shops down in the lobby area, selling clothes, cellphones and gadgets at astronomical prices. (Example - an entry level Nokia phone that costs $30 is sold for approx. $ 65) There is banking facilities and AVIS vehicle rental (@ $85 per day for small compact)

The staff looks irritated by your questions, probably because I cannot speak French. They do try to help you with requests, but the service is slow.

The food in the hotel is very expensive and ALMOST, JUST edible. It is NOT up to world standards as compared to a first world country.

Unfortunately, this is the ONLY hotel you can consider as an option if you stay more than one day in Kinshasa. The rest are even worse.

SO, the overall experience is not that bad - if you have hair on your teeth!

...Where nothing works well, and some things don't work at all. In that context, this was a good stay. There were no power failures, bad smells, malfunctioning facilities or rude staff. The bed was comfortable, the room was spacious and it had a beautiful river view.

But the breakfast buffet had a highly unconventional selection of tasteless dishes (spring rolls? chicken wings? green beans?) Why not more than one kind of the country's plentiful fresh fruit or more traditional dishes, such as eggs or cereal? Our billing included breakfast and wireless internet, so there was no price outrage at the poor quality of both, but beware.

The hotel is, for the foreseeable future, under extensive reconstruction. The larger (older) half is closed for renovation, including the entire pool area. It came as a surprise that there is no swimming or fitness option, despite advertising to the contrary.