Hotel berhampiran El Malick, Dakar

A few days prior to my stay, I sent an email enquiring about airport transfers as my flight would arrive in the middle of the night. No reply. On my day of arrival, after having organized the transfer myself, I called the hotel to let them know I will be coming very late, and they did pick up the phone and spoke English. (And they finally replied to my email after I had checked in and stayed one night, only to let me know they do not organize transfers and referred me to Hertz...) The receptionists speak English and seem reasonably friendly. Check-in was quick, check-out not so. The room was very bare bones, cramped and ascetic, with a rather strong, musty smell hanging around. The floor was made of hard plastic and was filthy, don't wear white socks! There was no luggage rack, probably because there simply is no room for one. There was, however, a desk and chair, a safe and a bed that's great for one person but would be incredibly narrow for two. The pillows were worn out and lumpy. For a hotel built in 2011, I would expect power outlets by the bed, but that was not the case here. No fridge. A/C worked well enough for December, but won't probably be too helpful in summer. Wifi was free and unlimited, but spotty and slow. Don't plan on teleconferencing here. A 0.5 L water bottle was provided and replenished daily. The bathroom came with no bars of soap or shampoo. There was a wall-mounted liquid soap container on the wall, similar to the ones you can find in public toilets. It said, ”hair, body and face wash”. I guess you could wash your dog, clothes and car with it, too. There was a bath mat and two bath towels, no hand towels provided. Water in the handheld shower was warm and pressure was okay. The carpets in the hallways were in desparate need of deep cleaning. Buffet breakfast was served in the lobby from 6:30 to 10 and cost a reasonable 8000 CFA. It was your usual affair: nothing to get excited about, but it will give you a good start of the day. Some hot and cold items, juices, yoghurt. The fresh fruit was nice and the croissants excellent. The same compound has a Novotel hotel right next door, and their informal restaurant on the ground floor serves lunch and dinner. There is a buffet (dinner 17 000 CFA) as well as à la carte, including the famous chicken yassa. The pool is shared by the Novotel and the Ibis. While their homepage claims it is heated, this was not the case, and in December, nights are cool so the water was a bit cold, but bearable. It was open from 9 am to 7 pm. The pool attendant was a grumpy old man who wanted your room number but didn't understand English, not even numbers. Pool towels were left to dry in the sun and then reused without washing, which is absolutely disgusting. I suspected it at first and then got proof by seeing the attendant simply place used towels to dry on furniture on the pool deck, folding them nicely afterwards. And then checked my towel to see that it was both filthy and smelly. Wow. Th

For the price, I expected average. This hotel is amazing. Gym, restaurant, cityscape view, and 5-star service. It’ in the center of the city so easy access to everything. Highly recommend if you’ll be doing lots of touring. Would definitely stay here again.

Great location, very clean and professional. Employees are also super friendly. I would suggest to the managers to developp a ”culture” of tips (ei; puting an envelopp in the rooms so clients can show their appréciation of the cleaning, add the option for tips in the interac machines used at the restaurant on the fort floor,etc.) so the employees get increased working conditions.

Hotels are supposed to be your home away from home, and in the 10 years I have been traveling, mostly Africa, 34 African countries, and counting, this has been true until King Fahd. My stay in each country is an average of 3 weeks. I get to know the staff and begin to feel welcome and comfortable; there are always small things, but they generally work out with the help of a willing and able staff. This hotel is convenient to work, and as its website boasts, caters to the business clientele, and has WI-FI, if I come back to Senegal, I will stay somewhere else and make do with the traffic. The housekeeping staff at King Fahd will try to accommodate you, and they do as well as possible, given the rules, but the rooms don’t get much of deep cleaning. The view can also be grand, but you have to ask specifically for a room with a view. Ms Khady Diatta at the front desk is always warm and welcoming very professional and made any front desk transaction seamless. Sadly she is but one. King Fahd is uncomfortable from the beginning, you get some help but not without having to beg for help/service from 3-4 different people. They are the most untrained “hospitality” staff I have encountered, and they will tell you what they think you want to hear, not the truth. Zero communication amongst staff. The WI-FI will not work for hours to days, but they will be surprised when you tell them it is not working if you complain to enough people; in my case, 5 people in one day. They sent two people in the AM to confirm the trouble with WI-FI, but they were not IT, and nothing came of it. I Spoke 2 times to the manager (Fatou Naiaye), 2 hours apart, and she told me they had hotspots available. I have never been more uncomfortable after interacting with a manager than with this manager, who became angry, just short of yelling at me after I tried to explain my frustration with the many things promised but unavailable in this hotel. The restaurant for breakfast is a whole other YUCK; the same wet sponge is used to “clean” the table and mat, swipe the mat, but there is a layer of forearm sweat lingering on the tables that, even after I pointed out made the server giggle and made no more effort to clean. There is no spray disinfectant for cleaning. That said, if you show up to breakfast after 7:00 AM, on my first Sunday, they haven’t rid up the tables or reset them, so you have to go look for flatware and napkins as well as a spot to eat, and they literally ask you what you are looking for!! Same breakfast food every day for three weeks. This is when I decided I couldn’t eat in there just take bananas and yogurt; I tried to leave with two pieces of bread on a plate and yogurt with a spoon to my room but was chased down by Maître ď, who took my plate and spoon, now with two pieces of bread in fist and yogurt back to the room. Apparently, the restaurant manager will not allow flatware or plates/bowls to leave unless it is room service. The rooms are musty and damp, even th