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Hotels
The Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa is
world class - as good as anywhere in the world.
The Jerusalem Guest house in
Lalibela, run by Solomon Gebeyaw (phone 03-36-00-47) is simple, new and
peaceful. The personal attention from the owner makes all the difference.
Alas, the Government-owned Ghion
chain which controls the major hotels, Roha in Lalibela, Yeha in Aksum, Goha in
Gondar and Tana in Bahar Dar could use work. The
following is an excerpt from a letter sent via our travel agent to the
management of the Ghion Hotel chain group and the Ministry
of Tourism:
Tourism
is still in the development phase. Minor inconveniences such as power
interruptions and bad plumbing can, and should be, overlooked most of the time.
These are small prices to pay for a rich experience. Nevertheless, in my
opinion, hotels, those sanctuaries to which we spoilt westerners like to
retreat, should NEVER be CONSISTENTLY bad.
Based
on my experience at 3 Roha-chain hotels and rating them on a scale of
"1" to "4", with "1" being the worst, I'd give
them a "1/2". Never, in my lifetime experience of travel have I seen
the so-called-best hotels in the tourist areas of a country to be
that consistently bad. Here are some examples of why:
 | No hot water at all in
Lalibela and Gondar during designated times.
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| 4 telephone messages in Bahar
Dar never delivered. |
| Mosquitoes in rooms in
Tana; broken windows and insect screens in 3 of the 4 rooms considered.
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| Fleas in 2 rooms at Lalibela.
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| Rude waiter in Lalibela.
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| Packed lunch from Bahar Dar
that was inedible.
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| Power cuts in Gondar and
Bahar Dar.
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| Threadbare carpets, cracked
washbasins, tap handles that won't stay on, toilets that don't flush. |
| Very mediocre western food.
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It's
easy to be critical and I recognize that money is not available to fix these and
other problems, but I mention this in the hope that you will pass on the message
to those in Government that make policy. If Ethiopia is to capitalize on
its culture, history and wonderful people, it must attract foreigners with
money, especially tourists. The Sheraton in Addis Ababa sets a wonderful
standard that the Ghion chain should study closely. Also the resort hotels
of Tanzania. If Ethiopia is to rise once more it must make people feel more
welcome. Food and lodging are a critical factor for the word-of-mouth
success of tourism.
My friend, Peter
Nalle perhaps says it best: "First,
the government has to recognize that it can make more in tax or
concession money than it can in direct operation -- but that means giving up the
patronage model -- which no self-respecting authoritarian government can afford
to lose".
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