Hôtel Laginaque — Hotel in Yaoundé

Staying in this hotel is the worst experience I have had in my travel life.To start with, the pictures of the rooms online are not real even though the hotel is well situated, to be fair. On arriving the hotel, I met the owner who initially looked friendly, even though he insulted me a couple of times, I assumed he was only playing with me. When I entered the room after paying (because you cannot see the rooms except you pay 4 days at a stretch which I did), the room was not anywhere close to what was on the internet. The rooms are infested with rats, cockroaches and have a bad odour (Thanks to my body spray which I used to spray the room, but didn't help much). The rats feasted on the snacks I bought. Upon informing the property owner (who triples as the receptionist and manager), he didn't even allow me to finish before shouting and ranting at me. He threatened me to get out of his property if I am not satified. Every simple request I make (request like "can I please get a teacup and spoon) are answered with so much disregard and insult. In fact, the man blatantly told me "I will not give you teacup or teaspoon" the first time I made a request to him. When you greet the owner, he finds it difficult to answer back. Again, you cannot go out with your room key, you must keep it with at the reception before going out and your room is visited by them when you step out --I don't really know what they come to do I my room every time I step out. I don't have a problem with leaving my key with them, but the manner with which he told me about leaving my key was incredibly insulting as he was on top of his voice when doing that. I was quite scared while in this hotel because I thought that such an aggressive man could be harmful-so I tried to avoid him. ||Please don't visit this hotel if you value friendship and your health. It's cheap but it's not worth...

What a bad experience.... I spent 4 days in this hotel just because due to a convention all the others were full. Once at the desk the authoritarian owner addressed himself to me by saying this is the best hotel.... I asked to see a room and he said it was not possible but as the announce at the reception says you can see the room on the website. Well noting on the site of the hotel correspond to the reality from the room pictures to the services offered! No restaurant service at Laginaque and if you order for a delivery the price will be a good souvenir for you ( I paid at least double of the price for a good meal at the "La Salsa" restaurant)||The last night at the Laginaque was a nightmare no electricity and the Mosquitos eat me completely...... Yes correct no generator at the Laginaque.||Further and last detail left me open mouth after having had to pay in advance and completely my 4 days stay there as soon as I got in the room, was that every time if left the hotel to go to have a meal I had to leave the keys at the reception with the owner which accessed to my room several time during my absence..... Just crazy.....||The night I spent without no electricity he gave me a torch I left in the room to go out for dinner at my return at the entrance he have me another torch. I thought to be the second one just to realize that during my dinner out he got in the room to take it and use it for other unlucky guests..... ||DO NOT USE THIS HOTEL IF YOU HAVE ANY CHANCE TO USE...

I stayed here for several nights when my family came to visit me in Cameroon, and we were quite happy with our experience. The rooms are very nice and clean, the beds are comfortable, and we appreciated the fact that hot water and mosquito nets were provided. The hotel is on a quiet side street, and security is excellent. Yes, you have to leave your key with the receptionist when you go out, but that's fairly common in Cameroon, and trust me, your key is far safer at the front desk than it is with you out in Yaounde (though I should note that Bastos, the neighborhood where Hotel Laginaque is located, is a very posh, expat-y, diplomatic neighborhood, and is generally quite safe anytime before 10-10:30 pm or so [and even then it's not dangerous as long as you exercise a little more caution and don't go out alone]). And yes, there isn't a generator, but that keeps the room prices reasonable, and because it's Bastos, the power is never out for long (and it never went out when we were there, though admittedly that's a rarity for Cameroon [but it's part of the experience!]). The hotel is literally a 2-3 minute walk from some of the best restaurants in Yaounde -- Italian, Turkish, Chinese, pizza, burgers, and, of course, that excellent Cameroonian roasted chicken, fish, and plantains! And on a final note, the hotel's owner, Joseph Mangwa, is truly lovely -- warm, welcoming, helpful, and kind. You won't get a better experience or better value anywhere...