CITIHEIGHT Hotel Lagos — Hotel in Ikeja

Set in the city’s highbrow area of Ikeja, 3 miles from Murtala Muhammed International airport and ten minutes from the commercial district of Allen Avenue, is the luxury boutique CitiHeight Hotel. It is also in the vicinity of several global hotel brands including Ibis, Sheraton and Radisson Blu. Having booked our holiday straight after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s July 19th announcement, my daughter and I took our first post COVID-19 international trip in search of some culturally relevant inspiration. Lagos was a great option as it is on the UK government’s amber list of countries and a destination where we could really get immersed in the culture. Our UK airport experience was hectic to say the least, and we arrived a day later than scheduled. Even the most-prepared traveller is advised to have two or three back-up plans in case of “incaseities”. I sent a quick email to the hotel, explaining the last minute change in plans and luckily for us, Banji, the hotel manager was very accommodating and sympathetic to our plight.||Upon arrival, we were treated like VIP’s by the polite and friendly hotel staff who took our luggage and escorted us to our room on the 6th floor. Prior to our travel, we had made reservations through booking.com and in response to our welcome email, we made a special request for “a high floor with a birds eye view”. While our preference was peace and privacy, we anticipated endless trips down to the restaurant and bar. Our executive room was pretty much like the photos on the website. Palatial, lustrous and spacious, featuring a plush king size bed with bespoke bedside cabinets and an inviting lounge area. Alongside the usual amenities, there was the obligatory hand sanitizer, but I couldn’t help but notice the bold and intriguing artwork decorating the walls. What a fantastic way to showcase emerging as well as established artists. ||CitiHeight is a luxury boutique hotel, on par with international standards, and I would go as far as calling it an ‘art hotel’ considering the vast art collection and attention to visual aesthetics. The allure for me was the authentic art pieces dotted throughout the hotel. From the hotel entrance, to the lobby, restaurant, and on every floor. I saw choice object d’art pieces that fused local elements of traditional art within the luxury architecture, giving the hotel a sense of high-end opulence fused with contemporary cool. I began to envisage a ‘classic meets contemporary’ theme for a photo shoot.||||Tip: Take some Instagrammable shots around the hotel (Do not touch artwork).||||Pool Life: When it comes to ‘pool life’ at CitiHeight, just grab a sunbed and relax. Although the pool lacks an outside view, poolside was a popular hangout for my daughter and her friends. Since it had a private/secret garden feel that was ideal for swimming, sipping cocktails and soaking up the sun during the day. The pool was also a perfect place for a social distancing party by night. Just beside the pool is the modest but well-presented gym where we saw to our fitness needs using the treadmill, equipment for cardio and weight training.||||Tip: Ask the staff to help you take the most Instagram-worthy pool-side shots.||||Breakfast is Served: post COVID-19, the beloved buffet style breakfast is no longer self-service, but the staff were extremely helpful in suggesting a balanced meal from the menu. After the rigmarole around PCR testing as regular intervals before during and after our holiday, were comfortable in the knowledge that the enhanced health and safety protocol is perceptible in all areas of the hotel; most especially at breakfast, where there was an expansive selection of continental, traditional and healthy options on offer, alongside the a la carte menu. New rules required that we approach the food stations, make our order and a member of staff would bring our meal to us as we sat at tables that were a good social distance from each other. ||||Tip: I would highly recommend the local breakfast dish of boiled yam, egg sauce and plantain.||||Special Events: Surrounded by conferences, workshops social events, private parties and photo shoots; I was in my element one morning when I stepped out of the lift and inadvertently into a pre-wedding photo shoot, cameraman and flashing lights paparazzi style. ||Beautiful bride-to-be ||Traditional ensemble ||Extravagant accessories ||||Tip: I would love to see more of Lagos art scene through an art exhibition hosted at CitiHeight Hotel ||||Busman’s Holiday: Due to its prime location in the heart of the city, CitiHeight Hotel is the perfect destination for business and leisure, but the best views of the city’s skyline is through the windows in the hotel corridors where you can stand, chat on your mobile or meet other guests while you take in the hustle and bustle below. With my packed itinerary, I had networking events to attend, business connections to make and prospective business opportunities lined up. Bolt was my transportation of choice as I found it to be the most affordable and accessible, and all my drivers informed me before they “started the clock”.||||Tip: Download the Bolt app in Nigeria and pay cash to your driver when you arrive at your destination. ||||Evening Ambiance: ||After an eventful day around the city, it was back to the guest lounge area and restaurant for a combination of fine dinning and live entertainment. All cuisine was prepared from scratch using local suppliers and seasonal ingredients, and this could take up to an hour at times, yet it was always worth the wait as the food was outstanding. ||||Tip: If you prefer a light meal, I would recommend the delicious coleslaw side dish.||||The highlight of my trip was returning to my peaceful private sanctuary after long day of trips to the local markets and social events on the mainland’s and islands. Don’t get me started on the traffic. Our room was cleaned daily, suitably soundproof and the bed was comfortable. I found the staff to be courteous, patient and professional. I would go as far as to say that the staff - headed by Grace at the reception desk, were very proactive in their roles. At times, they even anticipated out needs before we did. Overall, we had an excellent guest experience at CitiHeight Hotel and I highly recommend this hotel for anyone visiting...

The only thing I liked about this hotel was the helpfulness of the staff.

The first room I was in smelt strongly of damp. The smell was even worse in the tiny bathroom that did not meet the definition of executive. The expeller in the bathroom was full of dust and wedged open with a piece of wood. The shower curtain was filthy and the anti-slip mat inside the bathtub was even worse. The hotel provided only ONE towel that has seen better days and could no longer be called white. Ditto for the bath mat itself. Oh, and NO hand towels whatsoever. Thankfully, I was always travel to Nigeria with my own towels and my own toiletries cos the ones provided were just too laughable. The bath taps mechanism for switching from running water to using the shower head was broken and required constant twists and turns to get water out of the shower. The shower head itself was chipped and so badly rusted. It was only my personal hygiene standards that kept me using the facilities daily. As for the beddings, again they were no longer any shade of white I am familiar with. I also know that on the days I had housekeeping done the bedsheets weren’t always changed evidenced by a small curry stain (spilt by me) that was still present after housekeeping had been done. The second room was better but same issue with shower curtain and bath mat. This time I complained, and the shower curtain was replaced, and I was given TWO bath towels. It makes me wonder why I needed to complain to have the right standards met? The furniture was chipped with drawers that didn’t close. And the ever-present smell of damp, especially in the bathroom. And yes, again the expeller was filled with dust and wedge open with a piece of wood. As for tea/coffee, you get ONE sachet of Milo, ONE sachet of Peak Milk and a sachet of Nestle coffee. NO TEA. And pray tell, when did luxury hotels stop providing irons and ironing boards? Apparently, the only way to not wear rumpled clothing is to PAY for them to be ironed by the laundry service. Really??? This is NOT a luxury hotel and should not be billed as such. The executive rooms are not what the costs paid for them. The owners need to do a top-down refurbishment of their rooms. This includes their bathroom, the towels and toiletries provided as well as the refreshments provided in the room. I have stayed in better hotels in Lagos at...

Impressive interior design and amazingly warm staff. Clean, mosquito-free environment with sumptuous, white fluffy pillows and sheets. Boutique style hotel with more than a touch of class. Better than any UK hotel costing twice the price by far!!!! Good WiFi.

Great concept of in-room smartphones with free calls within Nigeria and to 5 international destinations such as the UK and US. You can even leave the hotel with them for the duration of your stay and browse for free. It’s a shame the mobile provider network (MTN) was down for my one night stay. All hotel info and menus are built in to the smartphone interface.

Struggled to find any negatives apart from barely noticeable finishing/snagging errors on corner grouting in bathrooms. Also, the parquet flooring edges not properly trimmed on bathroom entry. I know, this criticism may seem rather pedantic but when you’re sitting on the toilet praising everything this hotel does it has to be noted.

Fantastic hotel.

Word to management:

Great ambiance and excellent customer service. Just keep an eye on maintaining or achieving that so easily attainable gold seal by repeat snagging in all rooms. Other than that the rooms are well above average for price range.

Edit: All was going so well until breakfast. Food was bordering on cold and of all the places to see roaches, running all over the breakfast buffet is not one of them. Reported to staff who did not really respond. I understand roaches are around but in an establishment like this it is unacceptable, especially near to food! Breakfast begins a 6am and I came into the restaurant at 7am so the food had not long being laid out! The area would have been empty prior to setting out the buffet. Very bad, sorry.

Two bites and I had to abandon my cold breakfast. Removed one star from the rating for this but was tempted to remove two.

On another note, using the toilet after a shower is rather weird due to the unusual placement right in front of the shower as you can see in the picture. Not a great design for such a nice hotel. Floor all wet...