ibis Lagos Ikeja — Hotel in Ikeja

Where do I begin?

Arrival : The hotel's airport shuttle took forever to arrive at the airport, when it eventually arrived, it was a salon car and the driver had picked another passenger with their luggage so there wasn’t enough room for all the luggage in the boot. So some of the cases were put in the back of the car on the passenger seat and I and my husband had to squeeze in beside them.

Delayed from checking into room: We weren’t checked in on arrival because of a mix up with Accor taking payments. We thought we had booked the advance room and paid at booking. The reception staff told us Accor did not take advance payments for their bookings. This was rather, confusing as we made the booking on the Accor website and received a confirmation email with a zero balance i.e nothing to pay at the hotel. This continued till late into the night settled only after we called Accor customer services. The customer service agent over the phone suggested a hold be placed on my husband's card pending a further check on our bank account to confirm that no advance payment had been taken prior.

Location: Good location right in Ikeja. Not far from the airport and near shops and banks on Toyin Street and Allen Avenue. Easy to get around from this location.

The first room (Rm 516) : Getting off the elevator, you are hit with a loud noise from the air conditioning unit on that floor. The bed was hard and gave me back pain by the second night . The curtains in the room were torn and shower door didn’t close properly. Water from the shower was leaking onto the floor so I requested to change my room

Restaurant : Food was just okay and the restaurant staff were polite and helpful. At times different meals on the buffet and juice were not being replenished. Unfortunately I also had eggshells in my friend egg, but my worst turn off were the flies (not something you would expect at an Accor).

Checkout : We had a late flight out of town (10pm). The receptionist reluctantly permitted late check out until 4pm as an Accor silver member. We did have to wait at the reception with our luggage for 2hours before we got the airport shuttle to the airport. The return ride was much better. At check out we were charged again for the 8night stay and the initial hold on the account which was placed at check in was not released until after a week. I did write to Accor to point out the double charge before the hold was released. This caused my family further inconvenience. No apologies received from the hotel or Accor

Accor points: I still haven’t been awarded Accor points for my stay. Accor feels that I did not stay in the room myself - I can’t think of any reason why!! Just short of...

After reading the reviews, I was a bit saddened by how turned off people seemed after staying at this hotel. HOWEVER …

This place made me feel so welcome. It may have been the fact that I was there for 3 weeks, but everyone was kind, courteous, and helpful. As a westerner (oyimbo) in a new country, I learned to curb my expectations a bit (like having an ATM that was always ready to dispense), but there were always workarounds for that. (Don’t visit Nigeria if you’re a spoiled brat!)

The room cleaning service was EXCELLENT. It was always such a pleasure to return to a nice, clean, cool room after a hot day’s adventure. The slight odor of the bleach in the bathroom reassured me that care was given to ensure everything was properly cleansed.

And the breakfast buffet!!! What a wonderful experience. I have never eaten so well in a hotel before. American hotels can definitely learn from this place. Instead of a paltry “continental breakfast”, Ibis supplied tasty local fare in the form of fried yams, spicy meat sauces, and my favorite of all, the eggs. Plenty of juice choices as well (I am in LOVE with zobo!). Sometimes coffee would not be available, but that just made me explore other tasty beverages.

The guards at the gate were always cheerful and courteous, too. I felt like I was entering and exiting way too many times as I went about my business, but they always wished me a good morning or afternoon what felt like 100 times! I loved them for it.

What else can I say … oh! When I first checked in, I noticed that the bathroom sink wasn’t draining very well, and that the room’s safe wasn’t powered. After asking for it to be repaired, the IT technician visited the room within 15 minutes and fixed it. I had forgotten about the sink, but it got repaired as well! There were no problems at all after that. Really fast and efficient service.

The bed was fantastic! I slept very soundly. The foam layer was so comfortable!!!

As far as Covid protocols, everyone of the staff wore masks at all times, and hand sanitizer was plentiful and readily available. For a country with a relatively low vaccination rate, the hotel staff seemed to really take it seriously, and it was very much appreciated. I know it’s a pain, guys, but thank you for that extra level of comfort and assurance.

The next time I’m in Ikeja, I am DEFINITELY staying here again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sincerely, Charlie (room 201)

PS: Sabina, I miss you! Thank you for always being a cheerful presence at breakfast!

PPS: Bammie, thank you so much for helping me...

Staff response, attitude and it's standards are not really comply with the SOP's of accor hotels. Management of accor hotels needs to closely check on their daily operations. IBIS Ikeja - Lagos is not at all the brand of accor hotels. This is just a shabby hotel no ethics in valuing Guest. This hotel needs typical training to the entire team especially your front office & your f&b service team. When upon seek for any requests it seems they are not willing to serve guest, their appearance towards guests are not welcoming. Front office team needs exclusive training to approach guest. It is to appreciate the front office team to strictly monitor the movements of the guest, that's not mean that they could knock guest rooms in middle of the night and wake them in their sleep and demanding to pay advance for extending stay at the middle of the night. Night receptionist Mr Oluwefemi no hand overs between team he took. Privilege of calling to guest room several time, and knocking the door to several extend and finally he was about to enter my room in the middle of the night to confirm whether a guest in the room and demand for pay. This is ridiculous behaviour of the staff. Despite the guard who was on duty saw me entering to the hotel and even he received me with greetings, the same guard comes with the night front desk staff to knock my room.what kind of ethics these ibis hotel staff of Ikeja Lagos do really follow????? Unbelievable. Accor management team has to send an mystery audit team to review it's brand standards. Really accor hotels Need seriously to consider my review for updating it's...