Inzozi Africa House B&B — Hotel in Kigali City

Inzozi African Hostel was the perfect place for us. The quiet location combined with the cozy rooms and extraordinarily helpful and nice personal made our stay a very pleasant experience, which felt like vacation. The hostel is located a bit outside of downtown in Kacyiru, a nice and calm part of Kigali. In the area you can find some local restaurants and shops, which are mainly used by the local people. By moto it takes only 5 min to the city center and thanks to the central location in Kigali you can easily access all the other city parts. The staff is very kind and will gladly help you with whatever problem or question you have. Especially Raymond was a great help to us. Since we arrived late in the evening and were struggling with all the Covid 19 related regulations, he quickly contacted the authorities and managed everything for us. The rooms are simple but cozy, have each their individual bathroom and come with a mosquito net for each bed. I think the room service stands out: The rooms are cleaned daily, and you will be frequently provided with fresh sheets and towels. Besides the amazing rooms in this Hostel, you can also use the kitchen for cooking yourself. For 2000RWF (for gas usage) you can use the “ready-to-cook” kitchen and prepare your own meal. The fridge and the tableware are free to use, and you can buy cooled drinks for a cheap price. Additionally, there is a terrace with hammock and some tables to work and a comfortable living-room, that can be used for working or hanging out. There is also a selection of board games and books that every guest may use. One downside of this hostel was the Wi-Fi. There is a free Wi-Fi, but its connection is unstable, and it is not reachable from all the rooms. So, I hope this might be improved in the following months. Since breakfast is not included you can order it the day before and in the morning the staff will prepare a nice meal with fresh fruits, coffee, and omelet. You can also take any other meal at Inzozis if you talk to the staff the chef will come and prepare some nice meals for fair price for you. In resumé I rate Inzozi 5/5 stars, with outstanding service, nice location, and comfortable atmosphere. It’s a great place to stay for working people, since it is quiet, and the staff will take care of most things for you. If I come back to Kigali, I will definitely stay there again, and I would like to highly recommend this accommodation to any...

I really hate leaving negative reviews but this wasn't a good experience at all.

The main issue was the noise: the walls are paper thin, the doors bang, there seems to be zero sound insulation in the house. To make matters worse, the outdoor tables were just outside my bedroom window so it literally sounded like people were talking and playing their devices in the same room as me. There's no real effort to enforce quiet hours, with people coming and going and talking at full volume late at night and early in the morning. I slept just a few hours per night and it really ruined half of my week.

There are other issues which aren't as important, namely hidden charges to use amenities, such as the kitchenette which was listed on booking.com (although, after I complained, the owner did let me use the hob to cook some eggs), nor is there any coffee machine, as listed. Not having a water dispenser, thus forcing the guest to pay for drinking water, was also disappointing. This may be the norm in Rwanda, but in the previous guest house I stayed in in Kigali, they had a water dispenser.

The only positive things I would mention is that the rooms are cleaned daily, and the cleaner Chantal does a great job (she's also a really nice person). And Divine at the front desk is nice, she did what she could to make my stay pleasant. Also, the general design and furnishing is nice, with nice tables, chairs, sofas, desk, etc, so you can work and eat / drink at your convenience.

But to summarise, it does feel like a cheaply built, cramped building with no sound insulation, and no thought put into noise control for the comfort of the guest. With an overall impression that the guest is being squeezed to pay extra for every little comfort (drinking water, coffee, use of the hob, etc) adding to the sense of lack of hospitality. I've stayed in much better places (in the same price range) in Kigali.

With a little effort and care, this place could be made to be a lot better. And, on a positive note, if you don't mind noise, or if you yourself sleep late and get up early, you might have a pleasant stay...

I stayed at Inzozi Africa House B&B on KK 365 11 Street, Kikuckiro, Kigali, where I received exceptional service by the manager Raymond Azabe. I arrived following a night in a government-approved Covid quarantine hotel, required of all persons traveling to or through Rwanda, for one night, before taking an onward flight to Kamembe. It had been a harrowing week of flight cancellations across multiple continents and multiple Covid tests, causing me to miss being overcharged $70 for a sim card plus losing all of my passwords for my bank accounts and credit cards at the first hotel. ||||When I mentioned it to Raymond on checking in, he immediately called the sim card seller as well as the service provider to determine the correct price for the credit I received and effectively got the seller to remit the $70 overcharge, walking with me to a foreign exchange place that could provide me the dollars for the mobile money transfer sent to Raymond's phone by the sim card seller. Then, after realizing where I left my passwords in the first hotel at 2:00 AM in the morning, Raymond waited with me outside Inzozi for the passwords to be delivered at 3:00 AM, and then, as if that was not enough, he woke the cook to make me a full breakfast as I was hungry and had not had dinner. Finally, he arranged a taxi to bring me to the airport at 5:00 AM for my onward flight for a fraction of the taxi pick up fee charged by the first hotel. ||||Aside from this, the upstairs room where I stayed was spacious and comfortable with a balcony and nice views. In addition, the outdoor restaurant was well lit, mosquito-controlled, where I worked on my laptop till late in the night under the watchful eye of their 24-hour guard patrolling the compound. I highly recommend this place for both new and experienced travellers, short- and long-term stays, affordability, and extraordinary customer service provided by the staff, most especially, Raymond. ||||Thank you, Raymond, for making what would have been a devastating stopover in Rwanda to an unforgettable experience of kindness and caring in the heart of...