Sweet Guest House — Hotel in São Tomé

Our Impression of the guest house was formed even before we arrived. Bemilton was so helpful in giving us information about what to do in Sao Tome and the costs thereof which was so instrumental in our planning. We found that the information on the net was a bit limited. He was so patient with us as we asked so so many questions!||||Our flight was delayed and our check in was really late but it was stress free. ||Being able to exchange Euros for Dobras at the guest house was really useful. ||The guest house is central and is walking distance from the market and some cool restaurants in Sao Tome. ||||Our room was lovely and incorporated African print into the curtains and bedding, the sheets were so soft, and the room had air-conditioner. The bathrooms are shared but always super clean so we had no issues there. ||||The guest house offers breakfast at an additional cost, but it's affordable. It has great common area upstairs with views overlooking the city, and a kitchen with all amenities so you could self cater if you wanted. There's also a jar of curated "get to know me"type questions in the common area downstairs which I thought was pretty cool and fun to play with new people that you meet. ||||The staff really went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our stay. If they made recommendations for restaurants, for example, they would always follow up and address criticisms if there were any. ||||I can't really fault this place, it's a great guest house and they go...

I was in Room 209. It has a large bed, table and chair, AC, and power sockets conveniently located next to the bed. There is no TV. The bathroom has a shower (no bath), only liquid soap (no bar soap) and no hair dryer. While the room does not have a fridge, there is a common area - living room, kitchen and balcony - so you can store things in the communal fridge. My room was on the upper floor with a hallway/balcony outside. Sometimes I had to wiggle the key a bit to open the door to my room. The Wi-Fi password shown on the information card in the room was not quite right (had to add a ‘’1’’ to the end if using the main Wi-Fi network, but, as written, it worked for one of the other networks). ||||The staff here are very helpful. For example, one evening one of the lights started flickering in my room, which was very annoying. When I mentioned it to reception, they came over quickly to replace the bulb. ||||You’re not near restaurants, so bring food back with you in the evening or take a taxi to get there. There is a very small minimart right across the road if you’re desperate for food or drink. There is a security guard at the front gate. ||||Sweet Guest House is a good option for somewhere to stay...

I enjoyed my stay at Sweet Guest House, but I can’t help but feel that they nickel-and-dime you for everything. The breakfast is 10€ per person for a very simple continental breakfast, while there are cafes nearby where you can eat delicious local food at your hearts content for 2-3€ total. If you want late check-out there’s a fee, which is fine - but what’s not fine is that they want to charge an extra 7€ to use the common areas after checkout. This is not a way to respect guests who have already paid a relatively high premium to stay here. They also charge 10€ per person for a taxi, which is billed by the hotel - again, I can’t help but feel the price is exaggerated and the hotel retains a cut.

The room was clean, comfortable, and had air conditioning, and the shared areas are lovely. Service was hit-or-miss. The receptionists were great, particularly Gerilson who provided amazing service, but the chefs at breakfast seemed bothered that we would even talk to them.

Anyways, I’m not so sure I would stay here again. I would definitely consider other...