Hotel de La Poste — Hotel in Saint-Louis

Hotel de la poste

BP. 48 Saint Louis (Senegal), St. Louis, Senegal

This hotel is an inseparable historical part of the beginning of the airmail service that is the pioneering of aircraft from Brazil to the Cape Verde Islands, then to St. Louis, Senegal then north to Europe.

This hotel originally dates from 1850, but seen from the present structure, the building dates back to the 1920s, says Richard Bradshaw to me sometime. The hotel has 40 rooms, all equipped with bathtub, A / C, TV and other modern conveniences and located adjacent to the Faidherbe bridge over the Senegal River. The hotel was designed by Gustav Eiffel.

The hotel rooms are designed around a beautiful central courtyard with palm ornaments, flowers and other charming ornamental plants. The front-facing rooms on the river side that cross the hotel all have small balconies.

The hotel's restaurant serves a delicious breakfast buffet and its rooms are decorated with vintage posters and wall lamps with aeronautical motifs. The hotel's gift shop sells a variety of souvenirs at reasonable prices.

Along the hotel there are vintage posters in the early days of air transportation and many other historic photos. The bar and reception desk both feature African elephant tusks as part of the interior of the hotel. The parking lot is very roomy and safe to park cars and motorcycles.

The Post Office and the Tourist Office are directly opposite the hotel. The hotel is connected to Flamingo Restaurant, located not far from the river that runs in front of the hotel. Guests are allowed to use the pool at Flamingo restaurant.

I have wonderful memories of staying at this hotel and for all the comforts of the hotel and the hospitality of the attendants who serve the guests, I will gladly return one day, my American friend Richard Bradshaw recounts his experience which is at the core of this review .

For all of the above description, I rated a 4 star rating...

In a place full of history an ideal place to stay is the Hotel de la Poste, whose origins go back to 1850, although the building dates from a later time. Always a very French place it is today owned by Toubab Senegalese (thus of European, in fact French origin). Besides a hotel it is now also like a museum of the pioneering days of the Aeropostale, full of photos, old letters and posters from the 1930's. In room 219 used to stay Jean Mermoz, who did the first crossing of the Southern Atlantic by plane.||Our room was No 222, also with a great view of the Saint Louis landmark, the Pont Faidherbe, illuminated at night. Although the hotel in many ways shows its age, we enjoyed staying here for its atmosphere. Beautiful is the courtyard with its many plants and also a palm tree, from where the stairs go up to the rooms in the first and second floor.||In the big dining hall with many posters is to be found a breakfast as of 6am with three juices, besides orange also 'bissap' (a bright red cold tea from Hibiscus flowers) and 'Bouye' (made from the fruit of the Baobab). Very French are the Baguette, the Croissants, the 'Vache qui rit' cheese. To be had are also yoghurt, hard boiled eggs, beef ham and pastry.||The hotel's restaurant is across the coastal road by the river, called 'Flamingo'. Next to it is the swimming pool, free for hotel guests, but also visited by outsiders against a fee. No towels are provided, the shower was not working and it all didn't look very clean, especially the sun loungers, so I only...

Stayed here as part of a tour across Senegal. ||The hotel is a blast from the past, with the aviation artefacts and history. There are little touches all over the place talking about this past, which is very cool. THe central courtyard is rather pretty with its whitewash and the greenery hanging off the roof and the railings. ||Our room was on the top floor, which sounds lovely until you realize that there is no elevator, so we had a good workout for the day odd that we stayed here…going up and down 3 flights of stairs. ||The room was decent enough, and had an extra bed that i used to spread and sort out my belongings easily vs working out of my duffel. The bathroom was tiny but clean. |One thing i did appreciate is the several power plugs.||The hotel bar is quite a nice spot to get a drink or coffee…although touts do come by trying to peddle their wares, if you sit outside. ||The hotel has a small room onsite for breakfast but that is not the main restaurant. The restaurant and a pool area plus bar are located about a block odd away on the riverfront. We did enjoy a decent meal there. Though our group was suffering from a bad intestinal bug picked up in the previous hotel and couldn’t relax fully. ||Overall this is a decent option in the centre of the Old Town, and a good dive into the past. ||The post office is just across the street, so use the opportunity to mail loved ones a...