Mbugani Hotel — Hotel in Kilimanjaro

Stayed here for a couple of nights in Sept 2019 as part of my trek up Kilimanjaro. The hotel is set just off the main street and located over a mattress shop. ||||The rooms are basic - With TV, and en suite bathrooms. I stayed in 2 different rooms during my week. Both rooms were noisy - with both noise coming from other guests fighting in the middle of the night, to the 0450hrs daily mosque call to prayer located 100m down the road. ||||My ensuite bathroom consisted of a shower with a non working hot water system - despite management "fixing" it. The shower drain of both rooms constantly filled to such an extent that I wore thongs in two inches of water for my cold showers. ||||The supplied towels were frayed and tatty. ||||The roof top breakfast area was simple. The complimentary breakfast was appalling. First morning consisted of some fried noodles, a non descript fried bakery item, and stale bread covered in small red ants. When pointed out that the bread was covered in ants, the man behind the counter simply grabbed the tray, took each slice individually and shook it until there were no visible ants, and then returned the tray and bread - just in time of red ants to return and infest the bread once more. ||||The omelette station was vacant. The cook came and made HIMSELF eggs and then promptly left.||||The mugs for tea and coffee were chipped and stained and cracked. I literally had to make three cups of tea just to ensure I got two cups in due to seepage and leakage.||||Wifi - do not rely on the wifi for anything. It is sporadic and unreliable. It is a genuine surprise when you're able to send a simple text message.||||Positives - There is air conditioning in each room and it works fine. ||||Having lived in Africa previously for 5 months I am used to a certain amount of local standard, however this hotel fails on almost all regards, ||||You can do better in Moshi, and I would advise that you...

I stayed at Mbugani for 2 nights before and 2 nights after taking on the mountain (2 different rooms). My first impression was that this is a fairly spectacular building with very large rooms and large comfortable beds. It is one of the most expensive in Moshi at just $35/night. Get TZ Shilings from the ATM just up the street, much better value locally!||||It is 95% perfect but there are a few things that let it down. Despite a significant refit recently there were some (easily fixable) issues that let it down. Some of the power sockets simply don't work (expect town-wide power cuts in heavy rain too) and some were not fully attached to the walls, with cables exposed (including in the en suite. In one en suite the light did not work at all - probably because the ceilings are about 4 metres up and make bulbs hard to change. Breakfast was pretty good for this part of the world, but why they insisted on using chipped mugs and plates in such a spectacular location is beyond me!||||The location of the hotel is noisy whichever way you look at it, and if you don't want to experience the "vibe" of the town then you may want to stay further out. All goes quiet from around 10pm but there is then a daily call to prayer at around 4.50am from the mosque across the road - this is actually louder if you are in a side room as the sound is repeated on speakers and amplified between the hotel walls and one opposite. Everything starts up again from around 7am, just in time for breakfast.||||The staff are very attentive and will take care of whatever you need, but they will expect tips and some won't give you change for your drinks unless you specifically ask for it (although this is pretty widespread for ourists in TZ, which is a pity).||||Amazing views from the breakfast/bar area on the 5th floor. No lift.||||You...

I should qualify all of the following review with the fact that this is my first time in Africa and my first hotel in Africa.||||Honestly, it was fine. The surrounding neighborhood is pretty noisy, the mosque is next door so you get all the calls to prayer (some of which are better than others), but at least occasionally they do the whole service over the loudspeakers. There's also a vendor down on the corner with a loudspeaker looping the same 20 second ad for Sevin Dust pesticide which may drive you mad. Bring earplugs. There is a hot water heater, but it's quite small so ration carefully. It's also controlled by a wall switch outside the bathroom, so make sure to turn it on in advance of your shower. The AC units are new and work well, though it isn't clear if all the rooms have them.|||| The staff was generally nice and helpful. They watched our stuff while we were on Kilimanjaro and everything was there when we got back. There was a misunderstanding about the room rate that ended with us paying an extra 40k shillings after we'd paid and received a receipt for a nights stay, which isn't a ton of money but kind of left a bad taste. ||||There is a restaurant upstairs, the beer is sort of cold and reasonably priced with a decent view and balcony seating. Probably skip dinner, or go early because it takes quite a while. Stick to the chicken, definitely avoid the beef. Breakfast is a safer option but I recommend you head over to Union Coffee. ||||It is fairly conveniently located. We walked all around town from there. Learn "Hapana Asante" right now. It means "no thank you". There is an ATM just down the street to pull out shillings,...