Le cottage mbale — Hotel in Mbale City

Disorganised! Terrible management of bookings! I reserved a room 2-weeks ago ahead of the Christmas break and was certain I would have a place to stay. Today I received a WhatsApp message asking me to confirm my booking and provided the details (bearing in mind the booking was made via Booking.com so they would have the details). I was told all was confirmed ahead of my stay and that I would need to pay a deposit of 30%. It sounded strange given I had already booked via the Booking.com platform, but I said “okay thanks” waiting for further instructions. 5-hours later I receive a message saying the booking is cancelled and there was a double booking, which I find hard to believe as they had already enquired about my booking and confirmed it only a few hours prior.

My hunch is they wanted me to pay cash upfront, which I would have been happy to do, but instead opted to give the room to someone else. Very unprofessional! If they cannot manage something as basic as bookings, then customers cannot have confidence in their service.

If you want certainty when you book a place in Mbale, I wouldn’t risk booking with...

Had a wonderful stay here. The restaurant is the absolute highlight! Walter is such an amazing chef - the fried plantains are so tasty I ate way too much. All chicken and beef dishes I’ve tried are all simply delicious. Price is fair. Garden is lovely. Staff are welcoming and helpful. Wifi works. Hot water arrives fast. Front desk helped me connect to bodas and even long distance drivers. Just all around great. Will come back next time...

We felt screw by paying over 6% more than the official exchange rate (compared to international FX and Ugandan central bank FX rates) for no valid reason other than "it's the system" or "exchange rates fluctuations" which is bullshit and not backed by actual fluctuations. But Agoda clearly says final price in USD paid at the hotel is inclusive all fees and taxes. What a rip off. Not...