Heaven Restaurant & Boutique Hotel — Restaurant in Kigali City

Heaven is a masterclass in how not to do service recovery.

I booked a room at Heaven on 10/10. On Oc10/13, I messaged Heaven asking for an airport pickup at 21:25 the day of my arrival. By 10/24, I hadn't heard back. (The platform showed that the message was read on 10/18.) By then, I changed my arrival time. On 10/24, I emailed Heaven directly that my flight would be arriving at 00:45 on 10/27 instead. (I also let them know that I'd be leaving at 14:30 three days later.) Heaven confirmed my pickup for that new time. They also confirmed the time on the booking platform.

On 10/27, I make it to the car waiting area at 00:50. Heaven's not there. I wait. I email Heaven but get an auto-reply that I'll hear from them when the main desk opens six hours later. That's helpful. I try calling, but because of my cell plan the call didn’t go through. I can't confirm there’s someone at that front desk to check me.

At 01:20, I flag a driver for Four Points, where I pay double the rate at Heaven for a room. I write Heaven, asking why they didn't pick me up as previously confirmed. By this time, it's past 03:00 and I'm physically and mentally exhausted.

The next morning, I get a call (and email) from Heaven apologizing. They say tehy sent the driver at 21:00—the original time, notwithstanding they confirmed the 00:45 pickup twice. They admit it was their screw up: "Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience caused, I really take the blame on us, there might have been miscommunication between the staff and the transport manager, who was at the airport at 21:00 instead of 00:45."

So how did they attempt to recover from this bungle? They offered to pick me up at the Four Points for free and offered to let me use my first night as a late check out. Remember I am leaving at 14:30 on my last day. Heaven's checkout is at 11:00, when I would need to leave for the airport anyway: so, a useless offer.

That’s it, until my last day. They had myriad other ways to recover: Heaven has an upscale sister proper next door, the Retreat. Given the extra cost of my Four Points room, they could put me there. They knew I wanted a cooking class or a city tour. They could have booked one gratis. They could have discounted the last two nights.

They did none of this.

I basically lost a day in Kigali. I had to completely rearrange my travel to fix their cockup. Yet they haven't even refunded the first night—I’m on the hook for a far more expensive night at a chain hotel plus the unused night at Heaven. I had to book a later flight on my last day to make sure I actually got to do what I wanted to do in Kigali.

There was a, admittedly, a belated attempted to do something. On my final day when checking out, the desk agent asked how my stay was, not knowing how badly Heaven screwed things up. When she learned, she offered to book me a massage for later that day. (All guests receive a 20-minute massage, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that this was on top of that.) But I had an all-day tour and couldn't use it.

Now, to the hotel itself. The staff, when they're not not picking me up, were friendly. The room is small for the price; I could have used a bit more space and some furniture to place my suitcase. Instead, it was on the other side of my bed the entire time. The mattress is also too hard for my tastes, but I recognize that's an individual preference.

The breakfast spread at Heaven Restaurant isn't bad. Lunch and dinner are more hit or miss, as I'll write later. The servers at the restaurant also screwed things up—giving me the wrong drink, with one server at first claiming it was the right drink, which ran three times the cost of the drink I actually ordered. But that's for a different review.

In sum, I can't recommend Heaven at all. Perhaps if you can get yourself to the hotel things would be better. If things go wrong, however, be prepared for a...

We encountered many, absolutely, beautiful employees. I can't speak enough about the phenomenal, pretty young staff. The food was enjoyable. The chef, also, accommodated our dining request. In other words, it's the staff that makes Heaven work, not the accomodations ( at least, not in the villa). Now, I will address areas of concern. Front entrance, screened closure, to Villa lobby & side entrance door @ stairwell, should remain closed at all times to help keep out mosquitos. Instead, all entrance doors, are ALWAYS, wide open. Also a ceiling fan, would be nice, in Villa lobbies to help cool the area and, maybe, lessen mosquitoes. There's bed nets and anti-malaria med used to mitigate contracting malaria, so why not add the aforementioned measures. And it takes very little effort to open & close a screened closure. There was only one key for my sis/hubby rm. We found this after they were asked twice to unlock door for rm service. After checking w/ front desk, we were told that a guest had lost the other rm key. There should have been a lock change immediately & once again, there would be more than one key. This is a safety and poor customer service issue, for sure. The reception asked if the key can be left @ desk (for rm service) & picked up later for our use. We paid for 26 nights stay. With the time & attention that has gone into the building of the luxury suites of the newer 'Retreat', there's neglect that's taken place @ the Villa. From the areas of unsightly caulking in the bathroom, work needed in toilet area, unsightly shower grouting, not so well managed bed netting with oversized bed in small space to bathroom window that invites mosquitos because doesn't close properly, the pride of 'Heaven' has diminished. We were told that because of high season, a change in RM was difficult. Lighting needs to be better on the premises-hazardous. Wi-Fi is erratic. Training needed for housekeeper to keep clean linen from dirty; separate baskets. Accomodations and service should be great for the ordinary person, as it is for a prince or president. They call this place 'Heaven'. Maybe one day soon it will return...

Nice decor, ambiance and friendly staff. Meal started with a tiny cup of soup, good but left me wanting more. The sambaza appetizer was good, lightly battered and deep fried, sauce was good especially if you mix the mayo and chili sauce. However, the oil from the fishes on top drips down to the fishes below so by the time you get to the fishes at the bottom, they are soaked with oil. Had the "sliced" beef for main course and it's more like 3 pieces of beef bullion, nicely medium rare as ordered. It was very tender and warm inside with slightly charred on the outside. The fresh beans was a good company but the fried mashy potato-ish accompaniment devalued the dish. It tasted like frozen food but probably isn't. Would have been much better with just pure fresh veggies or even the irish potatoes would have been good. The lemon freeze was good but should have came with a small spoon or spoon-straw. The head waiter came by (Alex) and assured their best service promising to return and check on me but never saw him thereafter. Prices are above average. The sambaza was 7000rwf versus outside average is...