I was thrilled today to get a report from Shana about the hotel where she and her husband stayed while they were in Ethiopia in January to pick up their baby. The hotel is called The Damu, and is located on Bole Road not far from the airport. It opened less than a year ago. Along with a great travel story currently being written on the installment plan, Shana wrote me this excellent and very helpful review of the hotel:

We rented a "superior" room, which I think just means it had one king bed versus two twins. I really can't say enough good things about the hotel. It is much smaller than anything like the Hilton, being considered a "boutique" hotel; however it is still considered a four-star hotel.

I think there are about 8 floors, each with only probably four or six rooms. There is a restaurant that is always open, serving all meals, plus a bar, and occasionally has live music ranging from traditional Ethiopian music to Beatles cover songs. There is also a traditional restaurant which will be on the 8th floor, opening any day now. The staff at the hotel - ranging from the front desk to the maids, is exceptional.

The rooms were clean and comfortable and fairly spacious, and included a desk, fridge with mini bar, private balcony, safe, closet/storage area, and full bathroom with tub/shower. Each bathroom has its own hot water tank, so hot showers were never an issue of concern.

I'm pretty sure they don't have cribs there - I didn't actually ask - but we just put Isaiah in a suitcase for part of the time, and in our bed part of the time. There is a small business center in the lobby of the hotel which is private and has a computer with internet access available for I think $20 an hour. I think we could have also accessed the internet from our room, had we remembered to bring our network cable.

Probably the best part of staying at this hotel was the community feeling we got. We loved that all the staff knew us and recognized us - even the extra security detail due to a dignitary staying at the hotel. We were torn about not staying in the guest house, because we were afraid we might miss out on enjoying the culture by being sheltered in a hotel. This hotel is small enough, and located well enough, that that was never an issue.

The hotel is on Bole road, which is the main road from the airport and through town. Walking out the steps of our hotel, we literally had at least a 1/2 dozen restaurants to choose from within 150 yards, as well as a market right across the street. Our favorite restaurant ended up being Habesha, which was about 200 yards down from our hotel, tucked down a dark alley. They serve amazing traditional food, and both nights we were there (Friday and Saturday) there was live music and traditional dancing.

We were expecting to pay $85 a night, but I think it came out to only $80, including all taxes. The hotel does accept visa which was convenient. We had a hard time contacting the hotel to book our room, as the phone number listed wouldn't work, and our emails weren't being responded to. Susan Parr Travel was finally able to book our room through email contact over four or five days.

To Shana's review, I have to add that the above is one great-looking bathroom by Ethiopian standards. I'm tempted to try this place next time I go to Ethiopia. For reservations you can call the Damu at
011-251-11-550-9841. Or their email address is: reception@damuhotel.com. It sounds like it would be wise to begin contacting them for reservations at least a week or two before you would like to have your housing plans confirmed. There are quite a few additional photos of the hotel at the hotel website: The Damu.