Backpacking In Somaliland: Staying At Jees Hotel In Hargeisa
On 1st January 2026, after a frustrating Somaliland visa procedure, I became the first tourist this year to cross the land border between Djibouti to Somaliland at Loyaada. No pleasure cruise.
Shortly after that, I heard the border had closed (that could of course be fake news, as modern news often is). Originally I was very enthusiastic about this trip, but in the end I hated it and just wanted to tour Las Geel, backpack the sights of Hargeisa and get out. This trip was gruelling, stressful, over-priced and a complete rip-off. Indeed it was my dearest trip since Antarctica way back in 2010…The cost of backpacking Somaliland in January 2026 – armed guard 24/7 cost me $150 US a day for 4 day plus my fees for hotel, visa, transport and Las Geel.
In the end I ended up sleeping in 3 different hotels in 4 days. Down the years of my travel blog I have been used to free hostel and hotel stays dating back to 2010, 16 years of sponsored stays. I love the sponsored stays for so many reasons…
- it’s free
- I write about it automatically as it’s my duty
- they normally give me a good, clean room
- they normally have Wi-Fi
- I get guaranteed easy content
- I help others travel
- I build up my contacts
- I save a lot of money
- The staff are always aware I am a blogger and I get better treatment
- Often they collect me for free too (and leave me to the train station/airport)
Yet here in Somaliland, I was forced to spend about $1000 US for a mere 4 days in the country…outrageous. This meant staying in 3 different hotels in 4 days, plus almost sleeping at the airport (until security told me it was shut. So I will now do a review of all three hotels I stayed in in Hargeisa – all three were different – one was complimentary, one was cheap and one was dear. I will start off with the Jees Hotel, my first hotel in Somaliland. The only reason I stayed here was it was the first one that came up on Google and I needed it for 1 night to get my visa.
From the outside, it looked okay, my room was cosy and the Wi-Fi worked. Realistically I cannot complain too much about it except I had to pay $70 US for it (now you see I am not used to it) and they wouldn’t accept one of my $50 US Dollar notes as payment even though I got that fucking note from the Hotel’s OWN ATM! Nuts unloyal!
Instead of a review really, here are just some photos of my room, the view, the bathroom, the lobby, the restaurant.
Due to the massive expensive at getting 4 days in Somaliland, I didn’t buy any food or drink here, I boycotted it but took all the free water, tea, coffee and soap.
I had a balcony view.
Overall, this was cosy enough but you will see that my favourite hotel of the three I stayed in in Hargeisa was The Adam’s Inn Hotel – super place. Here is how to book the Jees Hotel…
https://www.facebook.com/Jeeshotels/
