My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone 🇸🇱

“Slip inside the eye of your mind” – Noel Gallagher.

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Sierra Leone 🇸🇱

Sierra Leone was the last new country I visited in December 2023 on my West African journey, and my flight in was a late one, on Christmas night 2023. I had spied quite a few coastal and seaside hotels online before the trip. In the end, the place I chose was just incredible and had me chilling out for once, rather than backpacking the sights hardcore. Hotel Barmoi, step in…

Backpacking in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Welcome to the stunning Hotel Barmoi.

On my journeys around the world, my room here and the hotel in general is definitely one of the best I have experienced. Sierra Leone, isn’t for the faint-hearted however and it was definitely a challenge to get here.

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Firstly, I had to secure the Sierra Leone visa, which worked out at $80 US dollars (paid online) and on arrival, it was a mere stamp in the passport, nothing too elaborate looking. In the end, I flew in here on Christmas Day 2023 from Banjul, The Gambia (which was already via) Dakar in Senegal. I had a wild party in Senegal on Christmas Day at Le Café Du Reve (in the bar, dancefloor and my return to a Senegalese beach).

How To Get A Sierra Leone Online Visa

On arrival in Sierra Leone, darkness had fallen and getting to my hotel, The Hotel Barmoi would not be simple. For a start, the main way to get to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city from Lungi Airport is by a bus ride (or motorbike) and then by boat. You have to do both, on both sides, you can’t actually walk it since this is an island. At night, doing this was far from picturesque. Everything was dark, but I found solace in the bar by the harbour while waiting on the ferry (which was extortionately priced at $45 US dollars!). In contrast a can of Guinness at the bar was 50 Leones ($2 US dollars).

Waiting on the ferry at Lungi, Sierra Leone 🇸🇱

In the dark of the night, after a long day of four flights (and four countries!), I made it to the Hotel Barmoi and was delighted to be welcomed through the door here and ready to be surprised by the joys within.

Arrival in Sierra Leone

I was tired of course, but was shown to my room, across a balcony, through the corridor and down two flights of stairs to Room 28. Wow. I had a balcony overlooking the swimming pool and the Atlantic Ocean. By night, a few lights only would give a glimmer of the magnificent views to follow the day after. Here are my top reasons why you should book the Hotel Barmoi when backpacking in Sierra Leone. You will love it!

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Sierra Leone

1.The Swimming Pool and Views

The photos should speak for themselves here. It was a wow for me. Such incredible views and three days relaxing by this pool was splendid.

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone

I also enjoyed playing football here by the pool with some of the kids and just chilling out.

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sunset was magnificent by the pool here. In the end, I had three nights here, magnificent bliss.

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone

2.In-House Events

The Hotel Barmoi organises its own events, such as a Reggae Night, a Sunday Brunch and a Christmas Party. In fact, a month before I was here, top UK DJ Geoff Schumann hosted a Reggae Party here, I missed that one.

Reggae Nights

Sunday Brunch

3.Wi-Fi That Works

The Wi-Fi here worked at Hotel Barmoi, in reception, in my room and even by the pool. Excellent by all standards. Of course sometimes it was hit or miss, as happens in Africa. This was the best Wi-Fi I had on my 2023 West Africa trip (to 6 countries), and I also did some blogging from my room, which was Room 28.

4.Happy Hour at the Bar!

Happy Hour still exists and the Hotel Barmoi do it for 2 hours between 6 and 8 p.m. Monday to Friday, which is lower price on all drinks. Ask for the menu and enjoy the discount!

Happy Hour at Barmoi, Sierra Leone

5.Choice of Bars and Restaurants

Within Hotel Barmoi itself, there is a choice of where to eat and drink. Personally I preferred to relax by the pool bar. But you also have the downstairs restaurant and the Kuku’s Nest upstairs bar. Room service is available 24 hours a day but check food times when you are there.

The breakfast bar

The Sunday Brunch is a popular option – you can try local Sierra Leonese food but of course international options are also available.

Excellent food at Hotel Barmoi, Sierra Leone

6.Nearby Beaches

Location wise, you are at the tip of the district known as Aberdeen. You are close to Aberdeen Bay, Pirate Bay, Man of War Bay, Aberdeen Beach (actually separate from Aberdeen Bay) and Lumley Beach. I visited all of them on foot. My favourite was Lumley beach – the strip that leads down the coast with tons of bars…

Touring Lumley and Aberdeen beach

At Man Of War Bay

7.Nearby Bars

I was shocked by how vibrant Freetown is at night – there’s a party zone in town, and it’s a 7-10 minute walk from the Hotel Barmoi. The vibe is crazy.

Tido’s Bar

Party on beach bars all along Lumley Beach Road. My favourites were Tido’s Beach Bar, Mamaz and Kingson Bar. Mamaz was the dear one, but it showed the live football so I liked it because of that.

Partying in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Dining out in Freetown

Partying in Freetown, Sierra Leone

8.Organising Tours

The staff here can organise tours for you. You can choose whether you want a car (with air conditioning), a tuk tuk or a motorbike. In my time in Sierra Leone, I actually used all three but the tuk tuk was my favourite for the fun of it, and the motorbike best for price, as it’s cheapest. Tours in a car would be dearer.

Organising Tours

Organising Tours – Tacugama

You can do a tour of Freetown, the beaches, to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and you can ask about other tours further afield. Sierra Leone’s national animal is the chimpanzee and so I chose to head out to Tacugama by tuk tuk. However, that trip had some problems, as you might have read!

9.My Room – the view and relaxation of it all

Yes just look at my balcony view, waking up three mornings in a row to this was pure bliss.

My view…

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Freetown, Sierra Leone

My view…

My room was clean, spacious and cosy…room 28 with a balcony overlooking both the pool and the ocean…

My Exquisite Stay At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Sierra Leone

My room At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Sierra Leone

10.Great Staff

I spoke to quite a lot of the staff during my stay at the Hotel Barmoi, and Idrissa joined me for beers on the first evening by the beaches, and Edwina for a coffee.

Great Staff At Hotel Barmoi On The Atlantic Coast At Aberdeen, Sierra Leone

11.Safety and Security

I must stress that at the time of my visit, both the British Embassy and Irish Embassy advised against visiting Sierra Leone. As followers of this blog probably know, I usually ignore such advice as they are not backpackers and are usually ill-informed. I was here exactly 10 years to the month when I backpacked Iran and Iraq, both also told to avoid by the media and embassies. In this case, there was some violence and disturbances towards the end of 2023 in Sierra Leone, so please do take caution.

Hotel Barmoi is safe

I was safe, stayed safe and have my own system for it but there was also a fuel crisis and an ATM issue during my visit. No ATMs accepted Mastercard and by ridiculous luck my only two cards on this trip were Mastercard as one of my banks switched me from visa. It’s very much a cash society here so be ready for that. Beers and food are cheap though, especially by the beach. Here are a few more photos from my stay at the magnificent Hotel Barmoi.