Staying at Hotel Baraka in Downtown Dakar, Senegal🇸🇳

Having spent my first two days in Senegal by the beach, at Maison Abaka, I overlanded back and forth into the Gambia and then I decided on a downtown Dakar hotel to finish my crazy challenge (the #MSMLostLuggage challenge) on a high and in the heart of bustling Dakar. This city pumps a vivacious beat earning a reputation as some kind of party capital in a place you thought was more famous for Mosques and Papa Bouba Diop.

I booked into the Hotel Baraka and ended up staying here for 3 nights. It’s centrally located, on Rue Abdoul Karim Bourgi, it’s well priced and exactly the type of hotel where you can feel at home in a city which can appear daunting at first.

Here are five reasons to stay at Hotel Baraka that show how much I enjoyed my relaxation here away from the manic streets of Dakar.

1.Helpful Staff
I’ve said before that customer service and good staff make a hotel what it is. I remembered back to my days working in Bournemouth’s Heathlands Hotel. Here the staff are pleasant and helpful. Happy and down to earth. They make you feel at home. Thanks to Astrid and Kat especially for their hospitality, and for Adama for checking me into room 205 after a hectic arrival.

2.Good Central Location
Dakar is in fact a city with a good nightlife. Within walking distance you can find a load of bars and clubs. This included my night out at the Farid Restaurant watching Belly Dancing and a few beers downtown in Le Viking, and the Imperial Pub. Separately I also tried the local fish, and I headed on a journey to the pink lake/Lac Rose.

Location wise, you are also so close to Independence Square and the Markets and Mosque are also walkable. I’ll get a top sights of Dakar article written sometime hopefully!

3.WiFi in the Room
I was actually surprised by the WiFi in the Gambia and Senegal. Every place I stayed in had WiFi in the room which was a real bonus. Admittedly I found it tough on this trip though. I was on the #MSMLostLuggage challenge with Money Supermarket.com and without a laptop, I relied on a Smartphone for about 12 days. This meant really only Instagram photos, some of which I synched to my Facebook page. I was blogging from my room, but on a phone! I had a blogging desk, which I used for writing on paper only in the absence of a laptop.

4.Cool Bar Downstairs
The ground floor has a cosy and clean bar. They serve alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks.

This was also the venue for breakfast – a superb simple option – croissant, baguette, orange juice and coffee.

5.My Excellent Room
People try to give you horror stories about hotel rooms in Africa and 90% of them are not true. Hotels are generally of a good standard in capital cities. At Hotel Baraka, so much so that I had a lazy day in my hotel room. After crossing a border that people told me would be closed, dangerous, controlled by extremists and racist (see link – http://allafrica.com/stories/201602181223.html ), I was glad of a cosy and clean room.

I ran the bath, used the mini-bar, watched TV and chilled out! I enjoyed it, without a laptop, having a rest was well needed for me.

Here are some extra photos from the city and my stay at Hotel Baraka.

Here are the details for booking Hotel Baraka in Dakar, Senegal:

http://www.hotelbaraka.com/en/index.html

• 35 Rue Abdoul Karim Bourgi
• BP 578 Dakar
• Phone 1 : (221) 33 822 55 32
• Phone 2 : (221) 33 822 02 37
• Fax : (221) 33 821 75 41
• [email protected]

Here is a video from my room at the Hotel Baraka in Dakar, Senegal: