Jimma, Ethiopia Hotels: SYF, Central, Coffee Land

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Before I left for Jimma, I tried searching the internet for any information on the city, specifically hotels. What I found was one short and vague review of SYF hotel. So this post will hopefully serve as a slight insight for the curious traveler and future temporary Jimma resident.

First off, power/electricity and water are pretty consistent. This is my 6th week here in Jimma and I have not been without power or water for more than a couple hours. We will lose power maybe once or twice a week for a max of a couple of hours per day. I have only been without water once in the past 6 weeks. That lasted for the latter half of a day, but that doesn’t really matter as you won’t be taking showers everyday anyways. There is a lot of construction going on, on the main downtown road that the bus station is on.

So now we come to the hotels. The Bradt guidebook (2008 I think) is much more accurate than the 2006 Lonely Planet. I am all about Lonely Planet but the 2006 version is already way out of date. The Bradt guide is much more useful for logistics; the LP is better as an abridged version for planning on what to see, do and buy.

For lodgings in Jimma there are all the pensions and hotels mentioned in the guides, but for between $5 and $9, you can get a pretty awesome room.

SYF hotel is relatively new I guess as it is not in the 2006 LP. I really didn’t care for SYF. My room was a single with en-suite “hot” shower and tv. The rooms are small, the bathrooms are small, hot water heaters usually don’t work, their balconies are difficult to reach because the room is small and the bed blocks access. Their tv did work and I got BBC and a movie channel. They don’t have quite rooms either. One side faces the street, the other faces their popular bar/restaurant. If you come on the right Friday, Saturday or Sunday night you will get a live performance played at a volume so loud, it blows Spinal Tap’s “11” out of the water. You can hear this chick for miles. Foreigner prices of Birr 200 or local price of Birr 100 were ridiculous. The waiters and bartenders were not friendly. Cockroaches were not really a problem, but they were most numerous here.

Central hotel was decent. The rooms were larger than SYF and their hot water was more reliable. Get a room that is not facing the street and it will be pretty quiet, as long as aforementioned girl is not rocking it. The rooms all have nice balconies and the staff is super nice and helpful. They have a brand new section which is very nice, but their old section is still cleaner than SYF, some cockroaches, but it’s not Joe’s Apartment. I had a single, en-suite hot shower, no tv for Birr 96, but if you are staying maybe a week or more, talk to the manager to get the local price of Birr 60.

The best deal is Coffee Land Hotel, kitty corner to the bus stop, directly across the street from Central. All rooms are of the quality of the new Central rooms. Bathrooms are large and have reliable hot water. The rooms and beds are very big, but the balconies are kind of small. All rooms have tvs, but channels are inconsistent; some days I get BBC and movies, other days I get local ETC. I haven’t seen a cockroach in my room. The manager is eager for customers so talk to him to get the local rate of Birr 90 instead of Birr 120. They really need to get a bar or restaurant on the top floor and the place would be killer. Easily the best deal in town.

Mosquitoes are a problem everywhere. All places will have mosquito nets.

Locals might talk about the Honey Land Hotel as it is the most expensive hotel. I have not stayed there, but I have heard first-hand reports of their amenities not working, and they are kind of out of the way. The person described them as opening 3 months too soon. Given this is Ethiopia, I wouldn’t count on them rectifying their problems.

I don’t want to get into the food too much, but… SYF sucks. Both their local food and foreigner food is bad. Plus they charge VAT and service charge so expect + 20%. If they have music playing, their drinks will be more expensive. Central Jimma Hotel’s restaurant in the back is better. Their local foods are good, as is the foreigner food, but expect that +20%. Both places are expensive for Jimma standards. Central’s Senait Café in the front of the hotel on the corner is a cheaper option that is basically just as good as the back, and they don’t charge VAT or the service charge. Their coffee is also very good. If you can’t stand the injera anymore, go for pasta or rice, anything else will be a big disappointment, unless you are coming from a really remote region.

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