18 now! yaaaay me!!! living in leeds, love chatting, shopping, reading listening to music, sleeping,...
18 now! yaaaay me!!! living in leeds, love chatting, shopping, reading listening to music, sleeping, snoring.
Member since:08.06.2007
Reviews:8
Members who trust:8
I recently paid a month visit to Nigeria over the summer, and I must say I had alot more fun than I thought I would. I visited many places and stayed also in several hotels, at the expence of my mum! :-). But one hotel that did make an impression on me was the MotelBeninPlaza, which I must say is just as good as any hotel you would find in England.
Rooms:
They have several room options, from the basic single room to your very own bungalow. Unsure of which room I wanted to stay in I requested to check every single room they had on offer.
The single bedroom was quaint but quite small for me and my mum to obviously share, but if anyone does go to visit on their own I'm sure they would love it as it looked so comfortable and had a calming atmosphere. With one single bed and a television, also with a shower and toilet and built-in wardrobes to keep clothes and other items. Prices for the single room, N5,200, but a deposit of N10,000 must be made if the stay is longer than one night.
The double rooms had two single beds which could be pushed together to make one large kingsized bed. This room was very modernised and cosy, almost feeling like a bedroom in a house rather than at a hotel. It also had a shower and toilet, with built-in cabinets and wardrobes to store personal items. The double room price starts from N6,700
The bungalows are perfect if you want your own privacy and don't want to feel as though you are being harrassed by the staff to tip. The bungalows are situated on site but are not built with the hotel. They are called the V.I.P. suites. They look like real bungalows. In each bungalow
is something like a two bedroom apartment. On one side of the bungalow is a flat and the other is another flat. Each bungalow also has its own car park and if you do have a car you are warned that you should 'park it at your own risk' because security guards can not always personally mind your car for you (but they could if you paid them enough).
The bungalow I stayed in was so beautiful. It had a queen sized bed and a television with many channels from Africa Magic to Hallmark. It also had a built in air conditioner as did all the other rooms. The bungalow also had a shower and toilet and sink, and in the main room had two very comfy arm-chairs for visitors. It also had two large seperate built-in storage places for us to store our suitcase and clothes. The bed was so cosy and the linings felt very fresh. There was a telephone beside the bed too, like there was in all the other rooms, whereby if the staff wanted to contact you for whatever reason they would, and vice versa. In the bungalow room there was a beautiful picture hung up over the bed which made the room much more homely. The price of the bungalow was about N14,700 a night, which considering the comfort enjoyed was not that much.
There is a built in air conditioner in all the rooms as it does get quite hot at nights. I was told that the A.C. runs on 2 horsepower (whatever that means) but it was incredibly strong.
There are also several other types of rooms that can be booked; theres the Business Double from N8,200.00, Junior Suite N9,200.00, Studio Suite N10,700.00, Executive Crown Suite N15,700.00, Executive Royal Suite N15,700.00, Diplomatic Suite N18,200.00, Ambassadorial Suite N18,200.00, Presidential Suite (2 Bedrooms) N28,200.00. The prices vary depending on the rooms and the length of stay.
There are no duvets or quilts on the beds as it does get very warm at night, instead there are just blankets and bed linings to wrap up in. But I asure you, you will not even need to wrap yourself up in anything as the weathers so good!
Food:
The food, I must say was the only downfall of the hotel. Although they did serve continental meals and some Nigerian dishes, what they had on the menu was sometimes different to what they actually had at the restaurant. And sometimes it would take them quite a while to cook even the most simplest of dishes.
My experience with the food started on my first day at the hotel, I went with a cousin of mine and his girlfriend to the restaurant as I hadjust ha da long journey from Lagos to Benin, by CAR! Ordered myself a plate of rice and stew with fish and plantain. The rice and stew was alright but the fish I must say was quite dry, and barely had any flavour on it. The plantain was another thing, thinking I was going to get maybe six or 7 pieces I was more than shocked to see that I only got 4 little pieces of plantain! Not worth the amount I paid for it I felt, I paid N1500 for it. I later learnt that eating at the restaurant was not the most economic and definetly not the tastiest of meals I can have. If you wonder round the city you will see little restaurants whereby you can get traditional meals for as little as N300.
My second experience with the hotel restaurant was when I wanted breakfast. It took nearly half an hour to make fried egg and non-toasted buttered bread, with tea. And when the tea did arrive my mum complained that her's tasted like water. This was later resolved by them brewing up a fresh cup of tea for my mum.
Entertainment:
The hotel has its own lounge bar and on Friday nights has live music and a live band entertaining the guests and also visiting people from the neighbourhood. The atmosphere in the bar is quite cool and relaxing but on a Friday night its practically like a nightclub where everyone gets up to dance and have fun. At the bar they also serve some snacks, such as meat pie and scotch eggs, or sometimes even some chin-chin!
Beside the bar is a pool whereby if you feel like it you can have a quick dip while listening to the music and drinking!
The music played ranges from hip-hop and R'n'B to traditional music. But whatever is played still manages to get the people jumping up and down and partying hard.
Staff:
The staff were very friendly and well organised, this is mainly because most of them need the job to help support themselves and families. Each staff member wore a uniform, whether they were working at reception or simply cleaning the rooms. The uniforms were almost militarist.
Sometimes though the staff could be seen as annoying as they would always try and greet you or do things for you at any opportunity just for tips, as do most hotel staffs.
Facilities:
The hotel has facilities to store important items. There is a hotel safe whereby things can be stored in for you and picked up whenever you want. Whatever is stored in the hotel safe can not be removed by anyone else but you. I myself am not trusting enough to leave any important personal items at a hotel whether in a safe or not, and thus carried everything with me, although that was equally risky.
The hotel has its own internet cafe, for those who can not bear to stay away from their emails for more than a day. To use the internet cafe for half an hour was N100, and an hour was N150. Considering the conversion rate (N250= £1), this was fairly cheap. Your could also pay to have access to the internet for a whole 24hours, costing N1000. Using the internet facilities, you are given a ticket, and if your time has not already run out then you can keep coming back to use the ticket until you no longer have any time on it.
The hotel has a Bureau De Change located right at reception, so for those who have forgotten to change their money before hand this is a safe option. But must be warned the hotel obviously charge extra commission to use this facility.
Room-service is charged at abotu 10% of the room rate. If you want your room cleaned there are signs that you simply hang outside your door so that the hotel cleaners may enter to rearrange the room. There are different signs for different things. If you want your room cleaned you hang the sign saying 'room cleaning' on your doorknob and etc.
The hotel also has its own gym for those fitness freaks who just can't get enough of exercise even when on holiday! I must say I am quite lazy and only visited the gym once throughout the entire holiday. But it was pretty nice, with some state of the art contraptions to keep you fit. The hotel also has a very nice steam shower!
The hotel hosts business conferences and has halls to rent for those occasions. The hotel also has wireless internet access around it both for conferences and for the suites and rooms.
It has its own beauty salon, but I would advise if you want to get your hair done in Benin your better of not wasting your money at the hotel salon and instead getting it done at the market where they will do it much cheaper and it will be done by more experienced hairdressers.
A 24hour car hiring service is available on request at reception
Location:
The Motel Benin Plaza is situated in the Government Reservation Area (G.R.A). This made it more secure and more fancier than the other hotels in the area. Since it is on government grounds, it has all the luxuries that Nigerian politicians like!
Also for those that fancy the odd hamburger, there is a Mr. Biggs and a Sizzlers within a 5 minute walking distance from the hotel.
It is also a short distance walk from the city museum and cultural centre, and also a 5 minute drive from Benin airport.
Security:
One thing that should matter to anyone visiting Nigeria or staying there short-term is how secure their location is because although Nigeria is a beautiful country it is also still quite a dangerous country as armed robberies are quite frequent. But the safety I felt being in the Motel Benin Plaza made all my fears disappear.
There are guards at the enterance so when anyone is coming in they will be aware and when you leave they will also note this down. If you have vistors coming noone will ever be allowed to come straight to your room without hotel staff informing you first, which is a good way of enhancing security. The security is also 24hours which gives you a peace of mind as you sleep at night.
The location is also good as it is in the Government Reservation Area which makes it very well protected.
The hotel boasts several awards as a hotel of great excellence in the last few years and is a lovely place for anyone new to Nigeria as the reception you will recieve will make your holiday even better.
I definetly enjoyed myself during this holiday and did enjoy the hotel and its many facilities that I tried. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Nigeria for the first time or tenth time. It is a wonderful place to be!
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A very good and comprehensive review. Would love to read more of your Nigerian experiances if you were to get the time to write more. Thanks for sharing this though.
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