Name: Golden Monkey Hotel
Address: Gikongoro, Rwanda, Butare, Butare, Butare, 00000, Rwanda
Rating: 6

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Non-smoking rooms

Rooms

Breakfast

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Location

At the hotel

Golden Monkey Hotel

Butare

We pulled in to this place late evening (en route to Nyungwe) because my google account had been hacked (forgot to log out at a cyber) and I needed to use their wifi and charge my phone. 

The receptionist helped me without hesitation, while I sorted out this problem for 2 hours. Thanks to their wifi I was able to whatsapp my brother to help me secure my account. Not once did they pressure us to take a room or anything. 

Since it got quite late, we decided to take a room anyway since by that time we were knackered and also just wanted to show appreciation for their help. The included breakfast was really nice with chapati, omelet etc. I was surprised to read bad reviews! I though everything was clean and food was super nice. The security guard even cleaned our car which I did not expect. 

If you want to visit Nyungwe the next morning, you will have to call them in advance to have the guide ready and budget about an hour and a half to get there.

Went out of their way to help us

As was previously commented this hotel is advertised as being 20kms from the park which theoretically is correct however it takes over 2 hours to get to the reception where all the trails and the canopy walk takes place. It is even further if you want to see the chimpanzees which starts at 5a.m. which means you are travelling the entire journey in the dark. Rooms need a good clean and bathroom facilities are deplorable. Plug did not fit in the basin so shaving had to be done with running water, shower flooded the bathroom every time it was used.  No Wi-Fi available or satellite TV as advertised. Menu was ok but breakfast not good. One morning no toast just stale bread. No butter unless requested then it was the cheap margarine in the original container. Omelette only for breakfast which was disgusting. Cost was $100 per night. Moved to resort on west side of park at a cost of $120 per night. Great venue no comparison to Golden Monkeys.

Terrible Hotel

I read somewhere that Golden Monkey was a good option to stay when visiting Nyungwe Forest as it was cheaper and had better rooms. This may be true, but the negatives outweighed the positives by a long shot. 

Pros of this place include: The staff were friendly and tried their best to make our stay comfortable. The rooms were clean & there was hot water. 

Cons of this place: SO FAR away from Nyungwe Forest. It might take 40 minutes to get from GM Hotel to the forest, but it take 2 hours to get to the visitors centre. The chimpanzee tracking departs at 5am, meaning we had to leave the hotel at 3am. We spent more time driving than we spent in the forest which was very disappointing. We spent so much money on petrol - it almost is equivalent to the price of other accommodation options in Nyungwe forest.  Secondly, it is SO NOISEY! The hotel is located between a bus station, night club, and a mosque. We went for the weekend, and the night club played music until 2am. Not cool when you have to get up at 3am. Luckily, the staff are so nice, I went in my pyjamas around 1am and asked them to turn the music down, and they did. They also packed us a breakfast of boiled eggs, bread, blue ribbon & bananas the night before so we had breakfast in the morning. However, It wasn't worth the $18 I paid AND the extra 4 hours of driving each day - I definitely would recommend splashing out and staying closer to the Nyungwe Forest.

Decent hotel, terrible location if you want to go to Nyungwe Forest

We spent just one night here in January. The staff are helpful and kind. The food was good, rooms clean with hot and cold running water and flush toilets. Good Wi-Fi. The hotel is located in town, so we took a ball and played catch with the local kids out in the street. It was a lovely time.

Great place to stay

Staff: young and very helpful people all around the hotel. For every question there is an appropriate answer

Facilities: the hotel is run-down. Furniture in the rooms are in a terrible state. The sanitary facilities also need to be fixed or rather "updated". Exchange rates are ridiculously high as well as the prices on the menu. 

Wifi: the time I stayed there they only had one wifi-router which one of the staff members brought to different places according to the costumer needs. When somebody needed wifi in the eating area there was no chance of having wifi in your room.

Golden Monkey Hotel

Main amenities of the hotel

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Payment