Name: Dakar International House
Address: Scat Urbam Lot 610 Cite Keur Khadim,, Dakar, Dakar, Dakar, 30000, Senegal
Rating: 8

24-hour reception

Smoking areas

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Express check-in/check-out

Terrace

Private check-in/check-out

Fire Extinguisher

Outdoor furniture

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Laundry

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Free Wi-Fi

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Internet

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At the hotel

Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport

Blaise Diagne International Airport

Dakar International House

Dakar

To decide whether a hotel is well-managed or not, I perform a simple test: is there a name sign on the building or at least on the door? On this count already, Dakar International House fails: it is completely unmarked. 

The hostel has its own website with a booking engine. Sure enough I got an automated e-mail acknowledgement that my reservation request had been received and would be processed, i.e. accepted or declined. That was the end of all communication. Predictably, the reception had no record of my booking when I arrived. The receptionist did not even know that the hostel had its own booking website. 

Staff were hit-and-miss: all duty receptionists except one were lazy, clueless and passive; for any chores they tended to summon one of the security guards who were generally kind, understanding and helpful.

I was shown my bed after one such security guard decided and announced that the bed selected was 'probably' (!) not occupied. Nobody bothered to provide fresh bedding. The dorm bathroom was a tiny one square meter cubicle. The washbasin was the size of a dinner plate. To reach the shower one had to climb over the toilet. Sitting on the toilet was impossible because the toilet bowl was as long as the bathroom was wide. The bathroom/toilet door was a flimsy metal affair and you could hear EVERYTHING that your fellow guests were doing inside. (Use your imagination.) The dorm was teeming with mosquitos. All beds had mosquito nets, but the upper bunk beds lacked anything to hang the nets from, so the nets were useless. WiFi worked not at all on my first day, and only intermittently thereafter. 

One of the first things a hostel security guard told me was never to leave 'anything' (not just 'any valuables') lying around in the dormitory. (Big lockers are provided.) None of my fellow sleepers looked like  bona fide backpackers or travellers. A guy next to me appeared to be a West African bumster  who was on his cellphone all night running his love scams. 

The reception had absolutely no local, travel-related knowledge or advice other than being able to point out the nearest bus stop. If you plan any activities in Dakar's city centre, the hostel’s location is terrible. Getting to the town centre or back by public transport takes about three hours each way, including waiting for the bus that has no fixed schedule and runs only every one or two hours. Since the closure of Dakar’s old international airport in Yoff they only reason for staying in the hostel neighbourhood (Grand Yoff) has disappeared.

The only positive thing I can say is that the hostel is cheap: CFA 6000 for a dorm bed. How this dump came to be rated as 'Senegal’s best hostel' is beyond me. Not much competition may be one reason. Is there even a second hostel in the country? I also suspect the management changed and the hostel went downhill as a result. One indication would be that the hostel today looks nothing like the colourful, fresh photos on its website: the cafe/restaurant no longer exists (it is now a grocery shop), the male dorm is filthy and dilapidated with peeling paint, elsewhere plaster is crumbling and carpets are torn, and some of the services advertised (such as currency exchange) are no longer available.

Bad management, inconvenient location, questionable hygiene. And a bit creepy.

Price can't be beat. Staff was really kind and helpful, limited English but did their best. Excellent coordination of arrival transfer from DSS. I think bed had ben slept in already in dorm, which could use a cleaning. This loc in Yoff suited my needs but bear in mind tourists will prefer to be in Plateau area.

Affordable bed in Yoff

Great place to stay, really relaxing, the staff are very helpful see them about finding your way around. Decent choice if you have some days in Dakar. Scat Urbam is not close to the downtown area, but nevertheless the neighbourhood is nice.

Reasonable Hotel.

A little hard to find but really worst the efforts.  Nice and helpful staff. Dorms pretty good, hot shower, kitchen, WiFi ok, great price, easy to get places from there by bus or taxi. I would definitely recommend it.

Great place to stay

Loved this hostel.  Very helpful friendly staff.  Gave great food and things to do suggestions and helped negotiate with taxi drivers.  We spoke no French but the staff translated and gave us a few words to help.  Great time at DIH.  

Good location, clean rooms and great rooftop 

Location: The place was not hard to find if you have maps.me or other kind of GPS app. Otherwise, you may get lost. It was in a residential neighborhood, but there were plenty of eateries nearby. It was a safe place. In general, Senegal was a safe country so you won't really face any real problems or threats. 

Place: It was a 3 story building and I stayed in a private room. The room had a window, but it faced the hallway. I had a great fan, but no aircon. The fan was more than enough, but the room felt musty. At least I had my own room. 

The Wifi was not working when I got there, but this is Africa. Things like that happen all the time. 

The bathroom was clean, but some things were not working well. The shower had no place to put the shower top on so you have to hold it while you shower. The water pressure was not great. 

The dorm room looked pretty cramped and hot. There were a few fans going around, but the room was full so I opted for the private room. 

They have a small kitchen to cook your stuff and they do have breakfast as extra. I did not try it. 

Staff: I met one guy that checked me in and he spoke great English. He was not helpful in the sense when I asked him about getting to Gambia. I'm sure a lot of people have the same question! The security guy was nice and called a taxi for me. You have to bargain hard for taxis.

Overall, the place was great for Africa. It was nice to sleep in a clean room with proper sheets and a bed! 

pinchetravels.com for more on my blog. 



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