Dream Inn Motel, Kigali

Literally across the road from the Auberge La Caverne, the Dream Inn has the same great location – 10 minutes on foot to the city centre – and at the same price: 20,000RwF (£22) for a double room. We decided to stay here because it had free Wifi. As has happened with every hotel in our price range that we’ve stayed at in Uganda and Rwanda, the Wifi didn’t work, though the staff neglected to mention that when we asked before booking our room.

Our room had two 3/4 beds, en suite with cold shower and, probably best of all, DSTV, which meant I could watch Inter beat Chelsea from bed. But generally the place was a quite charmless, the breakfast pretty unpleasant (seriously greasy omelette and a half a baguette, but with only margerine to put on it) and the staff unfriendly. Overall, we preferred the Auberge.

(Continuing the football theme, underneath the motel is the Dream Inn Sportsbar, which does a decent stab of replicating those in London and elsewhere – shirts on the walls, lots of chrome, big screen, absolutely no atmosphere unless there is a game on.)

Auberge La Caverne, Kigali

There are lots of advantages to being in Rwanda rather than Uganda (general levels of cleanliness, street lights, fewer suicidal motorists), but one downside is the cost. Most things here cost the same in Rwandan francs (900 to the pound) as Uganda shillings (3000 to the pound) which, for the mathematically challenged, means everything is about three times as expensive. Finding cheap accommodation in Kigali is particularly difficult.

Our first attempt was at Auberge La Caverne, which is between the main bus station at Nyabugogo and the centre of town. It’s a fairly nondescript place, which means I can’t remember all that much about it. So I just asked Jess, who has a much better memory, and she says, “It was the Butlins of Kigali, though without the entertainment”.

Here’s a photo of the courtyard out the back:

Auberge La Caverne

It’s basically rooms in a low-rent chalet style arranged around a courtyard. And yes, that does make it like Butlins, though not in a bad way. You get a little table and a couple of chairs outside your room, which is nice, because the view of Kigali’s hillside sprawl is excellent.

Apart from that, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a cheapie guesthouse: double bed, a bit of peeling paint, en suite with shower (don’t believe the hot tap – cold only) etc. We also had a TV, though the one Rwandan channel aint all that. Our room cost 20,000RwF (£22), though they did have slightly mankier ones for 15,000RwF.

Breakfast in the adjacent bar/restaurant is the typical Rwandan greasy omelette but with some great bread (historical links with France pay off in the bakery stakes) and some fruit. Even if you don’t stay here, it’s a worth a trip for an evening meal – the 1500RwF beefburger was great value, while I had a matoke/beans/meat melange that wasn’t on the menu but was huge and immensely satisfying.

We left the Auberge after a day because we thought we could do better for the money. With hindsight, I’m not sure we did.