The Ghion Hotel is the most popular hotel in Addis Ababa for birders thanks to its beautiful grounds and garden so no wonder I was keen to stay here! Full disclosure, non-birders may not like the hotel as it is rather dated and the wifi is very weak at best in some rooms, many rooms don’t have it at all and you need to go to the lobby.
We arrived in the evening just before dark after a long journey from Lake Langano so there was no chance to see the grounds that day. Driving from the bus station, I was dismayed to see it had been raining, not good for birders!
The next morning, we could see a lot more! Here is the entrance where the taxi will drop you off.
Restaurants are also accessible from this section.
This is the room we got which turned out to be a good location as I could get a wifi signal from just outside the door.
I haven’t seen a tv like this in years!
So the room is simple and definitely channeling the 60’s. We weren’t here to sit around the room so it was ok.
Back to the lobby to organize a driver for birding Menagesha Forest with the manager who knew a driver, then on to dinner.
For dinner you can choose the buffet or order off the menu. We went for menu items as we weren’t really that hungry. Breakfast is included in the rate and also includes the buffet and freshly made omelets.
If the weather is nice, you can also eat outside.
Interesting decorations!
There are several shops in the lobby area.
They also have an Ethiopian style restaurant where we had lunch after returning from the Menagesha excursion. We opted to sit outside to look for birds while we ate.
I ordered some local food just to try it, I think it was the 3rd item down from the English side. It was like a curry served with injera. It was OK, I wasn’t wild about the injera and the portion was huge so I couldn’t finish it all.
The views were great!
A few little birds were hopping around looking for food.
Now the main reason to choose the Ghion is to have access to the beautiful gardens so look for the next post to focus on birding the gardens!
The Ghion Hotel is available on most online booking sites or you can book direct.