Ag Palace Hotel

It will cost you about 10 American dollars and about 10-15 minutes from the Bole airport to arrive at this this fairly new, quaint, simple but modern hotel with 6 floors including the balcony. I would say it's equivalent to a Holiday Inn in the states. After much consideration, I booked my room for a week here and have not regretted my decision. If you're planning to stay in Addis for any long period of time and need an affordable, no thrilles, but nice place to stay with clean sheets, a decent view of the city, a central location, great staff and free breakfast- then I would definitely stay here. But if you're looking for something fancy, this is not the place for you. . . . . . Positives: 1. Near the airport and City center 2. Clean, modern new building w granite staircase and 6th floor balcony w a beautiful view of City 3. Cable television w CNN and Ethio TV 4. Great staff who keep the rooms and sheets clean. Receptionists speak English and are kind and friendly 5. Massage available for less than 15 American dollars 6. Free breakfast, and can make delicious omletes 7. Showers are clean w Hot water, good pressure 8. Free internet w good connection. Note: if you have a hard time connecting in your hotel room, restart your device. If that doesn't work, ask them to restart the modem. Finally, if that doesn't work, have them change the password. The latter worked for me. 9. Gaurd outside protecting and watching the area. 10. The price can't be beat. The nearby hotels are more expensive and don't include the free breakfast. Plus the hotels are older and rundown in comparison. I felt like I was taking a chance with the other places. But this place has received consistently good reviews and keeps American style hotel standards. Lots of internationals and business folks were staying here. 11. Beds are FIRM! I actually enjoyed it, but some may like a slightly softer mattress. I slept great every night here. 12. The view from the balcony is really nice, and working out up there in the morning is really refreshing. 13. The bathrooms are clean. Once you get around Addis you will really appreciate a clean bathroom at your hotel. . . . . Negatives: 1. The surrounding area is a little shabby, but that will change as the area grows. Don't let the bad road to the hotel deter you. It's down the street from a mechanic shop for taxis and is surrounded by low income homes. But it's safe and I enjoyed the friendly people in the surrounding area. 2. Taxi cabs will not know how to get here since it's fairly new. So ask them if they know Blue Bird hotel (down the street) or Yonas hotel. Or tell them, Hiya welete or 22 in English. It will get you fairly close to the hotel. Download a map before you leave to help find the hotel. 3. No elevator, however the staff were more than happy to help with the luggage. However, I'd still stay on the upper flowers to enjoy the nice views and be further away from the ground noise. 4. The rooms are not your American gigantic rooms you may be use to. They are clean, small, but nice. Again, don't expect anything super fancy. It's similar to a Holiday Inn. 5. Beds are FIRM! I actually enjoyed it, but some may like a slightly softer mattress. I slept great every night here. 6. The towels are slightly thin, and don't absorb much. Overall, great place for a great price!

I stayed at AG Palace during the first month of 2017 for few days.Clean rooms. Breakfast is okay, it could have been better. Staff are amicable and helpful. Wifi is okay. However, the hotel is situated in what looks like a ghetto. Road adjacent to hotel is unleveled. It is a kind of scary at nights. I had to pay about 400 birr which includes breakfast and wifi. I would advise not to book a room by the stair case, because monitoring CCTV camera sees into room right on the bed.