La Résidence

Peaceful oasis in the middle of a busy part of Dakar, great location in terms of being walking distance to two busy areas for restaurants and nightlife. Very friendly staff (who spoke perfect English) helped us out with transfers and also local recommendations. Reasonably priced drinks, and a buffet style breakfast that included plenty of great options. Rooms were frequently cleaned and amenities provided for. A perfect place to stay when you're in Dakar.

Oh dear. We are counting the days until we can leave La Residence. The rooms are tastefully decorated, so it seems someone at some point had a vision for this place. Sadly every day we need to call about something that is not working, and every day it seems extraordinarily difficult for them to summon any kind of response vaguely resembling customer service. For example, we woke up one morning to our accommodation flooded, and the floor slippery as ice. We called and asked the reception for help. None came, and we had to spend 4 hours falling, slipping and bandaging our children, whilst mopping it up as the water kept coming, before anyone came to help. Three days later, the water is still coming, and we have broken glass on the floor as one of us slipped and fell with a glass of milk for one of the kids. In addition we were tut-tuted by the manager who eventually came to stand and look at it, apparently it was not his shift but his colleague's. I wonder how badly the owners treat their staff in order to achieve such an impressive level of sullen disdain in them for their paying guests.

A lovely, clean, quiet and central residence. Staff were really nice and kind, with super useful tips. The residence is very close to restaurants and has a swimming pool too. Had a relaxing few days and would go back without a doubt if I were to return to Dakar.