Olympe du Bemaraha

We were given a bungalow (no 18) at the very bottom of the steps, so it was a trek up and downhill to go to the pool, bar or restaurant. That said it was clean and comfortable with a nice view from the verandah. However the shutters did not fasten properly and kept bangin in the wind. The pool area was nice situated right next to the bar/restaurant, but did get busy in the afternoon. Staff were friendly and several spoke reasonable English so we didn't have any communication problems. The choice from the bar needs attention, no gin - orange - lemonade etc - they were offering what we would describe as old fashioned spirits which we all drank in the late 70's such as Cinzano! Despite the cocktail list they couldn't prepare them as they didn't have the ingredients!. When I asked the manager if he had gin his response was "what is gin", yet he said he'd spent a fair bit of time in Europe!! Food was acceptable, bit of an issue with managing to get a table to eat outside as big groups just filling them but not eating. Couldn't get online for the 3 days we were there, despite them displaying 3 router passwords in the bar area which was the only place you could supposedly get it. No electric in the day or after 10.00pm. Situated out of town, you need a driver.

Limited hotel choice in this region, but suggest you avoid staying here. We had booked into a "superior room with garden view" and were instead given a room in the dingiest darkest corner of the property overlooking a rusty iron fence in what felt like a dorm-room complex far from the pool and restaurant (after complaining we were given a much better room). The restaurant staff were useless and could barely serve dinner and breakfast or understand instructions. The food was below average and some of the worst we've had on this trip. The toilets next to the restaurant weren't cleaned regularly and always had full bins with used toilet paper and most of the time were out of paper. We'd booked for 3 nights but could only stay for 2, and although staff at reception confirmed that we'd only be charged for 2 nights they failed to inform the payments team, so we were charged for the full 3 nights, and they didnt seem to care. The manager swans around at dinner making small talk with guests but doesn't seem to actually manage anything, or train staff, or maintain high standards. Our guide told us that the manager had hit one of the drivers for daring to provide a bottle of water to their guest, because the hotel wanted to charge extra for the water, so now none of the guides and drivers want to stay here. They were rude to our guide and driver and didn't provide them with accommodation, which is against usual practice for hotels in Madagascar.