Bomah Hotel Limited

What can I say? This place never changes. It’s supposed to be the best hotel in Gulu. We had an executive room but it still came with an impossibly small bathroom. When the bathroom door was fully open you only had about 7 inches to squeeze yourself into the room whilst breathing in sharply (see photo where, unbelievably, the door is opened as wide as it will go). Baths have recently been replaced by showers. Amusingly, the old bath taps have been left untouched so you have to bend down to turn them on and operate the divert that makes the shower head work (see photo). The drain hole in the shower was slightly higher than the rest of the floor so water would pool at one side of the shower base whereupon it would slowly leak out and flood the bathroom floor. We had to create a makeshift dam using towels. A sign on the shower wall says you should run the hot taps for 15 minutes before hot water comes through. This was no exaggeration. We got into the routine of turning on all the hot taps each morning and then making and drinking a cup of tea. Eventually, the hot water would arrive. How much water must this process waste? One evening and morning there was no water available in the hotel. So, at 7:00am a very old UK-style fire engine was backed up on the grass lawn outside our room window, presumably to provide some water which arrived in the taps some 15 mins later (and hot after another 15 mins). Breakfast was a bit better this time compared to the past. The sausages and baked beans were OK and fried eggs were available on request. Meals in the restaurant or bar were generally OK as long as you kept things fairly basic. Wi-Fi was frequently unavailable. One morning I was tempted to go outside the room and reboot the wireless router that was fastened high up on the wall. However, I didn’t need to as the power suddenly went off for about two hours (no generator on this occasion?). Fortunately, when it came back on the wifi was working properly again. Compared to the other hotels in the area this one is quite pricey (apart from the Acholi Inn, which has absolutely stupid prices for a very downmarket hotel). We did get to see the new wing but the rooms there are even smaller than the one we had. Air conditioning was working well on this visit and bottled water was supplied daily as promised. All in all, I would say that this is still the best hotel you should stay in at Gulu. Security is very good.

Was here for two nights. Staff were overall friendly and helpful. The restaurant was OK, though breakfast wasn’t particularly good. The room was spacious and the air conditioning worked well. Otherwise everything in the room was considerably worn or in disrepair. Upholstered furniture was old and stained, and the cabinets were all chipped. The mattress was old, saggy, and uncomfortable, and even though there was a bed net, it had holes and dried blood spots where apparently others had killed mosquitoes before. The bedding was clean as far as I could tell, but the sheets were old, worn polyester that were rough and pilled, and thread bare holes had simply been patched. The bathroom was small, but relatively functional, though my shower didn’t work the first night - a simple fix of replacing the shower head. After asking twice, the staff was able to fix it. The shower itself is large, but the shower head is weirdly hung at chest height, so it takes some maneuvering to use. I am sure it would be difficult for someone of above average height. Apparently this is the best place in town, I don’t know, but it could use a good dose of maintenance, repair, replacement of worn furniture and thorough cleaning (beyond the standard sweeping and mopping).