Name: Le Rabelais
Address: Route De Sotuba Porte 2005, Bamako, Bamako, Bamako, 2126, Mali
Rating: 7

Smoking areas

Garden

Reception desk

General

Room service

Shower

Toiletries

Rooms

Safe-deposit box

Telephone

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Free internet

Internet

Multi-language staff

Languages Spoken

Parking

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Conference Hall

Business

Sauna

Beauty and wellness

Baby sleepers

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Bamako-Senou International Airport

Le Rabelais

Bamako

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

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7-beds

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9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This hotel is not for more than a few days.
The breakfast is really bad. Old dry bread. Som fruit and jam. You can order a omelette, plain is the only option. 
Coffee smells bad and taste worse. It is the worst coffee I have ever tasted.

French is a must to stay here. One waiter knows a few words in English. This is normal in Bamako. Also it's normal in al former French colonies. 

The internet is the worst I have experienced in Africa. Turned on the tv once, no picture. As everything was with French voices I just left it at that.

Im here on business. I have stayed for more then a month. And I'm really ready to check out.



Short stay hotel.

A party of four met here for dinner, including someone who had been here years ago.  The service is attentive.  The menu choices are extensive, if not always evenly executed:  a friend ordered the steak tartare , which was okay, if not exceptional.  Other friends ordered the duck and rabbit main courses, and they were EXTREMELY happy.  I ordered the lamb Sri Lankan style - the curry sauce was excellent, but the lamb was so fatty as to make it almost inedible.  And the dessert (mousse au chocolat) was a definite disappointment (very grainy).  That said, the ambience was charming,and the 400 year old Frenchwoman who greeted the table was  delight.  I would go back to this restaurant with out of town guests, but perhaps not with others who lived in Bamako...

Excellent French old-style cuisine

On an airplane ferry from South Africa to the USA I got stuck in Bamako for three days and could only find accommodation at this hotel. 
For openers the reception is overseen by two rather formidable French speaking ladies who speak no English.  In fact no English is spoken at all in the hotel. 
The rooms are rather spartan and in need of a good clean and seriously in need of a redecoration to update them from the 1960's, but the bedding is clean. 

TV's are small and poor, with little choice in programming, which is all in French. 
Internet is free,  but horribly slow and the WiFi signal is patchy. 
The aircons struggle to overcome the stifling heat (and lose). They tend to drip all over the floor  and make a noise through the night. 

Laundry is done grudgingly. 

The food is good by Mali standards, and so is the service. 

All in its fair value for money, and European travellers will be more used to the standards and facilities than Americans will. 

Stay at this hotel if nothing more modern is available or if your budget does not allow for a better standard. 

Comfortable - For Bamako 

Went there for work, and stayed in the hotel for almost a week.  did not have anything to complain about.  Beds was good, room a little bit noisy when aircon of under neighbour was running.  not the best showers i ever had, but good food.

Good comfortable stay

I loved my stay at Hotel le Rabelais. The hotel rooms are nice and clean with a mosquito net and functioning air conditioner. Food at the restaurant is amazing, lovely french cuisine with specials everyday. Breakfast is nice, you can order an omelette but there is also good coffee and a selection of breads/cakes. There is a treatment room which I haven't tried yet but nice to have the option!

I would recommend that anyone coming to Bamako stay here, don't listen to the review that mentions the rats - it had made me a bit apprehensive but don't worry, I have only seen one and after all this is Africa!

My flight is leaving early in the morning and it has been very easy to arrange an extremely late check-out, the owners are very kind and happy to please. There is also a shuttle which will take me to the airport.

Laid back in Bamako

Diner at the poolside is only for the brave.  As soon as darkness sets in, the place is overrun by rats who have clearly lost all fear of people.  More than disgusting.  Never experienced anything like it in Africa.

The ownership of this place has lost all interest in running a half decent hotel.  They got enough feedback from guests to do something about it, but nothing happens.

Remember the old saying: for every rat you see, there are 10 more that you don't ...  Better stay away from this place.

Le Rabelais

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