I’m wrapping up our Nigeria – Ghana series with a review of all the services we used during our trip. We spent our time between Grand Popo, Accra and Cape Coast. I wrote about them in the first part of this series. (Recap of our trip in Grand Popo | Accra | Cape Coast). I also wrote a cost and trip breakdown which you can find here.
This follow-up article is a review of all the places we stayed at and the bus services we used.
The first stop is our hotel in Benin. We stayed at the Auberge de Grand Popo. Here’s my personal review of the place.
Auberge de Grand Popo
We stayed here for two nights and it wasn’t so bad. The hotel has this rustic old charm to it. Most of the buildings were old and the room we booked was very basic. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the room but I’ll try to describe it as best as I can. Ours had a bed (with a mosquito net), a desk and table and a fan. The shower area and toilet were also very small.
What I found surprising and perhaps a bit terrifying about this place was the fact that it wasn’t fenced. The buildings are distributed on both sides of a stretch of road. So, in the mornings, we would hear school children walking past our building to their school or bike men riding past.
What we loved
- Location – The hotel is located right on the beach, which was just fantastic. I loved waking up to the sound of waves and enjoyed spending time relaxing or reading on the beach.
- Food – The food was delicious!
- Service – Hotel staff were very professional, courteous and always willing to help. Service was generally exceptional.
Low points
- Mosquitoes in our room were vicious! This isn’t necessarily the hotel’s fault anyway. We had a net but it was so short and kept coming out of the bed after we had tucked it in. If you stay here, maybe ask if the rooms can be sprayed with an insecticide before you call it a night and travel with a malaria kit.
- WIFI didn’t work the entire time we were there.
Awale Plage Hotel, Grand Popo
This was our second option for a place to stay in Benin. We chose the hotel above because it was cheaper and also because we loved the beachfront. (They had just about the same rating on Booking.com).
We didn’t stay here but we went over to have lunch there on day 2. The food was equally delicious and unlike Auberge de Grand Popo, this hotel was fenced in and had working WIFI. The service was great and the staff was very helpful when we had issues paying for our stay at our hotel. (We actually came here to pay).
I would definitely consider staying here when I get to visit Grand Popo again.
Overall Rating is for restaurant and service alone.
Gracie Jones Guest House, Accra
We stayed at Gracie Jones for a few nights during our time in Accra. We booked their standard room for 60 cedis (6,000) a night. I don’t have a picture of the room here either but it was also pretty basic and smaller than where we stayed in Benin. We had a TV, AC and a fan in our room with a shared bathroom next door.
What we loved
- Price – This guest house was incredibly cheap. Probably the cheapest you”ll find in Osu/Oxford street area.
- Service – was also good. Staff was friendly
- Location – this place is off Oxford street, so it’s close to sites around.
Low points
- None really. There’s only so much you can expect from paying 6K/night.
Urbano Hotel, Accra
We stayed here for one night only. I really wished we could have stayed longer but no money we had to leave for Cape Coast. Everything about our stay was great. I’m not sure how long it has been in existence but it felt and smelt like a new place. We also got upgraded from a standard double room to a superior room here, so what’s not to love?
What we loved
- Room – Super comfy rooms. Soft bed, pillows, clean sheets and of course the upgrade.
- Service – Friendly professional staff
- Location – proximity to attractions was a good thing. It’s also not that far from bus stations and co.
- WIFI – super fast 🙂
Low points
- Breakfast option was quite limited
Earl Heights Apartment Hotel, Accra
We stayed here for a night, hosted by new friends from Nigeria who were also visiting Ghana at the same time as us. This was an apartment hotel, so it had everything en suite and felt more like a home than a hotel. We were also very impressed with the size of this place. The living room, dining area, kitchen, bedrooms were all very large and well furnished.
What we loved
- Hotel: we loved everything about this place.
- The pool – where I learned to swim 🙂
- Speedy WIFI
Low points
- None
Almond Tree Guest House, Cape Coast
This was our home for the one night we spent in Cape Coast. We loved the Jamaican vibe the place has. (I believe the owner is Jamaican). The rooms were named after popular figures and there was art everywhere, I loved it. I thought the in house restaurant was quite expensive but other than that, we enjoyed our stay.
What we loved
- Clean rooms and sheets;
- Service was generally good
Low points
- None
STC Bus Service
We used STC twice – from the Aflao border to Accra (14-seater) and from Accra to Cape Coast. Both services were great, punctual and very comfortable. The buses were also very clean, which was unlike our experience with ABC. There was a bit of mess getting our tickets to Cape Coast even though we booked the night before but we were eventually able to get seats on the bus.
What we loved
- Punctuality – both buses left within 10 minutes of the departure time stated. The Ghanaians we travelled with were not necessarily impressed with that though
- Drivers of both buses drove at very good speeds.
Low points
- Ticketing could be handled better.
ABC Bus Service
Where to begin? This was the worst part of our entire trip. The bus was extremely filthy and disgusting! It had a terrible smell as well and the staff weren’t bothered at first – even after several complaints. At some point, one lady even had to bring out her antiperspirant to spray the bus, it was that bad. They eventually began to spray the bus intermittently.
I was very disappointed with this service as I have used them twice in the past. My first experience was a trip to Jos with them. It was amazing! I was so disappointed to see how run-down they’ve become.
What we loved (if I can even use that word)
- Good driving
- Stress free border crossing (not necessarily time saving)
Low points
- Terribly filthy, smelly bus
- Faulty AC
- Whenever we stopped at a border, they let vendors come in to sell stuff. I didn’t quite find this comforting
- We spent forever at the Seme border.
- Price difference – the cost of the trip was 216cedis. They insisted we paid in cedis. With the current exchange rate, this came up to N21,600. When we got our tickets, it was written 216cedis | N17,500.
That’s about it for all the services we used. I hope you find the info here useful. Please share and comment on this article if you’ve enjoyed it.
You can find the rest of the series here: (Recap of our trip in Grand Popo | Accra | Cape Coast). I also wrote a cost and trip breakdown which you can find here.
