East African Hotel

Kiliwarriors put me up at the East African for two nights. It's an extended-stay suite hotel geared mainly for business travelers. One of my guidebooks made a passing mention of this place, but said a tour operator isn't likely to put Kili trekkers there. And here I am.

It's actually a pretty decent place. The staff is friendly and helpful. Rooms are spacious, if oddly furnished. I have a burgundy leather chair next to what I'll call an orange-creamsicle leather loveseat. The beds are really firm - more like a boxspring with an inch of foam on top - but I like that. The pool is small. The Wifi is free, but a little pokey since it's via satellite.

The TV gets 15 channels, including:

• CNN
• Express 24/7 (the Indian equivalent of CNN)
• Al Jazeera (the Arab equivalent of CNN)
• something called ITV that shows a mix of public affairs and other networks' feeds.. including CNN and Al Jazeera
• a South African version of ESPN
• a South African version of the Starz movie channels
• an African channel with acting as wooden as the figurines I bought in town 
• one channel that's all sound and no picture (still not sure what it's supposed to be), 
• and one I call the Screen Saver Channel, because all it shows is "Screen Saver" jumping around the picture.

Food is reasonably good, provided your expectations aren't too high. They make an effort to prepare Western food, but it's not quite what you'd get in the States. The eggs at breakfast were good. The croissants were bleh.

I had spaghetti bolognese for dinner, which was well prepared but heavy on the cilantro. I asked for Parmesan cheese to put on my pasta. The befuddled waiter said he would ask in the kitchen, then came back with a small bowl of grated swiss. Tasted fine though.

I called room service at 2am to get a chocolate milkshake. The first gal understood the chocolate part, but not milkshake. She got someone else on the line who understood, and it was on its way. A little thin to be a proper shake, but this is East Africa.

Prices are pretty fair too. A 300g grilled steak goes for roughly 14,500 Tsh ($10). A shot of Jameson's was only 2,500 Tsh, a bit less than a milkshake (3,000 Tsh).

It's been a pleasant stay. I don't know if I'd come back to Arusha anytime soon, but if I did I'd certainly consider the East African.