Must see hotels in Eastern Ethiopia

Top Choice

If you’re looking to rehabilitate your travel-worn body and mind, a surprisingly relaxing retreat is this small lodge just outside the northeast park…

Top Choice

This great collection of 14 stylish suites – at what is possibly the first hotel with an ounce of character in Harar – is perfect for well-heeled…

Top Choice

This boutique-style venture is the epitome of a relaxing cocoon, with 32 opulent, oversized rooms named after different African countries. All overlook…

Top Choice

An attractive mesh of traditional and modern, the comfortable rooms with satellite TV surround a communal courtyard and excellent restaurant (mains Birr45…

Top Choice

This genuine Adare house percolates tradition and history into a comfy brew of warm welcome amid exotic decorations. Set in the heart of the old town,…

Top Choice

The dour exterior of Dire Dawa’s best lodging hides a classy lobby, well-appointed rooms (though not all have air-con) and a prolific list of amenities,…

This delightfully old-fashioned relic of French railway days (1904) is without frills but it's high on atmosphere, with whitewashed walls, birds in the…

This attractive place right above the falls has rustic yet serviceable wood-and-stone tukuls and a restaurant with awesome views. Aside from the setting,…

If you’re looking for a casual place to unwind, then look no further. Refreshingly out of the ordinary, the nine rooms have a semitraditional theme and…

The friendliest option by far is this family-run hotel on the cliff above the Awash River, where you might see crocodiles in the day. Rooms are small and…

Tucked in an old-town alleyway, this traditional Adare house oozes atmosphere, with five compact yet attractive rooms and a lovingly decorated sitting…

Popular with Addis Ababa’s elite, this is a massive but attractive resort – the only one on Lake Kuriftu. There’s a wide variety of spacious, spick-and…

Ras Hotel is back with a vengeance. After a top-to-bottom makeover, it now ranks as one of the swankiest options in Dire Dawa. Sure, its exterior look…

This solid, no-frills four-storey option is deservedly popular with tour operators. Rooms in the main building are comfortable, serviceable and fairly…

Spread out over three hectares along the sloping shores of Lake Babogaya, this sprawling resort features enormous stone-and-wood bungalows scattered in a…

The big drawcards here are the balcony views over the Shoa Gate Market and the hotel’s proximity to the bus station and old town. The rooms themselves are…

This Harar institution has had a much-needed facelift, and its rooms are now fresh and comfortable; the corridors, though, are as bare as ever. Room…

Once the town’s flashiest digs, Dreamland has lost some of its sheen but provides some of the best Bishoftu views. All rooms have richly polished…

A good deal for shoestringers, this faded glory is housed in an Italian colonial building opposite the train station. Most rooms have plenty of space to…

This large outfit up the hill on the Dire Dawa road is a solid budget choice. The odd cockroach or two aside, the rooms are cleaner, the staff friendlier…