Olympe du Bemaraha

Lo pasarás mal si no hablas francés. A pesar de que hubo varios huéspedes de habla inglesa presentes durante mi estancia, casi ningún personal hablaba inglés. Al menos tres veces al día escuché a los invitados preguntar: "¿Hay alguien que hable inglés y pueda ayudarme?". Y mi estadía de tres noches fue una falta de comunicación tras otra, ya sea que el miembro del personal que hablaba inglés tradujera incorrectamente las opciones del menú o explicara incorrectamente el costo de algo. Siempre me entregaban un menú de cócteles y siempre me decían que no había cócteles disponibles. La mayoría de las veces quería pagar algo y el cajero no estaba disponible y me decían que regresara más tarde. Dos o tres viajes para pagar una bebida o comida, y tenían cambio cuando pagué. Entonces tuve que hacer uno o dos viajes extra para conseguir mi cambio. Hay una caminata de 100 metros cuesta arriba hasta la zona de recepción. Así que no fue una experiencia agradable tener que caminar la colina de 3 a 4 veces al día en un clima de 100 grados solo para pagar una comida y recibir el cambio de mi pago. Las habitaciones son básicas. Sin aire acondicionado. Mi habitación no tenía papelera. Mi habitación no fue limpiada durante mi estancia de 3 noches. Las habitaciones se calientan mucho. Hay un ventilador, pero no está disponible para usar por la noche debido a que los enchufes que funcionan con energía solar no funcionan después de las 11 p.m.

Nothing was amiss with Olympe du Bemaraha: rooms were fine, clean, bathroom was OK, too. Restaurant was also OK, nothing special, but food was very adequate. Very useful was presence of two craft shops: after the flight from Antananarivo to Morandava where Tsaradia airlines managed to leave behind the luggage of half of the passengers and we arrived with what we had in our scanty hand luggage, it was a relief to be able to buy at least a teashirt. Hotel garden is really nice.

After reading reviews of this hotel, I was very nervous booking it. But, due to the covid situation, it was the only hotel I could find which is open (turns out there was one other, but most are closed for the season). I booked via direct email with the hotel. I took a leap of faith- and was pleasantly surprised. Upon arrival, they had the rooms ready for us, along with some juice, which was really sweet. It's currently very empty- we were one of two or three groups staying there during our three-night stay. We received rooms towards the top of the hill, and all three were together. We had reserved a family room, which, from pictures, was a double bed and a bunk bed in a slightly separate area. However, it turned out to be 4 twin beds crammed together. Nevertheless, we spent most of the time at the lodge so it didn't really matter. The bungalows are sweet little cabins with porches with cozy chairs outside. There were mosquito nets on all beds and the bathroom was a good size. Very quaint and a cool vibe. They don't have electricity during the day, and there were occasionally power outages in the early mornings. Bring a flashlight in case and charge up at night. Water varied between cold and hot- it's run by solar, so if you can shower around 4 pm, you'll be golden. All that said, for their rural location, it was very comfortable. The food was good and the menu changed every day. They always had a vegetarian option. However, the food was very expensive for Malagasy pricing. 35000 Ar for a packed lunch, with dinner around 30000 Ar & breakfast at 25000 Ar. But, the rooms are a reasonable price. I don't know if the manager who so many people mentioned having negative experiences with is gone for the year due to covid, gone for good, or we just never met him. We only interacted with Malagasy staff, but their English was very good and they were incredibly sweet and helpful. Wifi in the lodge is pretty good- though it did cut here and there. Pool was fun and clean-though very cold haha. Overall, we were very happy with our stay and felt very safe and well taken care of. We loved the rustic charm.