The Grand Royal Monrovia, Liberia
July 2013
The Grand Royal (or Royal Grand) hotel.. General entry – fine, the desk persons were reasonably nice, and pretty accommodating. Explained the rules pretty well. There is a tiny gift shop in the lobby – nothing I really wanted, but at least there is one, and they had some toiletries too. Seemed to be a liquor store, but I didn’t go in. The restaurant. Well, it was okay. Took a long time to get my fish and chips. The beers were cold. Server was friendly and responsive. Whole meal with two beers cost $25 which was fine. By contrast, one buffet breakfast cost the same amount!! Frankly, I thought that the breakfast was adequate but certainly NOT worth the same price you would pay for a full extensive buffet in Washington D.C.
Health club – I did not even go look at it, I should have.
Room – first impression was good, it’s large, and the AC worked like a top – almost too well, I actually had to adjust it down to avoid freezing to death. The closet was good, with nice hangers. There was a scale in there, and a nice heavy robe provided (worked as a sweater for me…..), and slippers. I did not try room service or laundry. The bathroom was fine, decent size, good shower, nice hot water, very good pressure, nice fat towels in plenty of supply, and a hairdryer. No makeup mirror – but, small omission.
The lighting in the room was great – plenty of it. Nice big windows also, but the view wasn’t anything. That’s just because it’s downtown, and there isn’t anything to see anyway. Beds were on the hard side, but for me it was fine. The pillows, linen and comforter were very good quality, and I found them very comfortable. TV channels – not that many, really – but I wasn’t in the room enough to care.
Minibar was simple – list said there was supposed to be beer, but no beer in the fridge. There were a couple of snacks – nothing major. But, if you were desperate it would be fine. I would have had some wine, but it was $8 for a tiny single serving, vs $6 for little booze bottle. $5 for beer. Guess that’s why there was no beer. It was the same price in the restaurant. There is room service, but I did not try it. There were two bottles of water provided, and there was a coffee/tea service that was fine.
Desk was nice size, good for working. The internet – wireless was a bit slow, but it was free, and so I can’t complain. Chair comfortable. The quality of the furnishings was good, I thought. Basic. So, maybe over time there may be wear and tear and this may turn out to be a more typical mid-range business hotel, as larger and more recognized chains take over. But for now, it’s one of the best games in town and so I think it’s fine. $250 per night is pretty pricey, but – that’s supply and demand.
One other complaint I have is the telephone.My office tried to reach me on the numbers provided, and could not get through.A radio station tried to reach me for an interview, and even though I could hear them on the other side, they could not hear me – tried 3 times with no luck. There were no instructions for making international calls, and so I assume that you could not do it from the phone.Maybe if you used the operator.