Colline Hotel

“Not as good as it should have been”

How the mighty have fallen! As an ex-pat, I have lived in Uganda for more than 19 years. The Colline Hotel was one of Uganda’s finest hotels located in Mukono. I stayed there recently and all I can say is, “How the mighty have fallen.” What I liked about my room and my stay: 1. The lighting in th… more

How the mighty have fallen! As an ex-pat, I have lived in Uganda for more than 19 years. The Colline Hotel was one of Uganda’s finest hotels located in Mukono. I stayed there recently and all I can say is, “How the mighty have fallen.” What I liked about my room and my stay: 1. The lighting in the room is better than in most Ugandan hotels. Instead of one lightbulb in the middle of the room, there were three wall sconces, plus a desk lamp – something I have never seen anywhere else. The desk chair wasn’t very comfortable, but at least you could see to do some work. 2. The mattress was comfortable. It was a spring mattress rather than a foam mattress, meaning it was not like sleeping in a canoe, which is a very common experience in many hotels. Sadly, the bed sheets didn’t fit the bed, so the bottom sheet, in particular, doesn’t stay in place. There’s also no mattress pad, but there is a wool blanket attempting to be a substitute for a mattress pad. (I discovered that when the bottom sheet came completely undone in the middle of the night.) 3. The mosquito net is big and fully covers the bed without it having to drop into your face, and it is easy to access the bed once it is put into place. 4. There was a working fridge in the room – nice for chilling bottles of water or keeping other food cold for eating later. There’s no kettle or microwave in the room, though. 5. There were two dustbins – one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom. This is highly unusual for most hotels. Usually there’s only one dustbin. 6. There were screens (wire mesh) over the windows. This is extremely unusual. But, it’s a very big help when you want to keep the window open for fresh air, but keep out mosquitoes and other insects. 7. The staff are friendly, though not empowered to solve more than the basic issues for a customer. What I didn’t like about my room and my stay: 1. There is a large mosque very close to the property, which is very noisy at certain hours of the day, including 5 a.m. Your best survival strategy will be to sleep with ear plugs. 2. There was no fan in the room. For security reasons, you should close your window at night. But, by morning, the room is hot and very stuffy. A fan would have been very nice…especially at $80/night. 3. I had a room on the ground floor, which was nice because a recent knee injury makes climbing stairs difficult. But, my room faced the walkway where all the staff seem to move back and forth, in conversation with one another or on the phone. Plus, if you have opened the curtains in order to get light, they can peer directly into your room. It felt like an invasion of privacy. 4. There was no hot water in my bathroom. There is a very fancy shower gadget installed, but no hot water. Personally, I would rather have a simple shower fixture as long as there is hot water. It’s hard to understand how a hotel can charge $80/night and there is no hot water. 5. When I mentioned on checking out that I didn't have hot water, the front desk person said, “Why didn’t you call us?” The implication being that it was my fault that I didn’t have hot water because I hadn’t called them. I explained that I was already in the shower, ready to bathe, when I discovered no hot water. So, to call them meant getting out of the shower, drying off the cold water on my body (while waiting for the hot water that never came), getting dressed again, then making a phone call to the front desk, waiting for someone to come to my room to fix the problem. Then, starting the whole process over again just to bathe. Honestly, for $80/night for a room, it just seems better to make sure the hot water is working before giving out that room. 6. I didn’t like finding out that the breakfast was worth $20 of my $80/night room rate. Ultimately, I chose not to take the breakfast at the hotel and find another way to have a more reasonably priced breakfast. It did, however, make my room rate only $60/night. 7. I wasn't told in advance that they will only accept US Dollars dated 2017 or more recently. My bill was $120. My USD $100 bill was ok, but my two $10 bills were dated 2013. Thus ensued a very looooong conversation about how to solve this problem. Finally, we negotiated that I would pay the $20 in Ugandan shillings at the prevailing exchange rate, not the hotel’s exorbitantly high exchange rate. 8. The room décor is dated – the wall paper is peeling; the carpet is worn; the placement of items in the bathroom makes it difficult to get to the sink, and the shower involves stepping up a very high step. But, hey – there was water in the sink and the toilet flushed, there was more than one towel available, and there were hooks for hanging your towel. As with all hotels in Uganda, you must bring your own wash cloth/face cloth. 9. The only lock on the door is a push button lock on the doorknob. There was a sliding bar at the top of the door that could also be latched. But, I would have appreciated better locks on the doors. Tips if you stay at the Colline Hotel: 1. Ask for a room that faces away from the mosque…unless you want to pray at 5 a.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2. I recommend a room, at least, on the 1st floor. Ground floor rooms are good for knees, but bring other complications. 3. Before unpacking, check to make sure the water in the sink works, that the toilet flushes, that there is hot water in the shower, that the windows open and close easily. Ask for a fan at check in, if that is important to you. 4. Allow at least 20 minutes to check out of the hotel. Pay for all meals and drinks separately so the only charge you have on checking out is your room rate. 5. The hotel’s room rates are billed in US Dollars, so it is better to pay in US Dollars. You can pay in Ugandan shillings, but it will be at their exorbitantly high exchange rate. I don’t know what the credit card rate will be. Typically, paying with a credit card includes the customer paying the 3-4% credit card fee. Beware! 6. If paying $20 for breakfast, which is included in the “bed and breakfast” price, is not important to you, then negotiate a price for $60/night instead. 7. Make sure your US Dollars are dated 2017 or more recently. If you’re reading this review significantly after 2023 when it is being written, allow for no more than five years between the year of staying and the date on your bill. And, make sure there are no tears or marks on the bill. No blemishes. IF the date is wrong or there are visible imperfections on the bills, your perfectly good currency will be rejected and then you will be stuck.

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