We didn’t know what to expect: Bradt’s guide to Ghana suggested Mahogony Lodge was ‘one of the few genuine boutique hotels in Accra’, whilst the Google rating was 2-stars.
After a full day of travelling we arrived for our three-night stay at 9.30pm and were pleased that (a) check in was cursory and (b) the bar was still open.
There are 29 rooms, but we were allocated a ground floor apartment, one of only two. The bedroom had an extremely firm, queen-size bed complete with thick duvet and no top sheet. There were also two casual chairs, a TV (with a second in the lounge), a fridge stocked with complimentary water, and a wardrobe with a safe. Wi-Fi was complimentary and very effective.
The bathroom was a reasonable size, with a shower over the bath, which had a huge rusty mark in it. The shower head was positioned vertically rather than horizontally, and squirted water all over but there was plenty of hot water and a decent hairdryer next to a mirror.
In contrast to the bed, the beige leather three-piece suite in the lounge area sagged. The dining table had three chairs whilst a huge AC unit operated by key card. English style plug points were plentiful, not just in our room, but in the communal areas and restaurant so charging was never an issue.
The well-equipped kitchen had all the amenities we didn’t use or need, fridge-freezer, cooker, and microwave etc. But it’s debatable whether a single sachet of coffee and singular tea bag could be described as tea and coffee making facilities.
A small terrace overlooked the front where the road was a little noisy, but our main door opened onto the garden with lots of communal seating and a small pool area which had four loungers, but only three with cushions.
The Mango Restaurant had a small bar, but most people chose to sit out in the garden with drinks. Prices were in line with most other places with a large Club beer at £2.30 and a shot of gin at £1.60 with the tonic being more expensive. However, it was one of the few places on our five-week tour which had gin, tonic, ice and lemon all at the same time. Whilst there was a wine list, in reality it was either sweet, expensive or unchilled, so we didn’t bother.
The lodge is situated in a safe, quiet suburb, close to the airport and many embassies. With no infrastructure around it, we were a captive audience for eating and drinking and all our meals were included.
From the á la carte breakfast menu, we opted for a beautifully arranged platter of papaya, pineapple and mango, along with pineapple juice which came with a surprising, but excellent shot of ginger, toast and coffee served in a pot. Although there were all the usual breakfast items to make up a full English, we settled for eggs, which invariably had hard yolks despite asking for medium.
The lunch and dinner menu were the same, and during our stay we sampled both international and Ghanaian dishes, discovering that a Ghanaian salad comes with cold baked beans and that red red was a delicious bean stew. Portion sizes were hearty and after the first night, we shared. However, the main issue was that it took 40 to 60 minutes from ordering to food being served despite it not being busy and we eventually began to pre-order.
The lodge was not busy during our stay with most other guests appearing to be foreign workers who preferred it to a large, soulless chain hotel.
