Hôtel La Rose Blanche is said to have remained defiantly open throughout Côte d’Ivoire’s two civil wars, and I was intrigued as to how it had fared since.
However, our first impression, was nothing to do with the hotel’s history but an overly bureaucratic and astonishingly complicated registration system. This involved connecting to the hotel’s Wi-Fi and scanning a QR code, which opened an online registration form with an exhausting list of questions including our parents’ names, an emergency contact both at home and within the country, and arrival and departure dates for the hotel and country. And if that wasn’t enough, passports and selfies had to be uploaded. We joked that we had provided less information when applying for our visas.
With our guide taking control of the check-in process, we enjoyed a pre-ordered lunch with calamari, and avocat aux crevettes (avocado with prawns), served with fresh French bread, and washed down with chilled beers.
By the time the registration was complete, our room (22) was ready. Reaching it involved walking past the kitchens and along a short, dimly lit corridor with seven rooms leading off it. The spacious room had a comfortable bed, although it was made up with a heavy duvet which we immediately folded up and only one pillow each. There were two bedside tables with reading lights and conveniently placed charging points. Other furnishings included a desk and chair, a wardrobe with shelving. The air conditioning worked well and thankfully didn’t blow directly onto the bed.
The compact bathroom featured a walk-in shower with a glass door, although the shower head refused to stay in its holder and continually slid down while in use. There was also very little shelf space for our own toiletries.
The swimming pool was at the front of the hotel and screened from the road by shrubs. It was surprisingly deep and included a separate children’s pool. Unfortunately, there were no sun loungers, only plastic garden-style furniture and pool towels were not provided, so we used those from our bathroom. The area enjoyed the morning sunshine before falling into welcome shade during the afternoon, when temperatures exceeded 30°C.
The well-stocked bar in the restaurant initially looked promising, but sadly, appearances proved deceptive. Two bottles of white wine, a medium sweet Muscat and a dessert wine, sat on the very top shelf, both costing an eye-watering sum, and it was impossible to know how long they had been gathering dust. There was a reasonable selection of whiskies and liqueurs, but surprisingly no gin. However, the two young barmen, were charming and eager to help, despite speaking very little English.
Encouraged by an interesting-looking menu, we pre-ordered dinner in the hope that it would live up to expectations, but unfortunately, it didn’t. My fish was rather overcooked, while pork choukouya, a traditional Ivorian grilled street-food speciality, was disappointingly fatty. Both dishes came with a generous mound of stir-fried vegetables. The standout course was chocolate mousse, the first dessert of the holiday, although the portion was far too big.
The restaurant itself provided unexpected entertainment. Three times a day, it was filled with what appeared to be long-term business guests, almost exclusively men. The Black African guests generally sat apart from what appeared to be white Europeans, although I may have heard Russian being spoken (our guide suggested they may be involved in the local mining industry). Two separate buffets catered for the two groups, with many of them collecting takeaway meals. It all felt rather unusual, and with so few women present, the two large televisions permanently showed football.
The buffet breakfast offered fruit juices, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, boiled eggs, omelette, bread, croissants and rather hard slices of pineapple. Uninspiring filter coffee was available with hot milk, which made a change. On leaving the restaurant, we were asked to sign for a second breakfast because, somewhat surprisingly, only one breakfast per room was included in the rate. We later discovered this was not unique to La Rose Blanche but seemed to be common practice at several hotels in Côte d’Ivoire.
Despite its frustrations, the hotel was probably one of the best in the area and during our trip we stayed in far worse.
