Sunbird Lilongwe

Perfectly located for all amenities

Stayed one night as I had an early flight. Booked and paid for on Agoda (whose reservations are all prepaid). Upon check-in, the front desk employee claimed the room was not paid for. I showed my Agoda voucher and thought that was the end of it. I asked them to arrange for a taxi at 05:30 the next morning and provide a breakfast box since I had breakfast included. There was no mention of any additional charges for the breakfast box. Later, I double checked that the taxi had been arranged; a different employee claimed that my room had not been paid for and demanded that I forward my receipt. By then, the hotel wifi was down, and I had to use my own data connection. The wifi didn't work for over an hour. Later, I called the front desk to check on its status and was told they had changed username and password (without informing the guests). In the morning, the front desk attempted to charge me for the breakfast box. The so called taxi was an unofficial driver who charged USD 45 for 23 km (an exorbitant amount in Malawi) and arrived with an empty tank, so he had to stop for gas on the way to the airport. The room was otherwise good, with comfortable bed and pillows. Amenities included an electric kettle, which apparently had been used for something other than water and had residues stuck to the bottom. Bathroom with everything in working order. Shower with hot water and good water pressure. A/C worked well. Wifi was fine (when it worked). It could be a great hotel if the staff got their act together.

This hotel is central, convenient and clean. Overpriced - yes! The breakfast is quite good though. The rooms are small but overall ok. Staff are mostly friendly, but their main task is to bill you. Upon arrival the room rate had increased compared to the pre agreed price (given in writing). The conference rooms are not impressive. Do not let the photos online fool you! The management of the conference facilities is particularly poor. Promises were broken on several aspects. There is a projector but projection on a yellow wall yields poor quality. Internet is not the best. The conference package (which is quite a high cost on top of room rental) was supposed to include a bottle of water for participants. This was Clearly stated on the contract. However the cost of water bottles was added to bill on top of the package. At lunch each of the participants could have one soft drink. On the bill the numbers were doubled. I would really not reccomend this as a meeting venue. If you decide to come here - check every item on your bill.