Visiting and living in Addis abeba

I especially recommend the Sheraton if money is not an issue.  The Hilton is a little less and not quite as nice.  Don't get me wrong, they are both nice but the Sheraton is primo.  These two hotels are the only places to find ATM's.  These two hotels will have food that is safe to eat.  As far as cheap hotels, I cannot recommend any. Hope this helps!

In the town of Ayer Tena, there is this amazing motel. I forgot the name, but I can dig it up. It's a motel because they are like little house complexes but since the houses are new, they are very very clean and so much better than the more established hotels which almost always have roaches in them.  Last year, I checked into like 5 hotels (all had roaches) until I found this motel that I'm talking about. And if you rent a motel room on the hill, you will have an AMAZING view of the green hills and the gardens. The cost of it is pretty cheap. When I went last year, I only paid 180 Birr (about 20 USD) per night. It's hard to put into words how amazing this place is.

I was at the Sheraton as well, but I couldn't bargain down the price which was 300 USD per night. Ridiculous. But it's really up there on the wow factor. There is also, another hotel in Bole near the Bole mall I believe which charges about 100 USD per night. Whatever hotel you check into, the price they give is never the final one. Bargain!

I hope this helps.

Hi
We are in a process of moving to addis ababa...  can anyone suggest a good school for my son. money wont be an issue is paid by the company. he will be in 8th grade...thank you

If money is not an issue there two popular schools with the expats, I believe one is called ICS and the other Sanford....
http://www.icsaddis.edu.et/http://www.sandfordschool.org/

Best wishes, hope this helps....

What kind of work will you be doing? Just curious, as I hope to find a position within the next year or two...

I am not sure of the costs, but I hear the Jupiter Hotel is a nice place to stay.  It's also in a central location off Bole Road.

I went to addis about 4 months ago to visit my girlfriend and her family, and I stayed at the Yoly Hotel.  It was a wonderful experience, they have a full service gym, and a steam room and sauna.  I had a suite with a couch, hot water, and a queens sized bed.  Their are two restaraunts downstairs and a large night club, the customer service was what I have come to expect from addis and ethiopians in general, nothing short of excellent.  Their is wifi in the hotel, however, as you may know the telcoms and internet are gov run, and they are not high speed and reliable at all, and usually when its down the whole city is down.  But I payed about 80.00 a night to stay there which if you compare that to the sheraton and the hilton is pretty reasonable, those two places, however beautiful are way too expensive.  I wouldnt pay that in the states, heck i stayed at the ritz carlton in malysia for 50.00 bucks a night.  Anyway, a good website to go to is ethiopianhotelsguide.com.  Africa is great I love it there, much of what you see on T.V. is ridiculous, heck Ive got crack heads and beggars two blocks from my apartment, and I live in San Diego, CA. Addis is a fine city and my hat goes off to the proud Ethiopians who are working daily to make it even better.

I personally haven't stayed there but I understand from someone that the Jupiter Hotel is nice and reasonable.  And it is next to Friendship Shopping Center for your needs.  Be very careful of the water and food you eat!  It's so easy to become sick.  Eating only cooked food is one good way to avoid it.  Even the upper crust hotels can't be 100% safe, either.

Hello 

I am going to Addis Ababa in the first week of June, and I would stay there until September. Could anyone please tell me how I could rent a house for this time? My work will be at UNFPA, so, I will need to have a not so long drive from my residence to UFPA, Africa Hall, Menelik II Avenue.

I don't mind sharing the house with anyone who is interested.

Thank you very much,


N

PS.  What are some of the nicest areas (SUPER SAFE AREAs) in Addis Ababa ?

I don't have a recommendation for housing but I will tell you that Addis Ababa and Ethiopia as a whole is VERY safe.  The people are inherently kind and gentle and would never harm you.  With that said, there are plenty of scams or taxi drivers charging way too much but they are easy to bargain with.  Stay away from the Merkato.  In the not so distant past, there have been some bombings there.  Also, it is not a place you would want to go anyhow.  If you do go, take your taxi driver or another local so you will have an interpreter.  A great place for ex-pats is a bar/restaurant called Wimm's.  It is owned by an expat from Amsterdam.  It's right next to the train station but a taxi should know.  My favorite is Alladin just off Bole.  I think the best food in Addis!  It's Mediterranean food.  Good luck!

I am from England with parental origin(well, half) in ethiopia and I am planning to move back to ethiopia for good. while i sincerely appreciate all the above tips, I would like to know what would be an average cost of living a modest life in Ethiopia. please help...

I am from US so I do not know how to compare cost in POUNDS, but a taxi from the airport cost me 50birr to my hotel in the Piazza district and I was told that I should have only paid 30birr. In any case, the amount in U.S. dollars was only $2-$4.

Entrance to a nice club is about $4 and you might pay $1 for a beer. The manager at the hotel that I was in had a college degree in hotel management and was very professional and also a down to earth regular guy who wore a suit and tie everyday to work and earned about 3000birr / month which is about $240/mo. I met a college educated elementary school teacher that earned about the same amount per month, but her house for her and her 5yr old son was 4000birr/mo. And her house consisted of only one 10'x15' living room and a 6'x12' (maybe) bedroom and a room the size of a closet where a 14yr old servant stayed and cooked. There was no bathroom or shower. There was a porcelan square drain outside with corrugated steel as walls that is used to pee and boo-boo and there you stand over the same square and use a plastic buscket to pour on your head for a shower. REMEMBER the cost of the house was more than she earned. So how did earn the difference, lets just say that because of these types of circumstances, people do alternative forms of work in the evening to survive.

Food is extremely affordable. If you can earn a living in the U.K. I'm sure you'll live like the queen that you already are. You will probably have to fight off all of the handsom guys that will be begging to marry you.

“hornet”-“REMEMBER the cost of the house was more than she earned. So how did earn the difference, lets just say that because of these types of circumstances, people do alternative forms of work in the evening to survive.” And on the other hand “njmushtare” wrote “Be very careful of the water and food you eat!  It's so easy to become sick.  Eating only cooked food is one good way to avoid it.  Even the upper crust hotels can't be 100% safe, either.”
  Hornet should have explained what kind of job they do at nit, coz I think of my addis ababa, where most public offices close at 5pm, and this woman has to work “alternative” work the last place I could think is a hotel, ummm what else, aha she has to sell her body, to survive. What you wrote is vague so make people contemplate! Coz you exaggerated the situation, or misread the fact at ground.
   Njmushtare, the owner of the post seems not replying but you keep posting everytime you remember a hotel name, but you are not even sure the food is safe, You may not mean any harm, but what you said even suggests “bring your food and drink from where you are”, since even “upper crust hotels cant be 100% safe”, may be you had bad experience or you don’t like eating out so please, let us again be wise when you give tips, lets us guid ,not scare them out .

I've been told by a couple of doctors in Ethiopia that since we weren't born there we will never "develop" the useful bacteria needed to keep us from getting sick occasionally.  Personally, I am sick a lot with diarrhea that I can't explain.  I wash all my veggies/fruits in a chlorine wash and am careful what/where I eat.  My husband is rarely sick.  I have a guest house in mind for you.  I know the owner and she and her family are upscale, educated Ethiopians who own a successful handcrafted shop off Tele Bole.  This place I am speaking of is across from their shop, in case this is a good location for you.  I have toured the guest house and it is very nice and is about "$25-35 a day.  I have not been able to locate the card from there to give you their number but if you are interested I can dig further.

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