Basmo Fortress

Beautiful large property and grounds. Definitely surprised to find out that it’s only accessible by ferry! No cars on the island. A beautiful shuttle drive from the ferry landing to the hotel. There is no peaceful view of the water from the hotel, as pictured. In it’s prime it was quite the destination.

Apartment was spacious, had a kitchen and clothes washer/dryer. It is only 1 km from the city centre. There is a bus no 37 that leaves from the front of the hotel and arrives at central station in two stops. To get there from the airport, catch a train to central station then bus 37 to the hotel. There are shops and middle eastern restaurants close by. You need to know the exact address of the hotel in order to find it because there is only a small sign on a door facing the street

This should be at least worth 4 stars…and I’m not usually a moaner…. But, the whole of the front of the building is currently covered in scaffolding and white polythene sheet, the windows are also covered in polythene. So no view and restricted light. I understand maintenance has to be done but if this was communicated we could have made a choice not to stay there. Maintenance inside is very poor, shower control was dodgy, half the downlighters didn’t work, no instructions on heating or cooling and to top it all the WiFi didn’t work meaning I used up my data allowance. We rang up the helpline but said sorry it’s the weekend! So can’t recommend as it looks like the front will be covered for some months.