Protea Hotel Kampala Reviews

Very good hotel. Nice location

So calm here in busiest part of Kampala

The environment is good, clean and sanitary, and the service is attentive.

They don't accept union pay and do not support the use of UnionPay cards.

This is a satisfactory hotel.

Over-the-top welcome! I have stayed at Protea Kampala several times and had a good to exceptional experience. The reception staff always call me by name. The breakfast is next to none. And, in general, the restaurant and bar serve the best, most highly diverse food. Traveling alone as a single 'senior' woman, I always feel safe and welcome at the Protea Hotel. It is in a great area of Kampala, and the courtyard/restaurant is very inviting and beautiful. The bathrooms are large and well-appointed, and everything works. The beds are comfortable, and the desk area has all the outlets needed. The thing that stands out is the service! The staff makes a big effort to make guests feel welcome (being a Marriott Rewards member gets special attention). I have hosted lunches for Ugandan university students a few times, and the students loved the experience. The staff makes these young Ugandans feel welcome, and that is not always the case at other hotels. On my last visit (Feb. 2024), the welcome package waiting for me in my room was beyond anything I've experienced at a hotel. It included a bottle of wine (the kind I'd ordered the last time I was a guest), chocolate-dipped strawberries, and a chocolate picture frame with my photo in it. (See photo.)

Do not resolve issues promptly. Careless and dismissive approach to the most basic requests such as non functioning TV. The reception area is small. The view from shared balcony is good and calming. It didnt seem very walkable to any other resturants or shops.

The only positive thing is that the staff is welcoming and professional. Apart from that, I'm still wondering why would Marriott associate its name with this hotel. The cuisine is less than acceptable, and the mattress was so uncomfortable that I literally had to sleep on the floor for my last night. Apart from that, if you are a smoker, avoid this hotel at all costs. You'll have to leave your room and go to a special space full of mosquitoes and other insects just to have a smoke. If you try to complain about it, the reach of the staff will surprise you, and you'll be rudely answered that there's nothing they can do for you. Don't believe when they tell you that it's by law because in other places, you can smoke freely in open spaces. It seems like it's their internal discriminatory law against smokers.

Great hotel, beautiful ambience, but the thing that makes this such a phenomenal experience are the amazing and professional behaviour of staff. Everyone is incredibly helpful and generous with their time and advice and due to these, my mother and I had an awesome stay. Everything was perfect. Our stay was only supposed to be a 3 nights stay which didn't start great but thanks to Swalik and his care, support, fullfilling my mother and my needs, we decided to stay for another 4 nights. ( This holiday in Uganda was supposed to be split into different hotels for different experiences). As it was a very hot day, 30°C, he immediately brought us a mini fridge in the room, enough tea bags & honey (my mum is a tea lover), it was the little things that were needed and Swalik ensured the clients needs were met. We were suppose to check out on our last day, but we enjoyed our stay so much that we extended it for few more nights. Swalik was always smiling and welcoming us whenever he was at the check in desk or at the hotel entrance duty. He went beyond his time to help us feel comfortable. Patrick was another member of staff who was very helpful and could not stop making sure everything was fine. Samuel, Nicholas and Esther, their managers are such experienced people and both their help and knowledge were amazing. We will miss our chats!! Additionally, the room was immensely clean and spacious. Excellent relaxing place in the balcony area, best house keeping services. Could not fault anything. Thank you Sharon and Barbara for everything. You were wonderful ladies, always happy to see us and fulfilling our needs. The food was excellent. So much variety in the breakfast buffet, up to the point, the chef in charge, Manoj went out of his way to cook what you wanted to eat if you fancied something else. Every morning there was a couple of chef's special dishes but the "Poha" and the freshly cooked "Pooris" were out of this World. Manoj, you went above and beyond for us and we are forever thankful for your care and support. Godfrey the chef was amazing too, he went out of his way every morning to ensure we had what we needed and also the type of egg one wanted was cooked to perfection even with a busy restaurant every morning. Jasper in the restaurant was always smiling and welcoming and so caring, always made sure every need was met. He is a credit to the restaurant. Derick, thank you for the lovely coffees you made for me in the mornings. I shall not forget them as I restarted drinking coffee after 15 years! They were delicious. Manoj, you have a fantastic team and a big thank you to you as well for everything. What makes this hotel great is the staff who are extremely friendly, approachable and go out of their way to help no matter what kind of day they have had. In a nutshell they're beyond professional. The whole experience made us feel like we all became a big family. We loved this hotel so much. One of the downside was that this hotel

There were many other hotels we could have chosen to stay in Kampala but having had such a great experience 4 months ago, we decided to return to the Protea Hotel by Marriott in Kampala. Joan and Charlotte were very good at checking us in quickly. Thank you so much as we were very tired having travelled nearly 20 hours by plane! Maurice, Noah and Rehema were excellent with their customer service by ensuring my mother and I had everything needed for a nice evening. Our room did not have a mini fridge so Maurice suggested he will go and check for a spare one. Maurice brought us one, given the fact that the hotel was almost full. Noah, thank you for all your help in making the tasks I needed completing easier and quick. Maurice, Noah and Rehema thank you for your great hospitality. You were all so kind. Jasper, Sampson and Issac looked after us when we were having diner in our room and made sure we had what we needed by being so quick with their service. They had to run to the kitchen back and forth and were very efficient although they were all very busy that night. In the morning, the breakfast buffet was great with a big variety of food choices. The chef on the night duty made some Poha upon our request, thank you for doing that for us. The Poha was delicious and so were the Indian pakoras. Chef Godfrey made beautiful omelettes as we wanted and went beyond his time to fulfil my mother's need with the chillies. Derrick made us teas the way we liked and the teas were perfect. Cissy and Aisha thank you for your kindness and service. Sharon it was lovely to see you and wish you all the best. The buffet was a mixture of continental and cooked breakfast with a couple of "chef's speciality of the day" which were delicious! Well worth the money. Samuel, thank you for your speedy checkout and your advice. Thank you all again for your kindness and making another stay wonderful. We will miss you all but promise to return again in the near future. Each one of you have contributed to another great stay and made it even more special, you were all very friendly, courteous and very accommodating. The quality of each of you was very impressive. With regards to the hotel, it was great to see some improvements to the room. The bed was very comfortable it felt like sleeping on a cloud :) The room was very clean, spacious and the new decor was superb. However the shower gel needs to be changed back to the old style one as the new gel is so runny like water and not soapy at all! Also, the WiFi was a bit slow this time and got cut a few times. Still giving 5 out of 5 stars as each member of the staff were amazing and professional with their duties. Can not wait to see the refurbished version of the hotel in months to come :)

Protea review There were many other hotels we could have chosen to stay in Kampala but having had such a great experience 3.5 months ago, we decided to return to the Protea Hotel by Marriott in Kampala. Joan and Charlotte were very good at checking us in quickly. Thank you so much as we were very tired having travelled nearly 20 hours by plane! Maurice, Noah and Rehema were excellent with their customer service by ensuring my mother and I had everything needed for a nice evening. Maurice had to go out looking for a mini fridge which our room did not have although the hotel was almost full. Noah and Rehema thank you for your great hospitality. You were so kind. Jasper, Sampson and Issac looked after us when we were having diner in our room and made sure we had what we needed by bring do quick with their service. In the morning, the breakfast buffet was great with a big variety of food choices. The chef on the previous night duty made some Poha again upon our request, thank you for doing that for us. We loved the Poha so much from last time. Chef Godfrey made beautiful omelettes as we wanted and went beyond his time to fulfil my mother's need. Derrick made us teas the way we liked and the teas were perfect. Cissy and Aisha thank you for your kindness and service. Sharon it was lovely to see you and wish you all the best. The buffet was a mixture of continental and cooked breakfast with a couple of "chef's speciality of the day" which were delicious! Well worth the money. Samuel, thank you for your speedy checkout and your advice. Thank you all again for your kindness and making another stay wonderful. We will miss you all but promise to return again in the near future. Each one of you have contributed to another great stay and made it even more special, you were all very friendly, courteous and very accommodating. The quality of each of you was very impressive. With regards to the hotel, it was great to see some improvements to the room. The bed was very comfortable it felt like sleeping on a cloud :) The room was very clean, spacious and the new decor was superb. However the shower gel needs to be changed back to the old style one as the new gel is so runny like water and not soapy at all! Also, the WiFi was a bit slow this time and got cut a few times.

We had a great stay. Everyone was so pleasant at check-in. We stayed one night on two different occasions. The first stay was perfect. The only issue was during our second stay when we had confirmed late check-out upon check-in. However, the following day, we were asked to only have late check-out for one out of our two rooms. We thought this was weird, especially since you are not able to book a room that has four people in them.

Attended the Swahili night and when picking the tong from the buffet for chapatis I got burnt as the tong had been exposed to heat from the hot plate. The disappointing part was how the lady standing at the station took it very casually and said "I will tell the chef to remove it" not a care to offer first aid. I went to the table I was and asked the waiter for some ice to on my finger which he brought.I explained what had an happened and asked him to call me a supervisor/manager.so that I inform him of the risks such lapses can cause, he came (can't recall his name) and apologized and casually left. The pain was intense, I did not enjoy the experience and the nonchalant attitude of the staff made it more unacceptable. Settled the bill and left. They seemed more concerned of the payment than the affected guest's welfare!

Noise during the day from a nearby construction and a night party during my stay on Thursday. Housekeeping should provide dental kits and shower caps daily. The rooms could also benefit from a fridge to keep drinking water cold, provide slippers and a robe. I however love the attendants at breakfast, the front office and my taxi driver - Amir.