In December, the CAS safari operations team headed out on a FAM trip to experience Hotel No. 5, Chameleon Hill Lodge and Mahoganys Springs Lodge, three of our preferred partner properties.  

4 th Dec 2024:
We set off from the office in Entebbe at 1713hrs. 5 Min later we were at Hotel No. 5. We were welcomed with a glass of Hibiscus juice. We signed our check in forms and had a simple briefing about the Hotel and our stay. We proceeded to the rooms for a few minutes before we went for inspection. We checked out the luxury rooms first. They are in the main building and are accessed by stairs or a lift. Just outside the rooms (upstairs), there is delightful mini library and a cosy lobby. Some rooms have a deck with views of palm trees and others have no deck and have a view of the parking lot. We returned to the lobby where we inspected the restaurants (2) and different waiting areas on the way to the rooms on the ground floor. As you move
around the corridors, your eyes travel across beautiful wall paintings that are a magnificent work of art, coupled with soft warm colours evoking a sense of tranquillity for a serene stay.

After the main building, we visited the apartments. The apartments have a living room and kitchen down stairs and a bedroom upstairs. We checked out the massage room, sauna and a small equipped gym and swimming pool - strictly reserved for guests staying at the hotel. All the rooms are air-conditioned, en suite, are clean and quite spacious with a lounge chair, 4-poster beds, a television, a fruit bowl on arrival, drinking water in glass bottles, Wi-Fi, etc. All rooms and restaurant are non-smoking. The hotel has a designated smoking area in the parking lot. There is goo Wi-Fi in the hotel main areas and in the rooms. There is a small gift/craft shop on site.

After hotel inspection, we headed over to the Italian restaurant where we placed our dinner orders, and about 40 minutes later, we were having delicious pizzas accompanied by some drinks. We spent the rest of the evening at leisure, preparing for the long journey the following day.

5 th Dec 2024:
We woke up very early from our comfortable beds, got packed breakfast and checked out of the hotel. The check-in and checkout processes were seamless. Hotel No.5 is a good option in Entebbe for upper mid-range to up0-market travellers. However, we found that one of our rooms had towels that were a bit flimsy, worn out and stained. We also noted that the
water was not hot enough in another room. The previous evening, the water in the showers was lukewarm, even after letting it flow for a while.