Hotel Sunbird in Lilongwe, Malawi: The best Hotel in the city!

After spending a couple of rather disappointing days at the China built Golden Peacock, I was much relieved by the soothing sight of Hotel Sunbird in Lilongwe. And the fact that it was so close to the old town was like icing on the cake. I had such a great time there that I decided to do this review on them :)

I can't quite point out what was not so great about the Golden Peacock, except the fact that it felt like living in a mansion (falling apart in places) in China. And the fact that it had one of the worst possible room service and worst ever internet connectivity :) For any traveler internet quite essential, and to me that was the biggest disappointment. The internet is free though. At $165 per night, it was also not cheap also.

Sunbird, Lilongwe

However, the opposite was true and I can recommend the Sunbird Lilongwe to any traveler to the city. We negotiated and paid $135 per night for a much better property. However, internet is extra.

I loved the old feel of the place, especially the gardens and the arches. The rooms are also quite nice - my room opened into a green paradise like garden. I took a short stroll barefoot there everyday. No hair dryer though.

The rooms from outside

The pool is small but very inviting

The arches are quite beautiful...

Though the food is decent, the service is very slow at the restaurant. We usually had multiple bottles of local Malawian beer Kuche Kuche here before heading out to a new restaurant in town.

The breakfast spread (complimentary with stay) is actually quite decent and I think I spent most time there stocking up food for the long days ahead. The most famous fish from Lake Malawi is Chambo and its actually quite decent here with rice.

The restaurant

The beginning of my breakfast :)