THE WHITE HOUSE OF TANZANIA #HOSTEL
For this 2 night stop in Arusha, I decided to stay in a hostel, excited to meet adventurers like me, and I finally went for The White House of Tanzania Hostel. This hostel belongs to a family and they all manage it having different roles. It was overall a nice experience and below I rate them by category.
LOCATION, 4/10
I give this note because I wasn't aware of the location or the neighborhood (And my fault because I usually check the neighborhood on maps but I didn't this time blinded by the good reviews). It is very interior, not close to the road at all and in a quite "shady" place. Fortunately you always have boda-boda near the hostel but still .. I usually feel safe wherever I go but I wouldn't recommend going out here at night by yourself
CHECK-IN & CHECK OUT FORMALITIES, 7/10
They are really chill about that. I was welcomed by the sister in the family. She made it quick and short. I just had to write my name in a book and that was it! The brother in charge of Finances wasn't there so no money talk, which kind of left me in the dark because I didn't know how things worked (e.g. If you want to have a drink). Since I was checking out at 4 AM, I just paid the day before :)
CLEANLINESS, 10/10
IRREPROACHABLE , Bedrooms are clean spacious and very comfortable too.
I was in Arusha in August so it was the cold season, however, even though it was cold the blankets they provide are very warm and comfy, making it hard to get out of the bed.
The shared bathrooms are also very clean ! Besides few insects/bugs spying on you during your shower nothing too bad , you also have hot water so don't be scared!
FOOD, 9/10
Food was really good and very filling ! The price included ALL 3 MEALS. Moreover, The family makes sure everyone eats well and enough. Since we have dinner altogether it's also a great time to meet people , share stories and make new friends :)
HOSTEL ENVIRONMENT & AMENITIES, 9/10
The hostel is pretty comfortable and has a chilley vibe, with music in the background, sofas to lay around, games, Swahili lessons so basically you can't get bored. The young and happy crowd contributes a lot to the hostel environment!
They have a pretty nice crowd , a lot of Europeans !
SERVICES , 2/10
This is harsh but... When you request things, you have to consistently remind them of it or else it won't happen . We asked for a taxi the day before we were to leave and the sister told us "yeah I will book it". We woke up and no one was awake, we knocked at her door and nothing. Fortunately , one of the brother woke up to go to the washroom so we asked him to call a taxi for us, otherwise we would have missed our buses.
Same for tours, you talk about it but nothing consistent happens , no follow up .. you are pretty much left on your own
After all I only stayed there 2 nights so maybe it just wasn't the best time or it was just too short to judge but all in all I met nice people , visited Arusha on my own.
Would I recommend staying there?
NO if you want to go around easily , YES if you want to rest and chill for a short time