On my first night in Juba I tried to be fancy by booking something “nice” online. This took me to a $108 room at the Flower International Hotel. The hotel was flooded, it looked like a prison, breakfast was putrid and it was basically a Chinese hotel.
This meant I stayed just one night before embarking on other hotels. With all these points considered I can duly state that the Flower International is the worst value hotel in Juba.
Table of Contents
The Juba Hotel Scene
Juba is not a cheap city and the hotel scene is frankly ridiculous for what you get. Prices are massively inflated due to NGOs, oil workers and general lack of competition. Paying over $100 a night is normal, even when the product would barely scrape $30 elsewhere. I paid $108 at the Flower International and it was nowhere near worth it.
Examples include the Pyramid Continental Hotel on Nile Avenue at around $150 to $250, the Quality Hotel in central Juba at about $90 to $130, the Juba Yam Hotel at roughly $120 to $180, the Madison Hotel in Hai Malakal at around $100 to $160 and of course the Flower International sitting around $100 plus. None of these are truly world class, yet all charge like they are.
Flower International Hotel Rooms
The rooms here were actually kinda decent enough, with a big bed, a very small desk and an adequate bathroom. They were though a little dirty and in reality quite small. This did not change much even after cleaning.
The view, at least from the fourth floor, is quite a depressing one if I am honest and is just of a road. This though came into play when said road flooded and I mean properly flooded. Said water also came into the hotel. Not an ideal situation. It did though make a decent TikTok video, which did make me famous in Juba.
The facilities at the Flower International Hotel
There is a restaurant with mostly Chinese staff who do not speak English. I do at least speak Chinese, which you pretty much need here. There is nothing like a bar and very little life. I think I might have been the only customer there.
There is a car park which after flooding became a mud bath. Again not entirely their fault, but not great either. I later saw that they have a casino there. I did not visit, although I wish I had, but I can pretty much guarantee it is a depressing place.
Worst hotel in Juba
Maybe not the absolute worst, but certainly the worst value hotel in Juba. I would have been angry if I had paid $20 for it in Cambodia, but they charged $108 because they knew they could get away with it. Later the manager offered me $50 a night, as they are now doing on TikTok. I do feel this was more related to my video than them being nice.
So yeah, worst hotel in Juba, worst value hotel in Juba, we call on you the Flower International Hotel. My top tip is if you need value stay at the Quality Hotel, something a bit nicer then the Yam, or if you want to be Charlie big bollox then the Pyramid.
Click to check my baller tours to South Sudan.