It was fate that took me to the Yam Hotel in Juba, but it was the kick ass value, the food, service and whole social scene that kept me there.
For it turns out that not only is the Yam Hotel the best airport hotel in Juba it is about 5 minutes walk, but at $100 a night probably the best value. Yes I know that is not that cheap, but believe me it is economies of scale when we talk about Juba.
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The Hotels of Juba
Juba is an absolute nightmare when it comes to hotels and pricing. Things are insanely overpriced and you rarely get what you pay for. This is largely down to NGOs, oil workers and lack of real competition. I had to pay $108 at the Flower International and it was a complete joke.
To compare you have the Pyramid Continental Hotel on Nile Avenue going for about $150 to $250, the Quality Hotel in central Juba at about $70 to $120, the Juba Yam Hotel at roughly $90 to $120, the Madison Hotel in Hai Malakal at around $100 to $160. None of these are world class, but some are at least not a total rip off and we mean some…
The Yam Hotel Rooms
The rooms here, at least mine anyway are spacious and geared almost towards being 5 Star, and are at least a firm 4. The beds are big, there is a decent workspace, a huge sofa and a big TV. Said TV bucks the trend of most local hotels by its Smart element actually working.
The only downsides would be that the bathroom is a wee bit small and is shower rather than an actual bath. Also I was told that there are some rooms with a balcony, which would have made smoking somewhat easier. The view though of the actual airport I even saw the President arrive do make up for this though.
The Yam Hotel Facilities
Rooms come with breakfast as standard, which is OK, perhaps a 6 out of 10 which is served on the 6th floor deck. Said floor turns into a posh little dining and drinking area at night that has great views of the city. Food here is ace and I did a couple of room service deals that were cracking.
The social hub though is the nightclub bar that is by the entrance. On ladies night the music was loud enough to keep me up in my room, so I headed down to see the action. Here I was accosted by and started drinking with some Dinka boys before also being introduced to some foxy Ugandan and Rwandan ladies. Tequilas were had and I have to say the bar at the Yam Hotel is a banging night spot.
Best Value hotel in Juba
Is it the best value hotel in Juba? Absafuckinglutely! Basically hotels in Juba are expensive and for the most part not all that great value. The Quality Hotel where we take the groups is $70 for example, while the Flower In was a bit shit crazy $108.
And they have got smart management. I only ended up finding out about the hotel as the manager had seen my TikTok and invited me to review. This meant two paid nights, two free nights, but this is an honest review.
Did I also mention that it is quite literally not next to, but borderline in the airport? So yeah, location, price and facilities make the Yam Hotel the best god damned hotel in Juba.
Click to see my rocking South Sudan Tours with YPT.