Travel reviews by ERinSTL from Saint Louis

"Room was very small, but clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful. There are numerous amenities that we did not have time to use (gym, swimming pool). There are two restaurants conveniently on “campus”. To our taste, the “local cuisine” one was more reasonably priced and had a more interesting menu than the “fusion” one.

Heaven is in a mostly residential area, but very near a commercial district. Assured of safety, we took some walks during down time and found it an interesting way to expose ourselves to some of the culture.

A note: we needed to get some laundry done. The prices (US$1-2 per individual item) were prohibitive (not specific to Heaven – it’s true for virtually all hotel-provided laundry services). I asked if there were any laundromat-type stores where we could do our own wash, and there were none. But the manager offered to negotiate: he agreed to US$10 for the load, but I thought that was too low and ended up paying US$20."

"Rooms are in separate cabins, some a fairly long walk from the central lodge. The rooms are quite spacious, with a separate sitting area next to a fireplace. The fireplace was the only source of heat, and the room was quite chilly by morning, when the fire had burned down hours earlier. The comforter was enough to keep us warm as we slept, however.

Electrical outlets are 220V, but have a universal configuration that accepts US two- and three-prong plugs. If you have voltage-compensating electronics, you can use them without an adapter.

All meals are offered as buffets. There is typically a very wide choice, and I never had a problem finding something to like. Quality is average: neither praise- nor complaint-worthy. Adjacent the dining area is another fireplace, surrounded with chairs, which is a nice pre-dinner gathering place for guests to share stories – and a beverage – from their days’ experiences.

Strongly suggest to your clients that they bring their own gaiters and gloves for monkey and gorilla treks. The gators in particular are almost a necessity, and the lodge “rents” pairs for US$5 each per day. We took gloves with us on our gorilla trek, but found them unnecessary.

One extreme negative that should be addressed by the lodge, but almost certainly will not be: I thought the shower was a death trap. It is apparently formed of poured concrete and painted with a shiny enamel paint. The slope to the drain is steep and the surfaces extremely slippery when wet (which is all the time during a shower). I fell immediately upon setting foot into the shower area. The area is bordered by a line of fist-size rocks set into the concrete. If I had landed on one of those, I fully expect that I would have been severely injured. As it was, I only experienced a moderately painful contusion on my forearm. I count myself very lucky."

"I’ve already reviewed Heaven Boutique Hotel. [Ed: see below]

It probably appears twice because we stayed there both to begin and to end our time in Rwanda. No need to re-review it, though."