ATLANTIS HOTEL RATES

Akwaba* au Wafou indeed.

The Wafou is the hotel that we stay at while in Abidjan if given our druthers since it is one of the most secure locations in all of post-war Cote d'Ivorie. JBles once got stuck at the Ibis Marcoury after having failed to book in advance with the Wafou and it was an eerie and uncomfortable disappointment for him. He was still new to the region then and hadn't taken into account the fact that the resort books up weeks in advance and for weeks at a time due to high demand by business travelers and NGO workers. Now we always make sure to get a reservation in as soon as possible.

A number of factors have coalesced into making this former pleasure resort a safe haven and the de facto business hotel. It's located only a few short miles from the airport and is set back far from the street. There's only one entrance which can easily be closed off by a large blast door which is covered in electrical-fence style wiring. The perimeter is entirely walled off, laced with barbed wire, and dotted with security cameras. The compound is frequented by the French military and tapped in to both the French and UN networks which would ensure a quick evacuation in case the situation in country were to deteriorate.

So that's why we stay there. Otherwise, it's about as far away from the concept of "business hotel" as one could hope for and I love it for that contrast.

In its heyday the Wafou was a luxury resort that catered to the city's glitterati who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle without ever leaving sight of the lagoon. Equipped with a beautiful pool and a gigantic paillote that serves as a nightclub, the resort's rooms are an irreverent collection of hutlike structures done in the Sudano-Sahelian adobe architectural style reminiscent of the Malian Great Mosque of Djenne. It also plays host to a modernist French restaurant whose chef routinely produces creatively delicious fare. Sitting astride the Lagoon, the views provided are beautiful and slightly strange. To the southwest, Abidjan's skyline cuts a ghostly figure in the omnipresent haze of smog that permeates the metro area. To the north, a large oil refinery belches said smog out of its stacks which burn eternally with the fires of Mordor and occasionally explode a bit.

All in all, the experience is unique and one of my personal favorites so far.

*I always assumed that "awkwaba" meant "welcome" in a Malian dialect (since the architecture of the place is cribbed mostly from that region) but the Googles suggest that the word is more commonly spelled as "awkwaaba" and is used mainly by the Ashanti/Akan people of Ghana. I'll have to ask the owner to clear the matter up next time.

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