King Fahd Palace

It was great experience

My expectations were low based on the reviews here but the experience was better than I had hoped for. I was on a business trip so didnt use the swimming pool (which was being repaired), and the children's play area was totally inaccessible. Room was comfortable. The gym was basic (no working airco, very cramped) but I have seen worse. Breakfast good. It may not live up to a 5* experience in other countries but in all not bad.

Hotels are supposed to be your home away from home, and in the 10 years I have been traveling, mostly Africa, 34 African countries, and counting, this has been true until King Fahd. My stay in each country is an average of 3 weeks. I get to know the staff and begin to feel welcome and comfortable; there are always small things, but they generally work out with the help of a willing and able staff. This hotel is convenient to work, and as its website boasts, caters to the business clientele, and has WI-FI, if I come back to Senegal, I will stay somewhere else and make do with the traffic. The housekeeping staff at King Fahd will try to accommodate you, and they do as well as possible, given the rules, but the rooms don’t get much of deep cleaning. The view can also be grand, but you have to ask specifically for a room with a view. Ms Khady Diatta at the front desk is always warm and welcoming very professional and made any front desk transaction seamless. Sadly she is but one. King Fahd is uncomfortable from the beginning, you get some help but not without having to beg for help/service from 3-4 different people. They are the most untrained “hospitality” staff I have encountered, and they will tell you what they think you want to hear, not the truth. Zero communication amongst staff. The WI-FI will not work for hours to days, but they will be surprised when you tell them it is not working if you complain to enough people; in my case, 5 people in one day. They sent two people in the AM to confirm the trouble with WI-FI, but they were not IT, and nothing came of it. I Spoke 2 times to the manager (Fatou Naiaye), 2 hours apart, and she told me they had hotspots available. I have never been more uncomfortable after interacting with a manager than with this manager, who became angry, just short of yelling at me after I tried to explain my frustration with the many things promised but unavailable in this hotel. The restaurant for breakfast is a whole other YUCK; the same wet sponge is used to “clean" the table and mat, swipe the mat, but there is a layer of forearm sweat lingering on the tables that, even after I pointed out made the server giggle and made no more effort to clean. There is no spray disinfectant for cleaning. That said, if you show up to breakfast after 7:00 AM, on my first Sunday, they haven’t rid up the tables or reset them, so you have to go look for flatware and napkins as well as a spot to eat, and they literally ask you what you are looking for!! Same breakfast food every day for three weeks. This is when I decided I couldn’t eat in there just take bananas and yogurt; I tried to leave with two pieces of bread on a plate and yogurt with a spoon to my room but was chased down by Maître ď, who took my plate and spoon, now with two pieces of bread in fist and yogurt back to the room. Apparently, the restaurant manager will not allow flatware or plates/bowls to leave unless it is room service. The rooms are musty and damp, even th