Hotel La Résidence

In a lively street, in the heart of historic Saint Louis (on the island), a few metres away from Faidherbe bridge and 3 mi from the city airport (allow a five minute drive).

Free wifi access is available at this hotel. A shuttle links it to Saint Louis international airport. The owners also have a camp 13 mi away from Saint Louis island. Considered as the hotel's garden, it will give you the chance to practise open-air activities. Many excursions depart from La Residence, because the hotel owners are also in charge of the city's major tourism agency (Sahel Découverte).

Accommodation tip :
If you are sensitive to noise, favour a room to the patio-side! The bedrooms are all the same price, whatever the floor you are on.

Built in the 1950's and renovated many times, La Residence hotel blends in with Saint Louis' history through multiple decorative elements. But to fully appreciate this place, you must enter this three-storey narrow-looking building. On the ground floor, the most part of the common areas is shared out by the small reception, the restaurant, the bar and the long patio, giving the narrow building a breath of fresh air. If you haven't yet met the owners of the hotel, take a look at one of the patio walls next to the hotel's large palm tree. The caricature of the couple drawn by an artist friend will give you a friendly idea of them. The pool table is not the only asset of the richly decorated bar. Large posters of French films will remind you that "Le coup de torchon" and "Les caprices d'un fleuve" were shot in Saint Louis and its surroundings. Portraits, most of them black and white, show the numerous unavoidable personalities of Saint Louis and those who remained for a certain amount of time in this place: Pierre Lotti, Jean Mermoz, Serge Moati, Jacques Higelin, Richard Bohringer? and the jazz stars present for Saint Louis' international jazz festival. Navy related objects come and complement the hotel and restaurant, adorned with furniture made by local artists. The outdoor staircase on the patio leads to the several floors where the bedrooms are distributed. Upstairs, a terrace gives you the opportunity to admire the roofs of the city while having a meal or relaxing. La Résidence's guests have free access to Hôtel de la Poste's swimming pool (roughly 650 ft). It is Saint Louis' largest, the only one open to the public and it lines the Senegal river.

36 bedrooms spread over three floors. As the hotel was built on the regulations of the 1950's, the bedrooms aren't very spacious, except maybe for the three suites on third floor (no lift). The smallest ones with a double bed are on the patio side. The ones on the street side are a little larger (215 sq ft). The accommodation consists of low, firm beds, a small TV set fixed to the wall, individual air-conditioning, a closet and a direct telephone line. 12 of the bedrooms also have a mini-bar. One poster only, representing Saint Louis or France, comes to give a personal touch to those very simply decorated rooms. More homogenous in the way they were decorated, the three suites are furnished with four-poster beds (mosquito net) and sofas. The largest one has a private terrace. One third of the rooms are provided with a bath tub. In the other tiny bathrooms, sink, toilet and shower are lined up. Room service is available from 8am to 12 midnight, the opening times of the bar.

You can have drinks and meals in three different parts of the hotel, linked to one another on the ground floor. Actors and jazz musicians know the restaurant well, the patio and the bar, where they come to be entertained or have a meal. Famous faces from now and before are visible on the various walls as well as some photographs of Saint Louis island, of the family of the present owners, who have always lived in Senegal, of the Cannes festival, etc. It is logical then that the menu, cleverly made out of old tins, should present a wide range of tasty dishes, prepared with local products. A chef's special is also available for CFA 8000. Breakfast is served buffet style. On the panoramic terrace on third floor, the guests can also ask to have their breakfast while enjoying the view of the roofs of the city and the beauty of the river. At night time, you can have a real treat with the "brazerade" - a selection of grilled beef and fish (booking compulsory).