Radisson Blu Maputo Mozambique Review – Blown by the wind …

The Radisson Blu Maputo, Mozambique is located near the beach, just north of downtown Maputo. Despite the proximity to the beach tough the area is a business hub and does not have the best restaurants and Things To Do nearby.



Rates at the Radisson Blu used to be around $100 but recently doubled to $200. This is likely due to the currency deflation Mozambique experiences as commodity exports that make up a huge part of the GDP.







Check-in was friendly and quick with a cool and wordless efficiency you'd expect in Germany or Russia but not in Africa. There is sparkling water available in the lobby which is a lovely treat given the drenching weather Maputo features in summer.











I struggled with the room key so I recruited the concierge to open the door for me (the card goes in the opposite way of what any other hotel wants you to do). The room was large but not luxurious. I liked the big bathtub and well working rain shower.

The Air Conditioning was extremely loud when switched on and wouldn't do much cooling either. I later found out that you can switch it off and the 'automatic' will take over and cool the room down with minimal fan (like a background cooling). This worked for me at night - but on this 120+ degree day it wasn't enough to cool the room.

The Internet is the same frontend that all Radisson Blu hotels use and allows you to connect with Boingo or with your room number. It was pretty fast at about 8 Mbit.

I was looking forward to the spending some time at the pool but its a rather tiny affair that is just behind the main road. It gets pretty loud and that day 60 mph wind gusts made the umbrellas fly (I was 'injured' by a flying umbrella in Japan just recently).









Once the winds settled down a bit the pool got very crowded from guests not staying at the hotel but using the pool (and ordering food and beverages). With just a dozen benches it felt very crowded (the wind did not help either).

I ordered a chicken quesadilla for lunch. It was edible but bland and tasted like the ingredients had been idling in the freezer for a lifetime. I returned the next morning for coffee and pasteia de nata which were just ok as well. The food prices were the same as outside the hotel (where it is equally tricky to get high quality food.).





There is a Chinese shopping mall in the same complex that comes with a super cheap supermarket and a number of small restaurants if you'd like to escape the hotel for a bit.

In summary I found the hotel functional but was hoping for a bit more resort amenities (my fault at having such expectations). The food wasn't great but well priced. This is a good business hotel though and if all you want to do is work with a bunch of lobby meetings mixed in; it won't disappoint.