The conceirgage and bell staff is awesome. I have stayed at this hotel 3 times over the last 12 months.

The front desk staff is very difficult to work with. They will never make an empowered decision. They act as if the hotel will go broke if they do NOT squeeze every dollar out of you. They charge $22 per day for the Internet. This is a rip off.

On my last stay I waited 10 minutes for a room with a king sized bed. They still put me in a double. Took another 20 minutes to get a room with the bed I wanted.

They asked if I wanted a wake up call. I said yes for 6 am. They wrote it down but failed to call. When they did call at 7:40 am it was asking where I was for the airport pickup.

I quickly showered, got dressed and went to the aiport. Missed breakfast. When I said I would not pay for the Internet it 10 minutes for them to waive the fee for their screw up.

Their front desk staff is consistently the worst I have ever seeen in a hotel.

Starting with the positive, the hotel staff were very friendly and helpful. The pool and spa are also nice and relaxing. The room quality, however, is inconsistent. On my first stay, I had a room with a new TV overlooking the pool. A week later I stayed in a room directly across the hall that was much more outdated. The TV was small, old, and did not receive all channels clearly. The bathroom showed signs of aging and the air conditioner was so loud that I had to keep it off.

Overall, I had a decent stay, but next time around I might shop around for rooms at some of the other, newer hotels that have popped up in Addis recently.

For the ridiculous rates they charge, one would expect an updated, modern facility. It's dark and mid-70's in terms of decor - but the rooms are clean and in the two I stayed in, everything was functional. It also seems quite secure.

The good:
Food at the main restaurant was pretty good. Buffets offer lots of variety and help with the otherwise lengthly wait times that seem standard in Ethiopia. Fresh fruit and veggies were safe to eat. If you have to have diet Coke (Coca Light), they have it! The pool-side fare wasn't as varied.

Nice, spacious pool (heated apparently by hot springs), lots of lounge chairs. They have tennis courts and even a mini-golf area.

Many of the staff were very friendly and helpful.

We didn't find it until the very end of our stay, but around the side of the hotel there is a little variety store, as well as a separate pastry shop and an art gallery-type shop.

They have a shuttle from the airport which is available for a small fee, but apparently one should call ahead and get your name on the list.

The bad:
Price for what you get.
Decor.
Front desk staff were for the most part difficult to deal with. Our group had several issues on both parts of our stay and you better leave plenty of time for check-out.

Final word - it wouldn't leave such a poor impression, I'm sure, if they didn't charge the room rates that they do. Obviously, there aren't that many choices in Addis and they can pretty much charge what they want so we can stay in a known hotel chain. But it's not up to Hilton standards, and certainly not at that price. For an extra $50 or so, I'd definitely choose the much more lovely-looking Sheraton. I didn't see the rooms there, but the lobby, restaurants and grounds would hint at something more updated than the Hilton.

We were booked here for 3 nights as part of a group tour of Ethiopia.
The Hotel looks as if it has not been renovated/upgraded for 20-30 years.
It is expensive+++, in fact we found out charging the same as the Sheraton, which is ultramodern 5*.
IYou are gouged an arm and a leg for internet access....because they can.The front office staff are on the border of not being able to communicate in English. On our last day they held us prisoner for half an hour (the staff discussing us in Amharic) until it could be established that our breakfast was already paid for.
On another occasion we stood in front of the Hilton Honours front desk, ignored for about 10 minutes while the single staff member spoke on the phone in Amharic and three others stood by chattering with each other.