I've stayed at the Planet Hotel, in downtown Akwa, several times now since April 2007.

The cleaners are meticulous, the hotel is well presented and fronted by a caring Englishman, always keen to assist with your well-being and stay. His sister is a famous TV presenter in the UK. The staff are bi-lingual (French/English) and work well as a team.

The hotel itself is very clean and all the rooms are adequately sized and in perfect condition. All the rooms come with bath, shower, toilet and washbasin. There are TV's with 10 or so French channels, plus CNN in English. Each room has an ethernet connection and reception will supply you with a network cable for plugging into your laptop, with free access to the internet. I managed speeds of upto 100kbs for downloading stuff and Skype and MSN video chats were without problems.

The rooms don't come with mini-bar or any free water/coffee etc.

There is a bar in the hotel which closes at 11pm along with the adjoining the restaurant. The price of drinks are reasonable for a hotel and there is a good selection of beers and spirits.

I found great pleasure in sitting outside on the veranda watching the locals go past, occasionally trying to sell you their merchandise. TIP: ALWAYS haggle! If they say 10,000 FCFA then offer them less than half and keep your offer there. If they offer you a watch for 200,000 FCFA then it's worth 25,000-30,000. Carvings can be had for as little as 1,000 FCFA but remember that a 5ft giraffe won't fit in the hand baggage compartment!

The food was a bit hit and miss for some. However, I was lucky to have always been satisfied with what I ordered/received. Meals were always served in good time. Breakfast is continental breakfast style, with the option to order omelletes etc. However, there is a fabulous, but expensive, restaurant and live act bar just across the road.

The hotel is located close to most things and 1,000 FCFA will get you most places in a yellow taxi. The journey to the airport is most likely to cost you 2,000 or 3,000 FCFA depending on how well you haggle. The hotel has several taxis on standby, but these do like to add 1,000 FCFA to the price. TIP: always haggle them and agree a price before you get in. e.g. if they tell you 3,000 - tell them 2,000 until they agree or just wait for a yellow taxi to come past (and they do very often).

There are two computer terminals in the lobby for internet access to those without laptops. There is also a shop in the hotel. However, everything is way too expensive. TIP: Cigarettes can be bought off the street outside 24 hours a day for under 1,000 FCFA a packet of 20.

The Planet doesn't have the glamour of some hotels, but it's very clean, friendly and helpful staff and the prices are very good for what you get.