La Maison bleue de Somone (Airbnb review)
Summer is here. I felt like getting away. I made plans to travel with the boys down south. But with the rise of corona virus cases lately, I decided to postpone it. Still I needed to get away from the mundane routine of Dakar. After browsing for days on Airbnb, I finally settled for a house in Somone that I found through Expat Dakar. For those who do not know that site was made for expats living in Dakar to share tips about the city and ultimately it became a big shopping site as well.
On the site, I found the contact number of the person that rented so I sent him a message. He answered shortly after. He was also very diligent in responding to all my enquiries. I booked by sending half of the money via Orange Money (something like Paypal) to the housekeeper, the owner living abroad. And then I called her to confirm the booking.
A week later, I arrived with the boys. The house is in Somone not far from the local market. It is not down the main round, You have to take a right turn and go deep inside the street. It can still be accessed by foot and by car. It is a big house with a pool and a nice garden with flowers and trees all around. Inside the house there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a tiny living room adjacent to a quaint kitchen. You could tell that the owner is keen on art as there are several paintings around, not yet hanged. The decor is also very eclectic with some African and Asian statues and vases. But I think that what I like the most is the accent color on the walls and some of the furniture. It is blue that takes on green. All rooms and the living rooms have air conditioning. There is a TV with cable and also Wi-Fi Internet. The living room has two chairs and a tiny sofa. There is also a small dining area with two high chairs and a table. But we usually ate outside with the huge garden table. The kitchen is well equipped with a fridge, toaster, microwave and coffee maker. It has many utensils, plates and cooking pot. I used the stove to cook during our stay and it worked fine.
There were two bathrooms with adjacent toilets in the house, one in the main hall and one in the parental suite. They had running water, that could be hot once I turned on the water heater. The house also comes with a gardener who comes twice a day to water the plants and take care of the pool. There is also a security guard, I have not met him because it seems he comes at night and stays outside the house. The housekeeper was the one who showed us the house. She could come and clean every day but I did not want to be bothered by another presence in the house. She came the final day to check for everything and get the rest of the payment.
I think that the main issue with the house is that it is a bit isolated from the main road. Having a car would have been perfect but it is less than 10 mins walk down to the main road. There is also a shop nearby the house where you could get some basic things. The other problem I had was that only one bedroom had a mosquito net. It is not such a big deal but there were some mosquitoes at night. Also on our last night, I have noticed that there was an electrical power drop which would cause the power to be cut. I think we were using too many machines at the same time (washing machine, air-conditioning).
I stayed four nights and paid a total of 200.000 FCFA. The more you stay, the cheaper it gets. And I did not have to pay for electricity, water and internet for they were included in the price.
I actually liked the house so much I am even thinking of getting one just like that someday. Oh the great time I could have with family or friends in there.
For more of our time in Somone, please read here.
Comments