Agoro Lodge

We spent three nights at Agoro and we really enjoyed our stay. Most people arrive in groups, late evening for dinner and overnight, but we got to fully appreciate this place, especially in the afternoon, when the coffee salon, as I called it, is in its most beautiful and sunny. The coffee they serve was possibly the best we had in Ethiopia, as they seem to use some spice in it, which we really liked. ||Our twin room was quite spacious, with high ceilings, three big windows that let in spectacular sunshine in the afternoon, and with the feature we saw nowhere else we stayed in Ethiopia- the bug net, and nice soft light lamps. The beds are very warm, which is necessary during Gheralta's cold and windy nights. You absolutely need a jacket any morning or evening here. Rooms are cleaned and towels changed daily. ||Breakfast is included in the affordable room price, and that is a bit chaotic part of our stay, because it seems that the kitchen is understaffed and the two ladies who work there do not seem able to keep up with large groups in the morning. This means that the food arrives to the buffet table as it is ready, but it also means that we never saw all the items on the table before we had to leave for our tours. We did not mind, however, and we instead appreciated what was available, which was plenty already. ||One day we tried their special pizza and it was fine and much appreciated after a long day of climbing rocks around Gheralta.||Wifi is only available at the reception and is of the same quality everywhere around Ethiopia. I wish people would stop whining about poor wifi and blaming individual businesses for that, because the reason is the crappy infrastructure at the level of the entire country. This means the fewer people use it the more you get to yourselves.||The same is with water, which became a trickle once a group arrives in the evening, so we chose to shower before the groups arrive and we were just fine.||If you travel solo you will need to arrive either with a private driver, or with a bajaj from Adigrat. ||Totally recommended.

Spent one night here early October, supposedly the beginning of high season. Turned out we’re the only guest in the entire lodge so had the whole place to ourselves. The property sits on a hill top. Both the huge public sitting area and dining room offer beautiful sweeping view of the mountains and nearby village. Dining room service was good. Food quality was hit and miss. While soup and salad were great, the main courses of grilled chicken and spaghetti were almost inedible. Each living unit is like an individual cottage with high ceiling and quite spacious. The bathroom has its own hot water heater, which needed to be turned on for about half an hour to get hot. But the supply was sufficient. The portable closet in our bedroom was badly damaged by termites and should have been replaced. Door was extremely difficult to close, lock, or operate. The feeling I got is that this place was elegantly designed, built and well decorated in the beginning but lacking continued maintenance and care. It leaves me a sense of “faded glory”, but the place is not even that old. Overall it was a pleasant stay but it could have been a lot better. The place has great potential but due to maintenance issues I only have it 4 stars.

The lodge is run by the Catholic Church, and uses disadvantaged staff. However frankly the service was above average for Ethiopia, and the rooms were well appointed withn local manufactured furniture, though we did ask for an extra chair to be able to sit outside to watch birds in the nice gardens and neighbouring fields.||||The lounge and restaurant have lovely views, but come with a fleece! The food was average, indeed somewhat disappointing. ||||We would recommend this as a base for the north Tigray area, as it is located just off the main road with great views over the surrounding countryside

Love what the lodge is doing- building community connections, training unemployed people, putting profits back into the community. We stopped for lunch en route to Mekele. Menu was limited- three options but food was good although small servings.||The terrace had amazing views and whilst I didn't enter the rooms, they looked nice from outside.

A decent lodge for an overnight before hiking or heading elsewhere, but not a destination in itself. Clean, tidy rooms & hot showers. Food was tasty & service decent & well meaning! Wifi did not work when we were there so don’t depend on that. All round a perfectly fine stay.

We stopped for a lunch. When went around 12-30 we were not very hungry but after over two hours when left AFTER lunch we were very hungry. First impression was very impressive, garden outside, large sitting areas but had to wait for two hours for meagre portion of lunch ,few strips of fried fish skin, three pieces of boiled potato ,ten gm.s of rice and a watery soup did not fit the look of the lodge. Single lady not smiling was on duty and a cashier spent time chatting with Guide and driver. Better to buy few bananas from market than entering there,

This is a sprawling, well-built place in a great hilltop location but the rocky road means that normal cars may not make it to the top (intact). If you are here on your own, as we were, you may rattle around the huge, empty public areas, but the lounge has comfortable seating by picture windows with panoramic views of the town and surrounding hills. ||||This is a community project, where the rooms are stone-built and supposed to be like local houses, so are a bit spartan (two comfy chairs to replace the plastic ones would do the trick), but reasonably clean and a lot less cell-like once you open the metal shutters. On closer inspection, we found our room had not been cleaned properly, the bins hadn’t been emptied, or the sink cleaned. People only tend to stay one night, which suggests the management isn’t particularly good. They are certainly not all that clued-up. When we arrived, with a long-standing booking, it took ages for them to get the idea that we are actually staying - despite the place being almost empty. The wifi is hopeless except at reception, where at times it is surprisingly fast at other times as slow, as the two blokes who seem to rely on the sole woman to do all the actual work..

Our group of 15 arrived in the middle of a wedding reception, so our experience of the ensuing chaos may not be typical. We had to eat our buffet by candlelight outside, as the mountain air got increasingly chilly. The food was never more than tepid even when it arrived, and most dishes were pretty inedible. There were hilarious moments, for example when some of us asked for a gin and tonic. This took half an hour to produce, and when we asked for ice, a huge block arrived which the waiter could not break up. Nobody got a bill for wine or drinks and the manager had to rely on our honesty for the ‘extras’ as we checked out next morning. Having said all this, our room was clean and comfortable and the surrounding views are delightful. There is no equivalent accommodation for miles around, so for an overnight pit-stop between Mekele and Axum this is a good option.