Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau

Rooms and decor

Picture a sharp modern tower in the middle of Plateau, Abidjan's main business district, where you step into the lobby and the first thing you see is African textile print across the wall, set against black-and-gold furniture and contemporary carved wood. This is Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau, a boutique brand under Mangalis Hotel Group, a West African chain that set out to make modern African style the selling point rather than cloning a foreign flag wholesale. The hotel runs 199 rooms and suites across a building designed to pull natural light onto every floor, in warm tropical earth tones, with work by contemporary African artists hung along the corridors — it reads more like a design gallery than a standard chain. The rooms keep that restraint: dark-wood wardrobes and desks against cream walls, a headboard upholstered in an African print made for the hotel, soft beds and good linen. Bathrooms separate the shower from the toilet and stock a modern, woody house amenity line. City-view rooms look out over the towers and the Boulevard de la République expressway; lagoon-view rooms catch the Ébrié water stretching out, and a high floor on that side is the lucky draw for the sunset.

Food and amenities

The thing that actually made this place a name is the Skybar, the rooftop bar on the top floor, open to non-guests and a fixture for Abidjan's younger crowd. The cocktails are good, the menu runs to contemporary African fusion, and the payoff is a 360-degree view that takes in both the business district and the lagoon. Right beside it sits the infinity pool, edged to dissolve into the horizon — at sunset the light off the water is hard to stop photographing. Downstairs there's the Noom spa with quiet treatment rooms, a 24-hour gym, and a main restaurant serving both Ivorian dishes and international plates. Reviews rate the breakfast buffet as well stocked, with fresh-baked croissants, tropical fruit, eggs to order and a few West African options to try.

Location and getting there

Plateau is Abidjan's version of a downtown financial core — a grid of high-rises where the big West African banks keep their head offices, and where most business travelers base themselves. The hotel sits where everything is walkable: Mövenpick and Pullman, the sister properties, are on foot, and the main towers and conference venues fall inside a 5-10 minute radius. Cathédrale Saint-Paul, the modernist Catholic landmark, is close enough to walk over for photos. For getting in and out, you're near the bridges across the Ébrié lagoon that connect to Cocody, Marcory and Zone 4, the latter packed with restaurants and nightlife. Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ) is about 25-30 minutes by car in normal traffic, and the hotel runs an airport transfer that many reviews recommend — it's safer and skips wondering whether a taxi driver knows the route. For a first-time visitor to Abidjan, a Plateau base is the most reassuring call.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. Plateau buzzes by day with office workers but goes fairly quiet at night and on weekends, when people head home or cross to other neighborhoods to go out. Restaurants and shops around the hotel often close early or skip Sunday, so an evening stroll for a casual bite nearby can feel lonely — the fix is a short car ride to Zone 4 or Cocody, where bars and clubs run late. The other recurring note in reviews is that in-room Wi-Fi and the lifts can drag in bursts, especially on weekday mornings when guests check out at once; some rooms get a weak enough signal that people call the desk for a reset, so leave buffer before an important video call. Street noise from below is the third point — lower rooms facing the road can pick up traffic at rush hour, so light sleepers should ask for a high floor or a unit facing into the building. Finally, the rates are genuinely five-star, but against European or American standards a few small details aren't 100% polished: hot water can be slow to arrive, the odd dish comes out dry. That's typical of this tier across West Africa, not a fault unique to here.

Our take

After reading through real reviews from guests of every nationality, Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau clearly sells four things: modern-African design, a central Plateau business address, a rooftop bar that became a citywide meeting point, and warm, easygoing staff. If your trip is meetings in Abidjan, then an evening cocktail on the Skybar alongside locals and expats with a sharp skyline shot for your feed, it nearly nails it. Younger couples and travelers who love a design hotel with atmosphere will like it just as much. If instead you're here for a long, slow holiday or want every square inch finished to a European five-star standard, the quiet Plateau evenings and a few rough details may leave you short of full marks. Overall we give it 8.6/10 — best for business travelers, younger couples, and solo travelers who want a design hotel in a convenient spot in central Abidjan.