Olympic Palace Hotel
by the TopOfHotel team
Olympic Palace is the downtown pick where you can walk to restaurants and banks — with a pool, spa and free airport shuttle, it sells convenience and warm staff over all-out luxury.
Olympic Palace is the downtown pick where you can walk to restaurants and banks — with a pool, spa and free airport shuttle, it sells convenience and warm staff over all-out luxury.
In-Depth Review
Rooms and decor
Picture a right-sized 4-star — 58 rooms — tucked into the heart of Plateau Centre, the core of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. The building sits in a district ringed by government offices, big banks and the restaurants local business people know well. Open the door and you find warm, classic 4-star decor: a standard bed with clean crisp linens, a work desk with a reading lamp, and a bathroom with a sensible wet-dry split. The rooms people love most are the ones that face the inner garden, planted thick enough with greenery to cancel out the downtown noise. Open the curtains in the morning to a wall of green leaves and it actually feels restful, not like sleeping in a rented box. The rooms are not huge or lavish, but they use the space well, with a wardrobe, a mini fridge and room to spread out luggage — a fit for a business traveler staying 2-4 nights or a couple passing through Brazzaville.
Food and amenities
The point of staying here is having everything in one place. Olympic Palace runs three restaurants rotating international menus — classic French dishes shaped by the colonial era, local African cooking, and fusion plates for anyone craving familiar flavors. Breakfast is a small buffet with fresh-baked bread, eggs to order, fresh fruit and decent coffee, enough to start the day right. The outdoor pool is a highlight — a good size for an evening swim to shake off the heat, or lounging with a book on a poolside bed. Nearby is the spa, serving relaxing massage treatments after a long day of meetings. Other amenities are all here too: free Wi-Fi, free parking, laundry service and a meeting room for anyone here on business. Staff draw consistent praise in real reviews — genuinely friendly, fluent in French and English, quick to arrange transport, recommend restaurants and handle requests — which is exactly why a lot of guests come back.
Location and getting there
Location is this hotel's trump card. Olympic Palace sits in the middle of Centre-Ville (Plateau Centre), Brazzaville's old business district, which packs the city's important buildings into walking range — ministries, embassies and the big banks, plus restaurants and markets where locals shop. Walk out of the lobby and you are straight into the daily life of the city. A few minutes on foot brings cafes, French-style bakeries and Congolese restaurants with real local flavor. Maya-Maya International Airport (BZV) is only a 15-20 minute drive, and the hotel runs a free shuttle both ways — anyone who has been to Brazzaville knows that word free matters here, because taxi fares get negotiated and foreigners often pay a premium. If you have meetings across downtown or need to reach government offices, this location handles it without a second thought.
Things to know before booking
Straight talk to help you decide. The first thing reviews flag most often is that some rooms and furniture are aging, particularly the bathrooms and a few decor details that look dated next to a modern 4-star. If you expect a freshly renovated room, adjust slightly. The second is Wi-Fi, which slows in the room at times, especially in the evening when everyone is online at once — if you have important video calls, keep a backup plan, or test the signal at check-in so you can switch rooms early if needed. The third is in-hotel food and drink prices, which run high next to the local spots around it — to save money and taste real Brazzaville cooking, walk out to the restaurants in Plateau Centre. Last is noise — rooms facing the main street in the business district can catch traffic in the morning, so light sleepers should request a garden-facing room at booking.
Our take
After working through real reviews on both Agoda and Booking, Olympic Palace Hotel is the place that nails a central business-district location, warm service and a free airport shuttle for anyone in Brazzaville who does not want to spend the trip chasing taxis around town. If your trip is meetings, business or a short stay in the Congolese capital, and you want somewhere you can walk to restaurants and banks, wake up to a green garden, and cool off in the pool when you get back, this is one of the most convenient and best-value picks in Brazzaville. If you want all-out luxury, just-renovated rooms and fast Wi-Fi at every hour, look higher up the price range. Overall we give it 7.6/10 — best for business travelers, solo trippers and couples who want to stay central in the capital without a taxi for every move, and who value easy travel over outright luxury.
Score Breakdown
Assessed by our editorial team from data and real guest reviews
The Honest Verdict — pros & what to know
- Central Centre-Ville (Plateau Centre) location — Brazzaville's business core. Step out and you reach restaurants, cafes and the city's main banks on foot within a few minutes.
- Free Maya-Maya Airport (BZV) shuttle both arriving and departing — it saves the taxi fare and the price negotiation that catches out a lot of travelers here.
- Everything under one roof — an outdoor pool, a spa for unwinding after a long day, and three international restaurants rotating French, African and fusion menus.
- Some rooms face a leafy inner garden that screens out the downtown bustle, so the room itself feels calmer than the street outside.
- Staff earn consistent praise for being friendly, speaking good French and English, checking guests in fast, and helping with transport and local tips.
- Some rooms and furniture are starting to show their age — the bathrooms and a few decor details look dated next to a modern 4-star. If you want a freshly renovated room, temper expectations slightly.
- In-room Wi-Fi runs slower than expected at times, especially in the evening when guests are all online at once, so it is not ideal for anyone with heavy video calls.
- Food and drink at the hotel run pricey compared with the local spots nearby — to save money, walk out to the neighborhood restaurants within Plateau Centre.
Who It’s For
Match Score by travel style
Amenities
Location & Nearby Spots
Things to do near Brazzaville
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Insider Tips
- Ask for a room facing the inner garden — it is quieter than the street side and you wake up to greenery rather than traffic.
- Book the free airport shuttle by giving the hotel your flight number and time when you reserve, so a car is waiting and you skip the taxi haggle at Maya-Maya.
- Have dinner out at a local spot within walking distance in Plateau Centre — cheaper than eating in the hotel, and you get genuine Congolese cooking.