Home Saint Jean

Attention. They steal in this hotel. €130 and $50 were stolen from my wallet in a locked room. Only someone employed there could have done this. Be careful with your money, I made the mistake of leaving my purse with my wallet in the room. Always have your money with you because they lie and don't admit that money has been stolen.

We had a very good lunch at Home St Jean. The view is amazing and the food was too. Definitely worth to go for lunch. You can even stay the night, and prices are pretty cheap! Take into account that you generally have to wait around one hour before you actually receive your food at the table.

The good: genuinely friendly staff, fabulous location , won’t-break-the-bank (30,000 a night including breakfast). The average: the rooms are small -ONE PLUG in the entire room! The bathroom works and is clean but everything is in a “ seen better days” condition. Personally, if it’s clean I’m ok. The food is so so - but typical of this kind of place / budget. It takes a loooooong time to get quite simple foods ( coffee! Fruit salad! Omlette!) ie 15 mins to 40 mins. Again, this is Africa, does that really matter, is it part of the er charm? The bad If you are in the nice rooms 32-39 overlooking the lake and the restaurant patio and want to go to sleep at a reasonable time / are a light sleeper then you may well need assistance - I used wax ear plugs and earbuds pumping pink noise into my ears :) It MAY be quiet or it may be six drunken businessmen ( night 1) or two guys with their phone on speaker screaming with laughter (night3). Night 2 there was just a nun staying, nuns are super quiet. I complained about the television which had Eminem rapping at full volume … there’s a beautiful view wrecked by noise… the manager was sympathetic but non plussed as to why it mattered. The idea of a stunning view and quiet didn’t seem to be a thing.

I was last here 6 years ago. Since then they have rebuilt the rooms that overlook the lake. I am not sure of they are complete yet. I was in one of the rooms in the main building above the bar. It was very small but functional. The shower always had hot water, even if the condition of the shower head was not great. I did manage to fall down the two steps from the bathroom during the night. A few bruises from that. The room was quiet. Internet was reasonable. It did fail a couple of times. Food is very good, especially the tilapia fish. Make sure to order an hour before you want it. Of course there is the fantastic view which makes up for any shortcomings.

Simple and clean place with a great view, helpful staff and nice food! Good to know: like most hotels in this area, Home Saint Jean is a bit isolated, so to get around, you need a car or moto. This didn't however make our stay less worthwhile.

Biggest bang for your buck in the country that we have discovered after hopping through budget hotels/homestays/hostels for two weeks. Great included breakfast buffet. In addition, the manager Adelte was a huge help to us as our car was experiencing major issues. He also set us up with a reasonably-priced boat tour of Lake Kivu, which is a must-do.

In Kibuye I stayed at Home Saint-Jean. It was a great location with Lake Kivu. You can find lake Kivu on its three sides. Home Saint Jean also has some budget dormitories room for backpackers too. The staff was very cooperative and you can get valuable advices for budget tours.

Visited for three nights and also dinners. Very friendly service, nice rooms with different quality and price. As there are conferences pre booking may be clever. Dinner takes an hour up to one and a half, be prepared.

Even though we arrived in a storm, this was one of the most beautiful locations. The rooms were comfortable and the food was excellent. Wished we had stayed for more than 1 night. Amazing value for money.