Imperial Resort Beach Hotel (Entebbe, Uganda)

You''ll either loathe or love this massive and architecturally distinctive building very different in scale and style to the other buildings in Entebbe. The wavey frontage and electric blue cladding leave few people neutral. Inside, there is a large atrium with glass fronted lifts at each end. Like most of Uganda, service is slow and rather hit and miss. Its 181 rooms spread over four floors are large and furnished in an Arab potentate style with good views over Lake Victoria and the extensive grounds but have poorly functioning, central air-conditioning. If you open the windows that have no screens to cool off, the lakeside location means your room will then quickly become an entomologist''s delight after dark.
Business people will appreciate the Ziba conference centre with its 1000 seat capacity equipped with six hi-tech screens descending from every corner of the ceiling, with a follow-on camera and a cordless digital sound system remotely controlled. There''s a state-of-the-art simultaneous translation system. In addition to the Ziba, this hotel has nine other conference halls each with a seating capacity of 10-250 people. There''s also an amphitheatre with a Dolby Digital Pro-Logic surround soundsystem.
However, first impressions count and the loose guard rail in the lift and dribbling shower in the changing rooms rather set the tone. Try your haggling skills and you may end up with a bargain in this often empty hotel.