Lonely Planet Review

One of Bamako's premier hotels, the Salam is a classy place. From the marble-lined lobby to the warmly furnished rooms which are enormous and luxuriously equipped, it has everything to ensure a comfortable stay.

If you can snaffle one of the rooms on the upper floors, especially one that faces south towards the Niger River, you'll discover a unique perspective on this low-slung city whose delightful location between river and hills is only apparent from above. In addition to the excellent rooms, you'll find on the sprawling premises numerous gift shops, a swimming pool, tennis courts, bars and restaurants. If you get up early enough, you may even be able to beat the rest of Bamako to an English-language newspaper or magazine (eg, International Herald Tribune or Newsweek) which are scarce as gold dust in this resolutely Francophone city. Service is also professional. In short, there's everything here that you need (and probably many things that you don't).