Auberge de GrandPopo Review + Travel Cost Breakdown

One fine afternoon, as I did my aimless scrolling on Instagram, I happened on a post by one of my followers living her best life in Auberge de Grand Popo, a hotel in Grand Popo, Benin Republic. I immediately followed the thread of information I could gather from the post, hopping online to find any Auberge de GrandPopo review, and concluded that it had to be me living my best life there in the next two weeks too.

I had initially planned to head to IITA in Ibadan to recharge, but this seemed like a more exciting prospect. So, plans kicked off in earnest. I recruited my partner and a friend to join in on the trip, created a budget, booked a room, and packed my bags, eagerly awaiting the day of the tip. It couldn’t come soon enough.

Related: An Unforgettable Trip To Ibadan + My Review of IITA Ibadan.

I did not plan to blog about this trip, but while searching for a detailed Auberge de GrandPopo review all over Beyonce’s internet, it was clear I wasn’t going to find any. All I had to rely on was a 15 seconds Instagram reels and a few “It’s not bad” comments.

So here is me returning to my blog after all these months (Hey Guyyss!) in an attempt to change that and share a review of Auberge de GrandPopo for anyone else that may need it as I did.

Cue in the Auberge de GrandPopo Review

Auberge de Grand Popo is a rustic old colonial-type building bordered by the beach and ocean. It was love at first sight for me because it has the type of aesthetic I live for: Rustic, artsy, with a lot of nature. But the love didn’t exactly last throughout the stay, and settled into more of a familiar acceptance. Learning that Auberge means “Inn” in french + their inexpensive room rates helped us excuse a lot of things and eventually formed the yardstick with which we measured our experience at Auberge de GrandPopo.

They have a variety of room options, but we settled for their family room with a sea view for the three of us. On their site, it was described as “fitting for a group of four, with provision for an extra bed for a kid”, but we found it to be quite small and definitely best for two adults and “maybe” a kid. No more.

Related: A Weekend Lake House Adventure In Ouidah, Benin Republic.

The bathroom and toilet were basic: just the essentials, and it had no heater. I hate cold baths, so I was glad that it was a hot period and the water out of the shower/taps were almost always warm and bearable. There was a drum with water which we later realized was probably there for periods when there’s no running water (Yup! you read right!). At some point, the water out of the taps and in the drum finished and when we complained, they sent some women with water to fill up our drum. Again, we excused this because “inn” and “pretty inexpensive”, and also this lasted for just a day.

I’m not painting the most exciting picture right now, so it will probably be confusing if I say that it wasn’t so bad. Asides from the fact that it was small, had paper-thin walls so you could hear the bowel movements of anyone using the restroom (zero privacy!), it was clean and comfortable enough honestly plus the AC worked perfectly.

P:S- We booked a room with AC. They have rooms without AC’s as well but for more comfort, best to book one with an AC.

One of the other things that made Auberge de Grand Popo more attractive to me was their pool. Amusing when you consider the fact that I can barely swim. On Instagram it looked really good, so I was super disappointed to see how poorly kept it was (It wasn’t clean). We took a dip once and never went back in. Thankfully, they finally scrubbed it down on the day we left.

It wouldn’t be a full review if I don’t mention their restaurant and food. This is one of the things they got right, because all the meals were a hit for real. Although the menu was quite repetitive, and pricey! I guess they decided to make up for the room rates with the price of their food.

The service was good, and we settled in quite easily and had a super relaxing stay. Wi-Fi and internet network generally isn’t the best at the hotel, but if you take a walk down the road, you’ll find spots with good service. We didn’t do a lot of touring because our intent with the trip was to RELAX! But on our last day, we woke up early to go on a boat ride on the Mono River and a tour of one of the villages.

Planning to stay at the Auberge de Grand Popo in Benin Republic? Here's everything you need to know! Click To Tweet