The Hotel is clean and has all the basic necessities, although there is only wi-fi in the reception area. The Bathrooms are tired and need to be revamped and breakfast is basic... to say the least.
I would recommend it for the businessman who is looking for a no frills place to spend his time in Maputo, although not that cheap.

The VIP claims to be five star, but it is more like a two or three star hotel with five star prices. The only reason I stayed there is the proximity to my client’s office, but in the future I will be staying at the Cardoso, which is on a totally different level of quality.

The hotel is fairly nondescript, with dated décor and furnishings. Rooms are fairly standard in layout, and one good thing to say about the place at least is that it is kept clean.

Now for the bad:
1) The breakfast is just awful; stone cold greasy chips, radioactive looking sausages, perhaps a bit of leftover fish or chicken from the conference buffet of the day before, some congealed egg and tinned mushrooms. More or less the same every day. Away from the hot food are various rock hard pastries, and a selection of unripe or tinned fruits (unforgiveable in a tropical country).

2) Other than the good maid service, the staffing is very poor – awful front desk staff in particular.

3) As mentioned, it’s just all a bit dated and tired, and musty.

4) This is the killer for me – the internet is just staggeringly bad. Unless you go online at 3 in the morning (as I did last night) it’s more or less unusable. Minutes just to open google or gmail, skype more or less impossible, emails difficult to send etc. I complained to the manager, and he said that it works fine in his apartment (lucky old sod!). He also claims that he is paying for the best service available, though his network consultant disagreed with him and told me that he has been telling the hotel to upgrade for a long time. There was of course the usual suggestion that my machine is at fault, but it’s clearly not as the internet is lightning fast in our office here on the same machine, plus my colleagues have the same problem. Of course, the manager also said that I am the first to complain but that is about as likely as me attending a Justin Bieber concert. He is clearly lying through his teeth, unless it was his first day as Manager. Regardless of what the manager says, the internet is shocking, and has always been shocking. I don’t imagine that they will do anything to improve it in the near future.

5) Price – although the client pays our bills, 200 bucks plus a night for this kind of place is a rip off.

I have stayed here numerous times for the reason described above, but am now just sick of its shortcomings – never again, despite it's useful location. I think it must have been one of the first “international” hotels in Maputo, but it clearly hasn’t moved the game on since it was opened, and there are far better options now available (Cardoso, Radisson blu, Southern sun etc).

My advice to you is not to stay at this hotel.

Went for business trip to Maputo and had a pleasant stay. Hotel staff was at times a bit clueless but other were good. Had to extend my stay but they got the booking wrong and locked me out of my room, after asking to speak to the manager, he eventually got the confirmation and sorted it out. Room was comfortable though. Had a good stay in Maputo though. Food is expensive at the hotel