The first time I heard about the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort was during the 2017 Akwaaba African Travel Market held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos. During one of the destination marketing sessions, Emmanuel Mensah, the Sales and Marketing Manager of the Royal Senchi wowed the audience with his mouth-watering presentation of the Royal Senchi Resort.
Appetites were wetted, curiosities were aroused and holiday-making spirits awakened. The only disappointing part of it was that a raffle draw was done for a free weekend stay at the Royal Senchi Resort. Someone won and it wasn’t me. Dejectedly, I went home leaking my mouth and fantasizing about the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort.
So when the opportunity called a few weeks ago to experience the Royal Senchi Resort among other hotels and resorts in Ghana, I jumped at it. I was a member of a group of travel writers and bloggers selected from Nigeria for a fam trip to Ghana in the run-up to the 2018 Accra Weizo which held last month. The fam trip provided us with the opportunity to sample 6 hotels and resorts across Ghana, one of which was the Royal Senchi Hotels and Resort.
Located along the serene banks of the popular Volta River in Akosombo in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is a place where leisure meets luxury. As you drive or walk in from the Senchi Ferry Road, the Royal Senchi Resort immediately implants in you a beautiful and lasting impression. Impressions of peace, of tranquility, of creativity, of luxury, of royalty, and even of affluence. Call it love at first sight and you would be right. From lush and green surrounding to services only fit for the Royals, there’s everything royal about the Royal Senchi.
The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort features 84 rooms with spectacular views and unique architectural African design which blends traditional Ghanaian styles with modernity. Depending on how far you’re willing to go, there are three categories of rooms: River View Rooms, River Suites and Picathartes Suite.
River View Rooms: With a lovely decor inspired by Ghanaian accents, the luxurious River View Rooms are equipped with modern facilities of international standards. Each room has a spectacular view of the Volta River that makes you feel like you are actually living on the Volta. You can also enjoy the freshness of the environment while you relax at your private balcony or terrace.
River Suites: The River Suites feature a separate spacious living room and a bedroom designed to inspire. Tastefully decorated to meet your leisure and business needs at every point in time, each River Suite has some of the best in-room amenities including 42” LED TVs, electronic safe and coffee machine. They also have an incredible view of the Volta River making you feel the breath of the aqua when seated on your terrace or balcony.
Picathartes Suite: The Picathartes Suite will simply blow your mind. This suite is made up of two floors to support all comfort and luxury with a wooden staircase that leads you from one floor to the other. There is a private outdoor swimming pool and a double door entrance and a spacious balcony.
With a wide and spectacular view of the Volta River, the Picathartes suite offers you luxury you cannot imagine. The suite is also furnished with a private kitchen. The lower floor features the living room, kitchen, large lounge, guest washroom and dining room while the Upper floor features the dressing room, master bedroom with king bed and luxury Jacuzzi bath with massage shower.
Where to Wine and Dine
Your stay at the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is made even more memorable by a restaurant, a lounge and a bar which cater to your gastronomic needs while providing both a dynamic delight for the senses, and a true gastronomic journey of the Volta.
Senchi Restaurant: In this restaurant, you dine under high thatch roofing supported with pine and eucalyptus beams illuminated by mushroom lights. The Senchi Restaurant sets the stage for the hotel’s exceptional dining experience, offering an a la carte menu & buffet of international and Ghanaian cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner and weekend buffets. Here, you can sample fresh tilapia and banku as well as the hotel’s popular signature dish, the Volta Perch.
The Palm Lounge: Here and here only will you find a mixologist shaking, stirring and pouring their way through a liquid list of classic and contemporary mocktail and cocktail creations. If you want to go local and do the local thing, the Palm Lounge is the place to be.
Nsu Bar: With its welcoming environment, panoramic view of the pool, and vast selection of cocktails, Nsu Bar is a good place to end your day. Whether for an aperitif amongst your colleagues, a draught beer battle with friends, a romantic after dinner drink or a light snack before heading to your room, the Nsu Bar never disappoints.
Facilities and Side Attractions
Boat Cruise: Even if you are waterphobic, you will enjoy the beautiful scenes and flora of the Volta River as you take a cruise in one of the convertible Harris boats. You will cruise right under the Adomi Bridge and straight to the foot of the Akosombo Dam before cruising back to the Royal Senchi. I’m not exactly a water person but I went for this boat cruise and I had ‘mad’ fun.
Kayaks & Pedalos: If you’re the adventurous type, you’ve got a great selection of pedalos and kayaks to help you go up and down the Volta River and around the Senchi Island all by yourself.
Spa: In this luxurious spa, you can give yourself that healing and soothing massage you have been craving for and your body will thank you later. Nothing else can be said about the Royal Senchi spa except that this is where you get the most premium of all spa services in Ghana.
Gym: If keeping fit is a big part of your lifestyle, then you are in for a very gymy stay at the Royal Senchi. Open from 7am to 10pm daily, the state of the of the art gym ensures you keep fit even as you holiday.
Swimming Pool: Whenever you want it, you can take a plunge into the stylishly modern swimming pool and stretch your limbs while giving your body a cold bath. No tiles, just bliss.
Helipad: The Royal Senchi Hotels and Resorts is about 90 minutes drive from the Kotoko International Airport, Accra. But if you prefer to arrive in style, there is a helipad at the Royal Senchi making it the only hotel in Ghana with a private helipad.
Library: If you’re the bookworm-kind-of person, there’s a library for your use with a collection of contemporary pieces that make an interesting read. It is not the kind of library you find in the Vatican or Harvard University, but it certainly can quench your reading quest. The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is the only hotel in Ghana to have a library.
Local Tourist Attractions
Adomi Bridge: This is the largest cable stayed bridge in West Africa and guess what, it’s only 10 minutes from the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resorts either via boat or road.
Akosombo Dam: Constructed between 1961 and 1965, the Akosombo Dam is a hydroelectric dam that generates electricity for Ghana as well as the neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic. Construction of the dam led to the creation of Lake Volta which is the largest man-made lake in the world by surface area. Akosombo Dam is only 15 minutes drive from the Royal Senchi.
Akwamu Gorge: What motivates your mountain hike? A view to die for or an opportunity to watch a rare bird? The Akwamu Gorge hike offers both. Experience the breathtaking bird’s eye view of the Akwamu area and the Volta River, and get to see the very rare and almost extinct picarthates bird.
Tilapia Farm: Tilapia has become a fish delicacy all over the world. And there’s no place better to experience Tilapia farming at first hand than in the Akosombo area of Ghana.
Parting Words
With waterfront views, eye-catching pool and comely African architecture, let the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort be your holiday destination this summer and even beyond. Indeed, the Royal Senchi is a Ghanaian paradise on the Volta and it’s yours to discover. Book your stay now.
By Chidozie Uzoezie
Source: afritraveller.com
