"Lovely modern hotel, but falls short of 5-star
We stayed at The Editory by the Sea for our holiday in Lagos and overall had a good experience. It is a genuinely nice, modern and very clean hotel, but unfortunately we don't feel it lives up to its 5-star rating.
Our room was ideal for two people. It was modern, very clean and felt relatively new. It was cleaned every day, with towels and other supplies replenished, and there was also a safe in the room. Check-in and check-out were completely flawless, and most of our interactions with staff were positive.
The hotel itself was also very clean and had a relaxed, chilled atmosphere. We had no issues with noise at night, which was appreciated.
The pool was excellent. It's very large, extremely clean and has plenty of sunbeds available, so there was no morning scramble to secure one. There isn't really a deep end, but for us that wasn't a problem at all and actually made it a very comfortable pool to spend time around.
The location is good too. It's approximately a 25-minute walk into the old town of Lagos and around 10–15 minutes to the cliff-top boardwalk, where you get some stunning views over the beaches.
Breakfast, however, was fairly disappointing. There was a decent basic selection and everything was generally well stocked, but it wasn't particularly exciting or memorable. After just two mornings we had become bored with it and ended up having breakfast because it was convenient rather than because we were looking forward to it. We didn't try the dinner menu, although from what we saw it looked considerably more appealing.
One of the more obvious areas for improvement is the pool bar. The menu advertised frozen cocktails, so on our first day we ordered two. We were told that they didn't do frozen cocktails. Because of the language barrier and the way it was explained, we assumed there was perhaps a temporary problem with the equipment that day. The following day we asked again and were again abruptly told that they didn't do frozen cocktails. When I questioned why they were advertised on the menu, the response was simply that they didn't do them.
It's obviously not something that would ruin a holiday, but it's a strange and easily avoidable issue for a hotel advertising itself as 5-star. The pool bar menu was also fairly limited and, compared with the rest of the hotel, the staff there didn't appear particularly enthusiastic. They do offer service to the sunbeds, but in practice you generally have to walk up and get their attention before you can order. Quite often the staff were standing behind the bar chatting rather than checking around the pool to see if guests wanted anything.
The main bar was a much better experience. The cocktails were proper cocktails and the spicy margaritas were particularly good. Unfortunately, the bar was extremely quiet when we were there and didn't have much atmosphere. There was also constant jazz music playing which, for us, gave the place quite a depressing rather than relaxing atmosphere.
The spa was another disappointment. The facilities themselves were small but nice. Unfortunately, every time we visited there were children screaming and throwing balls around. We have absolutely nothing against children and obviously expect children to have fun, but a spa is generally somewhere people go specifically to relax and unwind. After experiencing this several times, we simply stopped using the spa for the remainder of our holiday.
More generally, the hotel sometimes felt as though it didn't have enough staff in several departments, although reception seemed well staffed and the check-in/check-out process was excellent.
So, would we recommend the hotel? Yes — with reservations.
We genuinely liked the hotel and had a good holiday. The rooms are modern and clean, the pool is excellent, the hotel is peaceful, and the location is convenient for both Lagos old town and the coastal walks.
However, we would not rate it as a 5-star hotel based on our experience. For us, it is a good, modern 4-star hotel with some very good facilities, but the service levels, breakfast, pool bar and spa experience don't match what we would expect from a genuine 5-star property.
If you're booking it knowing that, rather than expecting a luxury 5-star experience, you'll probably have a very enjoyable stay — as we did."
