The Riley's Hotel was founded in 1910 by Harry Riley. By that time it was only an extra rondavel right next to his own; only suitable for one guest and very poorly equipped. Later on, he expanded his little 'hotel' by joining the two huts together and creating a simple dining room in between. It can be said that this was Maun's first hotel! That is the reason why the Riley's is often more seen as an institution rather than just a hotel.
In his book 'The Lost World of the Kalahari', Laurens van der Post described Riley's in the 1950s as a:'... remarkable little hotel which he [Harry Riley] had founded for the odd, intrepid traveller who had been determined enough to cross the desert, as well as for the score or so of Europeans patient and courageous enough to make Maun the unique outpost of life that it is today.'
The Riley's Hotel is nowadays part of the Cresta Hotel Chain and consists of 51 spacious rooms. Each has a plain, tiled en-suite bathroom with a shower over the tub, a direct dial telephone, a radio, a colour TV showing local stations, a writing desk and tea/coffee making facilities. More than half of the rooms have air-conditioning.
Rileys Hotel has a restaurant that seats up to 80 guests and offers continental and full English buffet breakfast and an à la carte menu for lunch and dinner. On Sundays it also offers a Braai lunch. You can either have a drink inside the wood-panelled bar or outside at the pool bar, which also serves light snacks, afternoon teas, coffees and cocktails. Just next to the veranda is a small outdoor swimming pool.
A sandy area next to the hotel is designated as a (rather bare) campsite.
Riley's has a very central location, on the south-eastern side of the main street, about 3km from the Maun's airport.
In conclusion ... we view Riley's Hotel as a relatively reliable, if generally uninspiring, hotel that's very conveniently positioned at the heart of Maun. It's lost much of the character that its history might imply – but it's still a useful place if you need to overnight in Maun, and haven't got the time to make the effort to reach the rather more interesting Motsentsela Tree Lodge.
Lodge overview
Lodge type: Town
No. of bedrooms: 51 rooms, 2 chalets
Season: Open Year Round
Ideal length of stay: Usually used as a one-night stop-over
Central facilities: Restaurant and cocktail bar, conference facility, garden terrace, gift shop, swimming pool, spacious natural gardens, Volleyball court airport transfers on request
Same old Rileys!!
Rileys is such a great hotel for location! They were the ONLY place in Botswana that took American Express.
Not a great hotel but familiar, comfortable and clean. Rileys just has it's own pers...
Useful links...
We want you to understand more about Rileys Hotel. We're also confident that a trip there with us cost you the same or less than booking it any other way, even directly. So follow the links below.
Riley's Hotel Link to Riley's Hotel homepage on the site for Cresta Hotels - although apart from a few 360-degree moving pictures, it has very little information on.
