After reading many travel guides and chatting with people who had been to Ghana, I learned that the phrase, “luxury hotel,” probably depends on whom you we’re speaking with. Taking that bit of information with me, I decided that I would have no expectations upon checking into the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel, but I was pleasantly surprised.  This Swiss luxury chain, which happens to be one of Accra’s newer hotels, is everything it ought to be.

The five-star inn is conveniently located in the City Centre, near the airport, and boasts 260 rooms. The rooms are spacious and clean, the wifi is functional, and the African-inspired art adorning the hotel’s lobby and hallways are a collector’s dream. It felt like like Accra’s answer to the W Hotel.

There are standard amenities like conference space, a grand ballroom, and five large meeting rooms that make the property ideal for conventions, business functions and weddings. There’s also a well-equipped gym (which surprised me, because most hotel gyms tend to be unmemorable), a massive pool, a well-stocked bar that’s popular with upscale locals and visitors, and a diverse breakfast buffet that is better than a lot of breakfast buffets at other hotels around the world. It comes with respective omelette and waffle stations, beans, sausages, boiled vegetables, scrambled eggs, stewed tomatoes, bacon and more.

The on-site restaurant features multi-ethnic cuisine for lunch and dinner, switching themes from around the world every day; I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to check it out. If you are in Accra and decide to visit a hotel restaurant that could stand alone, this is the place to be, and I’m basing that assumption simply off my breakfast experience.

Added bonuses include free shuttle bus service into the city by the hour, and for those paying in cash, they accept payment in foreign currency — but they can’t change currency for you.