The rooms at Cauris Lodge are simple but spacious and nicely kept. African art fills the lobby and elsewhere in the public areas. It has only seven rooms and a quiet location which helps to create a sense of quiet intimacy that could just be this place's best drawcard.

This excellent French-run hotel has much to commend it. The rooms are stylish and each is different - some are brightly coloured, others have dark wooden beams. The bathrooms are also outstanding and, unusual for mid-range Malian hotels, come with shampoos, soaps and fluffy...

Opened in 2003, this is probably Bamako's most intimate and atmospheric top-end hotel. The public areas boast African art and the rooms are large, supremely comfortable and have all the luxury bells and whistles. Unlike other riverbank hotels in Bamako, every room has a river...

One of Bamako's premier hotels, the Salam is a classy place. From the marble-lined lobby to the warmly furnished rooms which are enormous and luxuriously equipped, it has everything to ensure a comfortable stay.

This peaceful hotel comes warmly recommended by travellers and by us. Rooms are cool, well-equipped, modern and spotless, if a little lacking in character. You're a fair hike into the centre of town here, but if proximity to the Niger River and quiet African streets appeal, Le...

This charming hotel out by the Hippodrome is easily our favourite in Bamako. The rooms have character, the staff are among Bamako's friendliest and most laid-back, the bathrooms are immaculate and the ambience of the leafy courtyard is a wonderful place to retreat after a long...

This nicely somnambulant place has spare rooms with mosquito nets and some have showers in the room - it seems to make no difference when it comes to price. Simple meals are also available.

As far as Bamako cheapies go, the simple, bare and generally clean rooms here are pretty good value, although they can get very hot if the fan isn't working (power cuts aren't common but they do happen). The sleeping quarters are also back a little from what is already a quiet...

If you're tired of hotels that mimic a European ambience, Le Djenné offers an antidote as it's easily Bamako's most charismatic hotel. Local and West African artists were given free rein to decorate this place - think masks, statues, African colour schemes and architectural...

We like this place. The building may not appear to be Bamako's most promising from the outside but inside is another, completely renovated and altogether charming world. Rooms are light, airy and spacious with an attention to style that's lacking in many Bamako hotels.

The recently spruced-up Maison des Jeunes is fine budget value. Rooms are as simple as they come - so simple, in fact, that the management call them boxes, which is honest, if not particularly inspiring.

The Mande wins the prize for the nicest location of any hotel in Bamako. Yes, it's a long way from the city centre but its perch on a quiet stretch of the Niger River riverbank is outstanding.

Run by nuns, this place gets high marks from travellers and could just be the best choice in Bamako for those on a tight budget. The rooms are a study in simplicity and cleanliness, and are a quiet oasis amid the clamour of downtown Bamako.

Tucked away in the quiet streets of Niaréla, the Sarama is an excellent choice that's all the more attractive because it sees far fewer tourists than it deserves. Rooms are spacious, quiet and attractively furnished and the super-friendly management is a plus.