Hotel Rival, Cap Haitien

Steps to the beach are to the right of the gate.

I learned about Hotel Rival from Paul Clammer’s Bradt Haiti guide. I wanted to go to Fort Picolet so stayed in the hotel closest so I could walk. It is a clean hotel with a great view of the ocean and a nice pool. The bar area has nice ocean view seating. Ask for room #2 to get a large corner room with 2 balconies. The property, tucked into the hillside, shares a gated road with houses, so you have a quiet road to walk and see birds. The road to get to the hotel is a bit rough, but passes a small fort (Etienne-Magny) that I didn’t notice was a fort until I passed it later on a moto and saw the canons. The Crammer guide mentions a second fort that might have been what formed the wall along the road at the hotel gate.

It was odd that I seemed to be the only guest, and the staff weren’t at the front desk much, mostly saw them hanging out upstairs near the bar looking at their phones. I ordered a drink, they couldn’t make change for my $20US bill, so I gave them my remaining small bills and didn’t have any left for a tip. The room didn’t have electricity part of the time. The bathroom didn’t have amenities except towels and a bar of soap. I forgot to see if the shower had hot water since I’m not used to having any! According to the Crammer guide there is a restaurant, which must have been the bar area, but there was no indication they served food until I went up the next morning for the complimentary breakfast which was really good - an omelet, bread, butter, jelly, juice and coffee. Someone else was eating there so I must not have been the only guest.

Don't get excited about swimming at the beach. You can access it from stairs outside the hotel gate (the start of the route to Fort Picolet), but is a bit trashy (including a syringe - don't go barefoot, but I've seen worse). Knowing what runs off into the bay from Cap made me leery of going in the water. Plus people literally bathing there, and groups of men standing around watching, made me uncomfortable about being the only foreigner.

I am a low key traveler with electricity only part of the time at home, so the sparseness and partial no electricity was ok with me, but if you expect the amenities of the Roi Christophe or Mont Joli you might be disappointed. It is not within walking distance of anything except the forts. That and the ocean view was the only thing that made it worth $100 for one night. I think if they charged $70/night they'd have more guests, and thus could improve the service! So enjoy Hotel Rival for the view, pool, and access to forts!

Yummy breakfast and great view!

All rooms seem to face the ocean.

Nice pool!

Large room!

One of the balconies on room #2.