Five-star Kiyovu, Kigali
Hemingways Retreat Kigali
Twenty rooms of teak and stone in Kiyovu, run on the sun, with saltwater plunge pools and a tailor on site. The airport is twenty minutes away.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- In the guide's hotel selection
- Rooms
- 20 rooms and suites
- Opened
- 2018, as The Retreat by Heaven
- From the airport
- About 10 km, 20 minutes
The hotel
From a training kitchen to a hotel.
Alissa and Josh Ruxin, two American public health workers, moved to Rwanda in 2006. Two years later they opened Heaven, a restaurant that doubled as a school for young cooks and waiters. The Retreat followed in 2018 in Kiyovu, a leafy district of the city centre, built with Italian architects and Rwandan craftsmen in local teak and stone.
It runs on solar power. In 2025 the Ruxins handed it to Hemingways, a Kenyan company whose first hotel opened on the coast in 1988, and the hotel now carries the Hemingways name. By then their businesses had trained and employed more than 3,500 Rwandans. The Kigali Genocide Memorial is a short drive away.
- Plunge pools Saltwater plunge pools with the rooms, and gardens with outdoor showers at the pool villas.
- A tailor on site Made-to-measure African clothing from the tailor in the hotel.
- Kigali on foot Cooking classes, banana beer making, Kimironko Market and the Nyamirambo Women's Center, arranged from the hotel.
Rooms & suites
Teak, stone and private patios.
Twenty rooms and suites, each styled on its own.
- Villa Luxury Pool Villa A private plunge pool, a garden, a living area, a bath and rain showers inside and out.
- Suite Superior King Suite A larger room with a private patio and a rain shower.
- Room Deluxe King Room Peaked ceilings, a teak vanity and a private patio. Some suit families and friends travelling together.
Dining
Rwanda on the plate.
As listed by the MICHELIN Guide and the hotel. Shown for information.
- Fusion Restaurant Rwandan and international Local produce, popular with Kigali residents too
Good to know
Before you go.
- Children Adjoining rooms and babysitting on request.
- Wellness A spa, a sauna and a jacuzzi on site.
- The name Older guides and maps still list the hotel as The Retreat or The Retreat by Heaven.
Getting there
Flying to Kigali.
Kigali International is about ten kilometres east, twenty minutes by car. Private jets land on the same runway at any hour and clear formalities on arrival.
- Nairobi 1 h 20
- Johannesburg 3 h 55
- Dubai 5 h 40
- Paris 8 h 35 long-range jet
- London 9 h 00 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Is Hemingways Retreat Kigali the same hotel as The Retreat by Heaven?
- Yes. The Retreat opened in 2018 under its founders. Hemingways, a Kenyan hotel group, took over in 2025, and the hotel now carries its name.
- Does Hemingways Retreat Kigali have a MICHELIN Key?
- No. It is in the MICHELIN Guide's hotel selection without a Key.
- How far is the hotel from Kigali airport?
- About ten kilometres, roughly twenty minutes by car.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Kigali?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Kigali, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Kigali
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Kigali Serena Hotel A 148-room hotel in the centre, with a pool, a spa and rooms for meetings.
- Kigali Marriott Hotel Two hundred and fifty-four rooms in Nyarugenge, with a pool, a spa and a health club.
- Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre Two hundred and ninety-one rooms at the Kigali 2 roundabout, with a convention centre, tennis and a spa.
- The Pinnacle Kigali Nine rooms in a former family home, each named for a chapter of its owner's life, with a saltwater infinity pool and a bowling alley.
Staying at Hemingways Retreat Kigali?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Kigali, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.