Originally Posted by
redbarron123
Hey all - thanks so much for the great info. Daughter and I have a 13 hr layover at ADD. Got the transit visa ourselves and just trying to avoid lines and confusion and want a decent overnight rest. I initially was going to book the in terminal skylight hotel, but since we have to go through immigration regardless, I booked the regular skylight hotel since their site says it is a 4 min walk.
1) is it true it is a 5 min walk? it will be 10pm at night... is this walk safe? I heard shuttles are a disaster since this is a primary transit hotel. We will be paying.
2) would the in terminal hotel be better? should we try to avoid checking bags if we do this? (curious if, we are able to check in bags the night before for a morning flight -- and feel confident it won't screw up our bag arriving in JRO -- or if we'd need to exit the terminal hotel/ secure area in the morning to check in with any checked luggage). This is why I wonder if there is zero advantage to to the in terminal hotel if you have checked luggage...
3) is there a better, close by hotel option that has a really streamlined shuttle service that we should consider (i.e., no 30 min wait with loads of people being put up)
For what it's worth, we will be on ET business class from the states, but economy on the morning flight... flights are both on ET but booked separately which is why we didn't count on ET considering this a "covered" transit layover.
Thanks for any advice.
Yes, it really is just a 5 minute walk to Skylight but if you don't know the route well, I would definitely not recommend trying it at 10pm for the first time as you have to negotiate crossing multiple roundabouts and a freeway underpass, plus the driveway entrance is not easy to find.
ET will happily tag your bags to the final destination when you check-in for the first flight, even if you have separate tickets. So don't worry about baggage being an issue. Hand it over at your first airport and be confident it will show up at your destination just as surely as if you had checked it in at Addis.
The main Skylight hotel is a LOT nicer than the in-terminal hotel. The shuttle service is extremely efficient and runs every few minutes - I've never had to wait for more than 5 minutes at any time of day. No idea why anyone would call it a "disaster".
There is nothing closer than Skylight to the airport. Not a hotel, not anything. It is literally across the street, except that the street is an elevated freeway! You can't get any closer. It is also the best quality hotel anywhere near the airport by a long way and a 5-star property. Don't overthink this.
Stick with the main Skylight, take the shuttle and relax on your layover!