Travel Reference
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ACCOMMODATION
Camping
Aside from a couple of sites in Socotra there are no established campsites in Yemen, but
it's possible to pitch a tent in most rural places (except obvious restricted areas, such as
near military bases). Camping equipment can be rented from the Sanaʻa-based travel agen-
cies.
Hotels
Although rock-bottom places can be unearthed in all of Yemen's towns (for YR800 to
YR1200), they're not recommended. The filthy dormitory rooms have rope beds with no
mattresses and, if you're lucky, rotten blankets. Qat chewers and itinerant merchants (in-
variably male) are the main clientele, so foreign men will have raised an eyebrow at them
and foreign women will simply be turned away.
Similar but cleaner and more accustomed to travellers of both sexes are the budget ho-
tels, which offer singles/doubles with shared or sometimes private bathrooms for around
YR2000/3000. Some of these are converted traditional tower houses, which offer simple
but attractive and cosy dormitory-style accommodation aimed squarely at foreign tourists.
In the smaller towns and villages where few eating options exist, these traditional tower
houses may also offer half-board for a few hundred riyals.
In all of the larger towns and in many of the smaller ones, there's usually at least a
couple of midrange options where singles/doubles with bathroom cost from YR3500/6000.
Cheap but clean, and occasionally well loved, they offer great value.
In the capital and one or two of the larger towns, there are a few top-end options, where
rooms cost from US$60 to just over US$150.
All the rooms listed by Lonely Planet come with private bathroom (and often a TV) un-
less otherwise stated. In highland Yemen air-con in hotels is rare as the altitude makes it
unnecessary. In coastal and desert regions air-con tends to be pretty much universal even in
the cheaper places.
