Dubbed the “Land of Origins”, Ethiopia is a country with a myriad of gems – from scorching desertscapes in the Danakil depression to lush green forests in Gambella to the rugged mass of mountains in the northern highlands. Ethiopia is the perfect place to reconnect with nature and make up for all those months spend indoors.

For people who wishes to have a fresh start, touring Ethiopia and witnessing these gems sounds like a great fit. They could explore the landscape and discover scenery by visiting the hills and valleys, tasting hyper-local cuisines, reflecting in sacred spiritual centers and sleeping in clean-comfortable beds.

When planning for the getaway, these experiences can easily be found online. As for the bed, how can you tell if it is comfortable based on the picture posted online? You can comb through reviews, but Covid-19 had the world on a stand-still for almost 2 years. What if the hotel’s service has deteriorated? What if it has significantly improved? Is it even operational? Does it even still exist? How do you deal will the uncertainty of booking a room you haven’t seen?

How do you guarantee that the room you book is the best deal for your money’s worth?

Established in 2019, Room Roaming is an Ethiopian hospitality franchise that offers clean and affordable rooms to both local and international guests. As a local tech-based company that partners with budget hotels, guesthouses and other lodging services, we strive to meet our guests’ expectations.

Room Roaming started out as a humble project looking to identify ways to improve the Ethiopian hospitality sector. “We soon realized that most Ethiopian hotels have bad reviews online. As a result, most tourists would prefer to head to destinations outside of Ethiopia, reducing the foreign that could have been earned. Most importantly, we realized brands generated the most recurrent guests. However, Ethiopia was lacking a notable hospitality brand. We decided to set-up a tech-based Ethiopian hospitality brand. A franchise that would work with 2/3-star hotels and improve their services. A brand that would offer quality service at affordable prices.”, said Bruktawit Ambachew, Brand Manager at Room Roaming.

When Room Roaming transitioned into a business, it was met with a major challenge – Covid-19. Unfortunately, the young startup was launched when Covid took hold of the nation.

Globally, the pandemic had caused the tourism industry to come to an immediate halt. Hotels were hit hard. At the time, most Ethiopian hotels had closed their doors, some had completely shut down, some sold their property and a hand-few had pivoted to becoming Covid-centers. The Ethiopian hospitality industry was on the brink of collapse.

“We believed this curse could become an opportunity and we wanted to grab it.”, said Bruktawit. Room Roaming focused on two things. First, it encouraged its hotels to adopt Covid-conscious practices in order to ensure the safety of its guests. Second, it focused on building the local market and growing its domestic customer base.

In doing so, Room Roaming hotels were able survive the storm.

Room Roaming is a tech-based hospitality brand. As such, it utilizes technology to bolster the reach and scale of the services it provides. This includes the use of a website (www.roomroaming.com) and call center (7488)

 www.RoomRoaming.com offers guests a quick and easily way to book at Room Roaming hotels. Companies can also use the site to contact the sales team and negotiate corporate deals to host their guests at discounted rates.

The call center allows guest to dial-in and reserve rooms. Guests can use 7488 when in Ethiopia or call +251-16-674-729 from anywhere in the world. It is fully operational and is open 24/7.

The call center (7488) and website ( www.RoomRoaming.com) have been operational for over a year – managing to attract guests for its partner hotels.

Recently, Room Roaming have announced the release of their mobile application on the Google Play Store. This allows guests to easily find comfortable rooms at affordable prices. You can easily find hotels nearby, compare prices, select the room that fits your needs and reserve the room in under 5 minutes.

“We understand that standing out in a crown market place requires building quality products – products that address the users needs long before they even think about it. That is the level of user-centered design we wanted to employ. And I believe we are well on our way.”, said Endegenaamare Taye, Business Development Manager at Room Roaming.

Accordingly, the mobile application also allows you to view weather information and visit the different attractions Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) has to offer. Currently supporting 3 languages and Google sign-ins, it is designed to reflect the comfortable experience Room Roaming offers. To download and install, simply search “Room Roaming” on Google’s Play Store.

Room Roaming also plans to release the application on the Apple AppStore soon.

Technology is great but it is a vehicle to the value Room Roaming offers – offering quality rooms at affordable prices. Hence, Room Roaming hotels strive to ensure that guests can expect clean rooms, personalized customer services at affordable prices. That is the promise of the Room Roaming logo.

“This promise is our bond to our customers. Our place in their hearts. For us, the customer always comes first.”, said Bruktawit Ambachew, Brand Manager of Room Roaming. “The Room Roaming brand will help guest discover prime hotels – hotels that would have been harder to find.”

“Room Roaming’s vision is to become the leading African hospitality brand by use of customer-centric innovation to refine our services provided by 2030. We want to empower hotels both within and outside of Ethiopia. We want to provide our services to fellow hospitality providers across Africa.”, said Endegenaamare Taye, Business Development Manager of Room Roaming. “In doing so, we want to enable the African traveler. That is what we want our legacy to be.”