Where to sleep in Ali-Sabieh: town hotels and camps

Where to sleep in the Ali-Sabieh region?

The region is the most constrained in the country for accommodation, and it is the first limiting factor of a stay in the south-east. The offer is shared between the town hotels of Ali-Sabieh and two camps set away from it, one of them on the edge of a protected area.

Solution	Where	Documented capacity	September 2026 Google survey
Hotel Le Palmaraie	in Ali-Sabieh	not documented	3.7/5 over 41 reviews, classed as a hotel
Al Barako Hotel	in Ali-Sabieh	not documented	4.6/5 over 5 reviews
La Palmeraie d’Ali-Sabieh	in Ali-Sabieh, according to the ANT directory	not documented	not linked in our survey
Dhaydhan camp	about ten kilometres from the town	traditional toukouls, meals to order	4.3/5 over 10 reviews
Assamo camp	at Addaoua-Bouralé, on the edge of the protected area	5 rooms, 3 showers, 28 people	no score in our survey

Our catalogue documents the region’s two camps, in the form of site pages and, for Assamo, an organised stay. It contains no urban accommodation offer, however: we therefore publish no price for the hotels of Ali-Sabieh.

What does Google score in Ali-Sabieh?

Our September 2026 survey counts only two rated establishments in the town, for a median score of 4.2/5 and 46 cumulative reviews. That is the lowest volume in the country along with Dikhil, and it has to be kept in mind.

Establishment	Google score	Reviews
Hotel Le Palmaraie	3.7/5	41
Al Barako Hotel	4.6/5	5

The comparison between those two lines is instructive and should not be read too quickly. The Hotel Le Palmaraie concentrates 41 of the town’s 46 reviews: it is the reference establishment, and its score of 3.7/5 is the only genuinely documented signal on Ali-Sabieh’s hotel trade. The Al Barako Hotel shows 4.6/5, but over only five reviews: a high score on a tiny sample, which we report without turning it into a recommendation.

A word on the names, because they invite confusion. The National Tourism Agency’s directory cites a “Palmeraie d’Ali-Sabieh” (77 78 26 14), while our Google survey scores an “Hotel Le Palmaraie” and our own pages mention a Palmeraie guesthouse, presented as the oldest in the town. The three names look alike, but our sources do not allow us to assert that it is one and the same establishment: ask for confirmation before dialling a number.

What does the Dhaydhan camp offer?

Dhaydhan is the region’s most accessible camp: it lies about ten kilometres from Ali-Sabieh, which allows it to be reached without organising an expedition.

The site takes up the nomadic-camp formula: traditional toukouls fitted with mosquito-netted beds, bivouacking under the stars and nomadic cooking served on mats. Camels, gazelles, dik-diks and birds are part of the surroundings, and outings to identify medicinal plants are offered. Meals are ordered in advance, which assumes giving notice before arriving.

In the September 2026 Google survey, it is scored 4.3/5 over 10 reviews, and its documented telephone number is 77 81 00 53. Ten reviews is little: we report the score with its volume so that you can weigh it.

It is the only accommodation in the region for which we have both a dated score and a cross-checked contact. That makes it, in practice, the safest starting point for organising a night in the south-east.

What does the Assamo camp offer?

Assamo belongs to another category: it is a non-profit ecotourism camp, built at Addaoua-Bouralé, on the edge of the protected natural area that shelters the beira antelope. It was inaugurated on 10 January 2016, with local labour and solar lighting, and its revenue funds the protection of the sites.

Its capacities are documented, which is rare in the region: five rooms, six barbecue hearths and three showers, for twenty-eight people in all. The site lies far from any road, which makes it a place to stay rather than an improvised stopover: you go there with a guide, on a track, and you stay.

No Google score is attached to this camp in our September 2026 survey. We therefore cannot say how it is perceived by its visitors, and we do not assume it. Our page on camps and ecolodges describes how it works, its economic model and its environment.

How do you choose your accommodation in the region?

Criterion	Ali-Sabieh hotels	Dhaydhan camp	Assamo camp
Situation	in the town, on the road and rail axis	about ten kilometres from the town	at Addaoua-Bouralé, far from any road
Access	national highway 1, train, bus	a short track	track, with a guide
Capacity	not documented	not documented	28 people, 5 rooms
Google score	3.7/5 over 41 reviews and 4.6/5 over 5 reviews	4.3/5 over 10 reviews	not scored
Cross-checked contact	no	yes, 77 81 00 53	no
For whom	a stopover night, an early start	a night in a camp without going far	a two-day nature stay, with a guide

The logic is close to that of the north of the country: the town serves as a stopover, the camp is the goal. The difference lies in the scale, more intimate here: capacities are counted in tens of places, not hundreds, and there is hardly any alternative if something goes wrong.

One practical argument weighs in the decision: the train. Ali-Sabieh is served by the former Djibouti-Ethiopia line, which makes it the only region of the country reached by something other than a car or a boat. The details of the services are on the page train towards Ethiopia.

What precautions before booking in the region?

Book before arriving. That is the most important piece of advice on this page. A camp of twenty-eight places, a town with only a few rated hotels and local demand concentrated on the cool season: in the south-east, arriving without a booking amounts to a gamble.

Payment. Plan for cash in Djiboutian francs. The camps and small establishments work in cash, and the banks are mostly in the capital.

Water. Bring your own for the day: the sites are isolated, with no shop nearby, and the walking is done without shade.

The facilities. No source consulted documents air conditioning, hot water, wifi or board for the region’s establishments, neither in town nor in a camp. We do not infer them from the standing on display: ask for confirmation at the time of booking.

The wildlife. Around Assamo, the area is protected and beiras are shy: you stay on your guide’s tracks, you do not feed the animals and you take nothing, not even a plant.

The Ali-Sabieh region page details the Assamo protected area, the Grand Bara, the Holl Holl viaduct and the village of Daasbiyo, and the Assamo page returns to the village and its Afar name. To settle on the period, see when to go to Djibouti, and for the detail of camp nights in the rest of the country, our page on camps and ecolodges. The other southern region, that of Dikhil and Lake Abbe, combines naturally with a stay in the south-east.