Pro's
1) free wifi
2) free minibar (no alcohol though)
3) free coffee/tea + pot
4) no extras for in room service
5) close by botanical garden + zoo
6) safe + secure facility
7) free parking for guests
8) food is not so expensive for western std

Con's
1) clean but found a roach running near the lift (see pic)
2) slow staff
3) super packed breakfast room
4) expat hang out so no real local feel (business hotel)
5) area around is not interesting
6) expensive rooms

Positives - Comfortable rooms, friendly staff, most of them able to converse in English (a big plus, if one doesnt' know French), good buffet breakfast, decent room service, next to large garden, free high speed internet access, temp controlled pool, sauna/steam, gym

Negatives - Location (cant walk around other than the garden, which anwyay closes at 5!), lack of massage / spa facilities, room service options...

I was at Sofitel during my stay in Algiers for the International Fair. The hotel is very close to "Le Jardin d'essai" a secluted beatiful garden in a city where the concrete is all around. The room was spacious but compared to the price I paid the benefits were not so many. The tea/coffee maker was missing in the room and the items in the frigobar were not so many. The items in the bathroom were at their minimum. In other words I expected more for what I paid.

First off, if you can avoid Algiers altogether then I would. If you can't, I'd stay elsewhere for this type of cash. Everything about this hotel is expensive and you get virtually nothing back.

The room was fine but certainly no where close to being worth what we paid. The pool and gym were OK. That's about all there is to say that's positive.

The location is terrible. The food is disgusting and expensive. Do not eat in the hotel if you can avoid it although to be honest we found the food terrible everywhere in Algiers except for breakfast which we purchased from various bakeries. Yum! The staff wasn't very good with keeping us informed and/or providing suggestions for where to eat. Although I will admit that there was one gentleman on reception who helped us work out a good deal for a day trip to see the Roman ruins.

The hotel also didn't help us with figuring out how to get into town. Luckily both myself and my partner are seasoned travellers so when the taxi that they eventually called for us tried to charge us $20 for 2kms of travel, we got out and went outside the gate and paid the local price of 50 cents.

We couldn't leave Algiers and this hotel fast enough. We had been hoping to find a gem but I think we are about 10 years too early.