Home » Seasonal rentals in Senegal » Residences » Residences for Rent in Dakar

There is a length of stay in Dakar that nothing covers properly. Too long for a hotel — after three weeks, eating out every night stops being a pleasure. Too short for a lease — nobody signs for a year for a two-month assignment, or furnishes an apartment for a quarter. That is exactly the niche of the serviced residence.

A residence is a furnished apartment with its own kitchen, in a building that provides the services: cleaning, laundry, security, often parking and a generator. You live as if at home without having to set anything up. This page lists the residences in Dakar.

We are a Senegalese company and we put you in direct contact with the properties. The resident rate is shown on each listing.

Dakar & the serviced residence

Dakar is a regional hub, and that is what created this market. The city is home to offices of international organizations, regional corporate headquarters, NGOs covering several West African countries, consultancies and development cooperation programs. This whole ecosystem generates a constant flow of stays from two weeks to six months: support missions, audits, training, project phases, new postings before permanent relocation. These are lengths of stay that fit neither of the two classic options, and it is for them that residences have multiplied.

The buildings followed demand. Rental buildings in the residential neighborhoods — Point E, Mermoz, Sacré-Cœur, Les Almadies, Ngor-Virage — were built or converted into furnished units with one to three bedrooms, with a central service desk on the ground floor. This setup provides what no standalone apartment can: someone who answers when the pump fails, a night guard, a generator that takes over, a cleaner who comes by without you having to hire one. On a business stay, these are the details that make the difference between a comfortable month and a month of hassles.

There is a third group, less visible but very present: the Senegalese diaspora. Many Senegalese living abroad come back regularly, for several weeks at a time, often with family, sometimes to oversee building work or take care of business. A residence offers them exactly what they need — space, a kitchen, security — without tying up a home all year. The same product therefore serves two very different clienteles, and that is what gives it stability in Dakar.

That leaves location, which in Dakar trumps everything. The peninsula is narrow, the main roads are jammed at rush hour, and twenty kilometers can take an hour and a half. Choosing your residence here means, first of all, choosing which side of the city you want to be stuck in every morning.

What a residence in Dakar covers

• Furnished studio or one-bedroom — the format for individual assignments: kitchenette, desk area, shower room. The bulk of the supply.
• Two- or three-bedroom apartment — for a family, a relocation with children, or two colleagues on the same project.
• Residence with full services — regular cleaning, laundry, 24-hour security, sometimes a front desk. This is what sets a residence apart from a plain furnished apartment.
• Building with pool, gym or rooftop — common in the western corniche neighborhoods, and decisive on a stay of several months.
• Apartment equipped for work — a desk, a good connection, an inverter or generator. Check explicitly if you will be working from home.

If you are looking for a personal welcome and meals rather than independence, our guesthouses in the city are a better fit; if you want accommodation with no services at all, our furnished apartments offer that for less. A residence is chosen for the combination of independence + services.

Which neighborhood to settle in

• Point E, Fann, Mermoz, Sacré-Cœur — the leafy residential center, with the highest concentration of shops and restaurants. The best compromise for a stay of several weeks.
• Les Almadies and Ngor-Virage — the western tip, the sea, the evening spots, more recent buildings with pools. Further from the administrative center at rush hour.
• The Plateau — for those whose meetings are in ministries and headquarters. You can walk here, which is rare in Dakar.
• The Yoff road and the north of the city — quieter, better placed for early departures and the road to the airport.
• Toward Diamniadio — for assignments linked to the administrative and economic hub being developed to the east, where daily round trips from the center are exhausting.

When to go

Weather is not the first criterion for a business stay, but it counts over several weeks. From November to May, the dry season is pleasant: moderate heat, a steady trade wind, evenings outdoors. From July to September, the rainy season (hivernage) brings heavy heat and short showers that can bring traffic to a standstill — that is when you appreciate having air conditioning and a generator.

As for availability, the pressure depends less on tourist seasons than on the institutional calendar: summits, trade fairs, major regional conferences and the September back-to-work season fill residences all at once. If your assignment falls during one of these periods, book as soon as your dates are set. Major religious holidays and the Christmas–New Year holidays have the same effect, with the diaspora on top.

Good to know & booking

Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) is outside the city: allow a good hour, more at busy times. Have the residence arrange your transfer for your first arrival; after that, you will know the way.

Three things to check before booking, because they come up every time in feedback from long stays: whether there is a generator and how long it really lasts; the quality of the internet connection if you work from the apartment; and parking, if you rent a car. Over six weeks, these three things are worth more than a nice view.

For entirely recent, consistent housing stock, with no gamble on the state of the building, the residences in Keur Gorgui have the widest selection in the city.

You secure the booking with 20% of the total online, with the balance paid directly to the residence. In this segment, two points deserve attention. First, for long stays, the owner may request an additional deposit, stated on the listing before booking and subject to the same cancellation policy. Second, the monthly discount is negotiated with the owner, not with the platform: we put you in touch, and the rental agreement is between you and the owner.

Cancellation is free up to 7 days before arrival from June 1 to October 31 and up to 14 days from November 1 to May 31. For an assignment whose dates may shift, also note that a booking canceled within 24 hours of confirmation is refunded in full as long as arrival is more than 7 days away. The resident rate is shown on each listing, applies to people who live in Senegal and to the Senegalese diaspora, and is activated on an account verified after a phone call. Add the tourist tax to your budget: 1,000 FCFA per person per night, collected on site by the property and not by Senegal Rent. Amount given as a guide. An owner who cancels triggers the reverse rule: an equivalent residence in Dakar is offered, or all fees paid are refunded in full.

Who is it for?

Business assignments from two weeks to six months: consultants, auditors, trainers, project managers, NGO staff. This is the core of the market and the product is designed for them. New postings, while looking for permanent housing — the residence is the classic stepping stone when moving to Dakar. The Senegalese diaspora, coming back for several weeks with family and wanting space, a kitchen and security. Families in transition, between two homes or during renovation work. And long-term independent travelers, who prefer a monthly discount to a stack of nightly rates.

What makes a month in Dakar a success rarely depends on the apartment itself. It is knowing that when you get home at eight in the evening, worn out by traffic and a day of meetings, there will be light even if the neighborhood is in the dark, someone at the gate, and a kitchen where you can fry some eggs without getting back in the car. The rest, you can work out.

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