Pierra Ntayombya, a fashion and design executive in Kigali, shares her guide to her home city.

Read on for Ntayombyas guide to the city she calls home.

For a home base, Ntayombyas preferred hotel is the upmarketKigali Marriott Hotel.

A woman poses on a brown chair; an interior of a store with home goods and clothing on display

Pierra Ntayombya, the founder of Ruks House, a creative consultancy in Kigali; Haute Baso, one of Rwanda’s major fashion labels, also sells home décor.Credit:Philippe Nyirimihigo/Courtesy of Pierra Ntayombya; Chris Schwagga/Courtesy of Haute Baso

For brunch, itsLe Petit Chalet, where the desserts are amazing.

I also have everything created by Chris Schwagga, a designer and photographer who leads the interiors studioMwinda.

For drinks,Poivre Noirmakes the citys best gin and tonics.

A shop interior with clothing and home good items on display

Haute Baso.Chris Schwagga/Courtesy of Haute Baso

I also like the distilleryImizi Rum, which makes fewer than a hundred bottles a month.

Courtesy of Laini Studio

Sweet Treat

AtKunda Gelato, I like the hibiscus and lemon flavors.

Art and Culture

My favorite gallery at the moment isForty Second Space.

Clay pottery on a table

Pottery at Laini Studio, a ceramics store in Kigali, Rwanda.Courtesy of Laini Studio

Its Pop art with a Rwandan twist.

The design is so thoughtful, and its just beautiful," Ntayombya says.

“They use so many local artisans and materials.

An exterior building of a distillery in a town; a person poses holding up a bottle of distilled rum

The Umwero Terroir Spirits distillery; a bottle of IMIZI Forest Rum in the Northern Province Hills.Courtesy of Umwero

“Theres nothing that compares.

It is the freshest air youll ever breathe.

Its so vast, its so lush.

I love it so much.