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Holiday Reviews > Africa > Gambia > Kololi > Kololi Hotels > Palma Rima Hotel > Read Reviews
| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Apr 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
The Gambia Experiance |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss C Millband |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
We went to The Gambia as a last minute decision, I wanted to go somewhere guranteed to be hot at the time of year we went.
We weren't expecting the Ritz as The Gambia is a a developing country and tourism is only really just starting to take off. What we got was exactly what we expected and exactly what we paid for.
We were a little worried when we rolled up to the main entrance of the Palma Rima Hotel and saw security manning the entrance and a rather large crowd of 'bumsters' outside. When we got to reception we were very pleasantly suprised, very large bright clean reception, we got taken to our bungalow room. The bungalow room was adequate - large, clean, comfortable beds - didn't smell at all contrary to other reviews I have seen, it was exactly what we expected for 3* accommodation, If you want the Ritz then pay for it - If you can live with tired but functional furniture then you'll be happy here.
Air conditioning was quite expensive so we decided to see if we could manage without for the 1st night - to say how hot it was in the day it was very pleasant in the evening and in the end we were glad we didn't waste our money on the air-con.
The hotel surroundings were lovely, lot's of trees and plants - monkeys in the trees that will come right up to you and take peanuts etc
The pool was fantastic, I am told the largest one in The Gambia, the guys were out every morning clearing leaves etc There was never any issue with sunbeds as there was always plenty for everyone. The waiters would come round the pool and bring you drinks - you could have a 'tab' so you could just eat and drink all day and pay for it in the evening.
The waiters were extremely friendly and were always happy to come over and chat and want to know more about you and where you come from. The breakfast was nothing special, meat, bread, toast, cereal, jam , tea & coffee and plenty of fresh fruit and fruit juice, it was enough for us to take our maleria tablets with. The poolside bar food was really nice, it just got little boring as the menu was not that varied. The first few days we did feel a little intimidated by the 'bumsters' outside the hotel and we didn't really venture out - so felt a little trapped in the hotel complex, probably why we got a bit fed up of the poolside bar menu!!
We did venture out after a couple of days and headed down to the beach and luigi's italian restuarant - it was lovely - we did tip a bumster to walk us down to the beach area and at the end of the day it was a small price to pay as he kept all the other bumsters away - so made our life easier, we then spent the evening in Churchills bar and he waited around to walk us back as it was pitch black and no streetlights!!
All in all was a great holiday - very differant from anywhere else I have been. If you want a Spanish costa's type holiday then the Gambia is not for you, but if you want to relax and live a differant way of life for a week then you'll love it!!!
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Cosmos |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr P Jones |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
Just got back from the palma rima. This hotel is falling to bits. The staff do their best to keep it clean, tidy and looking as good as they can make it but the rooms, pool, main hotel rooms and grounds need a huge injection of cash to reach an exceptable standard for guests. The pool had none of its filters working and was filthly. The breakfast was awful. Dinner was better but that was down to the great kitchen staff. The managment treated their staff realy bad and watch their every move and dont like them interracting with the guest. The staff desere to be treated much better. I heard that The Palma Rima Hotel was up for sale. I think it needs bulldozing to the ground .
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jan 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
direct booking online |
| Submitted
By: |
P Mcdowell |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
Luigis offers exceptional value for money, is exceptionally clean, service is excellent and so is the food, this accommodation is just down the road from the palma rima and i would highly recommend it!!! if you want european standard accommodation
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Dec 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Sky Pilot |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Beware of Reports Complimenting the Palma Rima Hotel.
We stayed at the PR from 24 Dec 07 returning on 1 Jan 08. This is - not even probably -; the WORST hotel I have ever stayed in with regards the breakfast, grounds, and accommodation.
Your first impression of the PR is “YES, I really have arrived in a third world country.” The area immediately outside reception is badly neglected, needs painting, the weeds removing and generally tidying up. Inside reception there are bare wires hanging from the ceiling, dead flies inside the few fluorescent lights which still have covers, the once white ceiling is now a paler shade of grey and finally the plastic gaudy coloured furniture which was new 10 years ago, was in all likelihood last cleaned then as well. The plastic flowers may well take root at some point in the dust covering them.
We stayed in bungalow 18D which when opened up, greeted us to the smell of stale urine. In the on-suite, the toilet seat and lid were both cracked and stained yellow. I shall let you guess with what! The grouting was mouldy, part of the ceiling over the shower area was damp, and beginning to collapse, the sink was chipped and there was a constant dripping from the cracked toilet cistern into a bowl placed on the floor to collect the water.
The cleaner was not provided with any cleaning chemicals whatsoever to enable her to reduce the smell and make the mirror and other chrome items clean. Not using any disinfectant or bleach at all in a toilet, must be a matter of hygiene concern. In an attempt to reduce the urine odour, we had to keep the windows open at all times. I also bought some disinfectant from a local store so our cleaner could clean the on-suite.
I did have to ask for my pillows to be changed upon arrival, they smelt sour and were badly stained. The bed was comfortable enough although being old it did sag badly in the middle. Overall the accommodation is VERY BASIC with no electrical appliances provided whatsoever. We experienced no problems with hot or cold water as reported by other TA members. Our sheets were changed twice in the week and most strangely on the day before our departure, the towels were changed every other day.
On the plus side, and despite everything else, the PR did manage to excel themselves on New Year’s Eve. The food was of a high standard and excellent. My compliments to the kitchen staff who obviously worked extremely hard. Onto the entertainment. I can honestly state that it would be difficult to find any better entertainment from this local African dance group, who performed not only on New Year’s Eve, but also on the other nights and during the day when they were rehearsing. It is such a great injustice that the dancers were not paid. See earlier report on the Trip Advisor website dated 7th Jan 08.
We never experienced any rudeness by owners towards the staff as we were rarely in the hotel grounds. What I can state is that the management NEVER introduced themselves at any point during our stay or greeted us when we passed them in the hotel grounds.
Here are some comments we have about the PR hotel.
• Against al the odds, the PR staff do an exceptional job, perhaps they could consider a management buy out and return to the PR’s it’s once, now sadly lost reputation as a good value holiday destination.
• The PR can truly be considered a third class hotel, in a third world country – holiday BUYER BEWARE
• It wasn’t all-bad, it was grim, but at least we had hot water!
• It seems to me, that the owners must think that part of the holiday makers experience should be to experience sub-standard conditions, just because they have travelled to a third world country.
• Finally would I stay here again? Not on your life! In fact I would travel to the opposite side of the globe to avoid this third rate hotel!
Some Local Tips.
Try to use a local company for these rather than the overseas big holiday companies that way more of the money you pay stays with the locals and directly benefits their families. We used Tilley’s Tours who are also a charity working in the Gambia on the S.P.A.D.E. Project. Please make sure though that any tour operator you do use has a valid operator licence as your insurance company will not pay out in the event of an incident which requires you to claim for lost property or medical etc etc.
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Nov 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr Mrsfifty |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
I have just got home after 1 week at the Palma Rima (9-16th Nov).
This was our 3rd stay at the Palma Rima and the Breakfast was dreadful! On our previous trips there was a large breakfast Buffet, toast, jams, fresh fruits, and a variety of cooked dishes, ~BUT~ this year- what can I say, apparently 20 people demanded to be relocated because the food was so bad (breakfast).
On our first morning, breakfast consisted of hunks of French bread, with a choice of red or yellow jam and some sliced cheese, nasty fairy liquid flavoured fruit juices, tea, or coffee.
No thanks!!
Day 2. A platter of watermelon was added.
Day 3 a platter of gooey other melon was added.
Day 4. No Watermelon, but over-ripe bruised bananas and a bowl of portion-controlled cornflakes was introduced.
All in all breakfast was certainly not the Continental breakfast that I would have expected.
Breakfast aside, the Palma Rima is a great base, the staff are great. The bungalow rooms are clean and spacious, we had 1 change of bedding in 7 days and towel’s were changed every 2, but you were allowed no more than 2 bath towels and 2 hand towel’s! The maids were not allowed to give you more! And as always loo roll always seems to be rationed!
The Swimming pool is as always fantastic, but has also undergone a health and safety overhaul! With the fitting of 1st class non-slip tiles all around the pools, dodgy sun beds have also been dumped!
This is now a lot safer and I didn’t see one person go flying A over T on the wet tiles!!
I just wish that one day the Management would offer Air-Con as standard in all rooms, along with maybe a fridge and tea and coffee facilities.
Air- con last week was 600Dalasli per night.
My husband and I really love Gambia and will return next year, but unfortunately I don’t think it will be to the Palma Rima.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Apr 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Airtours |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms M E Mclaughlin |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
my partner and i had a fantastic time. we mucked in with the locals and got the true gambian feeling. made loads of wonderful new friends. we are going back in april 2008.
looking forward to going gambian style again..... some people expect TOO MUCH. we enjoyed our time. this time we are bringing clothes toys books pencils jiust to see the delight in the childrens faces. NOW THATS WHAT MAKES A GOOD HOLIDAY. WE ENJOY OURSELVES AND GIVE SOMEONE ELSE SOME JOY TOO.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Mar 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
MyTravel |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs C Groves |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
We went on a family holiday to the Palma Rima hotel at Kotu beach.
After arriving in Banjul on a fairly awful flight we were worried that the hotel was going to leave a lot to be desired, but I can honestly say that the hotel was lovely.
The bungalow room in which we were put was clean and airy with a large bathroom.
The room looked out onto beautiful well maintained gardens (the gardeners worked every day all day) with plenty of wildlife wandering around outside and on the roof!
The pool was freezing despite the air temperature but that didn’t deter my son, the food was lovely and every nationality was catered for.
The locals were very friendly and made us feel very welcome; a visit to the Bijilo national park is a must where for just 60p per adult you can wander around forests where the monkeys roam free.
The beaches are fab and overall apart from the flights, we had a fabulous holiday.
We will definitely be back.
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
gibbo9146940 |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Went to Gambia on the 13th of February with Thomas cook, total price to this hotel was
£544 for 2 of us for a week, so cheap really.
Don’t worry about injections, if you are mainly staying around the resort areas you wont need them.
Do take malaria tablets though and I recommend you take some tablets as well called vitamin b1, I took these and did not get bit once in the whole week.
We stayed in the main block rooms do need upgrading but are ok standard. The hotel is clean and tidy and in a good area.
Two guys really impressed us and made good friends with these were Lamin (restaurant manager) Osmah (day pool entertainer). Really nice people so make sure you meet and talk to them.
The sea in Gambia is not safe to swim in where we were, undercurrents but didn’t go on the beach, too much to do in the pool area.
£1 a bottle of beer. £0.80 sprite .
A really nice hotel.
Our flight got cancelled on the way back and had a 24 hour delay with Thomas cook and were rubbish at sorting us out, in fact they pushed us off to a hotel with a First Choice rep she was more helpful. So be warned Thomas Cook customer service was useless and I am writing to them.
Apart from that holiday great.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Cosmos |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs J Edwards |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
Used my Tesco club card vouchers in exchange for Cosmos holiday deals, so it made this holiday extremely reasonable.
The room we had in the main block of the hotel was a little dreary and the furniture had seen better days. It only had a ceiling fan but in January the weather was only in the 80's so it was adequate.
We did get to see in one of the bungalows, and these are far superior (and can be just a few pounds dearer) so if we go again we will book a bungalow room, and we certainly would go again.
The hotel facilities, garden, swimming pool, restaurants are all excellent.
The food, although buffet style is far superior to anything I have had elsewhere, small portions of piping hot food are replenished on the small buffet counter regularly, so nothing is "standing" for long and everything is cooked to perfection.
The staff, as well as the Gambian people, are the friendliest in the world, they call it the "smiling coast" and it sure is true.
Although if you walk on the beach or road, you do get people who want to take you on trips (every Gambian is only working part time, their "other" job is as a tourist guide), everyone wants to show you the "real Gambia".
I took the time to speak to everyone and made several "friends" - there is no real pressure, and if you don't stop and talk to these people, you will lose out on finding out about their culture and heritage.
Main tips are "barter hard" and don't forget that these people are poor, so a few dalasi will really make their day.
Best trips that I went on was the Creek fishing, and the wake up with the birds (early morning start but well worth the 61 species of birds that we saw).
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jan 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Gambian Experience |
| Submitted
By: |
K Davies |
| Overall
Rating: |
5/10 |
| Comments: |
We had a 2 week stay at the Palma Rima in January 2007; it cost us only £700 for the two of us which seemed like a bargain...I’m just pleased we didn’t need air conditioning as that can cost you upto an extra £10 per night at the hotel!
The Palma Rima is ideally situated as it's only a 15 minute walk into the main strip where the Indian's is a must... we went 3 times!
The Gambian people are very friendly and we still keep in touch with Soloman from the hotel and we had the pleasure of meeting his family. All of the staff are very friendly but extremely poorly paid so tip well.
We found the tourist taxi's expensive considering how far we went and ended up spending about £100 on taxi's during the 2 weeks as it was a full scale riot with the taxi rank outside if you tried to get into a local taxi.
Having visited other hotels whilst we were there I would not stay in the Palma Rima again....my choice would be the Kariba which is more expensive but also more luxurious...oh and there is a supermarket across the busy road from the Palma Rima for anyone who gets sick of eating out...we didn't find it until the last 2 days as it just looks like a normal doorway.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Dec 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Airtours |
| Submitted
By: |
SALLY&JOHNHI |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
Excellent value for money hotel worthy of higher than its 2*plus rating.
The bungalow rooms are really spacious and clean (I’ve heard the main hotel block is not as good).The gardens are well tendered and the pool is meant to be the largest in the Gambia. The staff are friendly and very helpful and the food was very good (all served buffet style), although half board we ate out at the GTS restaurant in the Senegambia area (about 5 mins down the road=£2 in a taxi from well organised rank outside hotel gates) it is a restaurant run by a Dutch family who plough the profits back into the Gambia via their charity-food excellent, we also ate at Paradiso also in the senegambia area, an excellent pizza restaurant also serves great steaks-highly recommended. If you wish a taxi will wait for a couple of hours for you and bring you back to the hotel, buts its easy to get a taxi from the senegambia area as there is a rank there. We also visited the bars near the Palma rima -Churchill’s (mad karaoke night) very popular and chilled in the Amsterdam whale bar in the evenings. Everyone on the beach wants to speak to you or sell you something if you don’t want to talk walk by the water and say no thanks firmly they will leave you alone. A word of warning there are quite a few prostitutes about in the main bar area and some of the toilets leave a lot to be desired.
The people we met Lamin at the Sea view beach bar, Sheriff who took us on an excellent day trip in his 4 x 4, really made our holiday, we will definitely return in fact we are thinking of getting married over there next year!!
Places to visit Charlie the crocodile and Lamin lodge to enjoy a boat trip, get out and about with a local who will show you the true Gambia.
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| Board Basis: |
Bed & Breakfast |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2006 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms C Dolan |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Gambia, what a wonderful country, 80 degrees in Febuary wonderful.. the hotel is clean well presented and has a lot going on.. With the largest pool in gambia, palma rima has it all.
The African people are wonderful, and it is known as the smiling coast. The country is beautiful with attractions like the roots tour, the monkey, park lamin lodge and the crocodile park where you can walk between the crocs, scarey but fun. Gambia is a poor country though, so be ready for a culture shock on leaving the resort areas.
You can visit the local schools, some little more than tree stumps for chairs and the children are so happy and content, the schools always appreciate pens, pencils and chalk.
Gambia is one of those places you really just want to return to the relaxing lazy days and the fantastic restaurants, I personally find the butchers shop or luigis irresistable. Try the Gambian dishes Benechin or Chicken Yasser an absolute must.
Can't wait to return there in April, never had such a fantastic suntan.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Dec 2005 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomas Cook |
| Submitted
By: |
luffan |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
I went to the gambia a few years back and i thought that it was brilliant the hotel complex was lovely we had villa type rooms, the staff was very friendly and they had sercurity that walked around of a night time which made you feel safe, the only problem i would say is dont go horse riding out there if you do where long trousers as i had bery nasty flea bites that were painfull!!! there are shops just outside the hotel and the people there are very nice!!!! if you go into seri-kunda make sure the taxi windows are done up other wise hands will come in, the beaches are lovely and they do have marked off areas where sercurity walk around so locals dont bother you!! and if you want to talk to them then you have to give them permission to come over to you! i wouldnt wear jewellery the nect time i go out there because if you see the school children they are very cute but they do like to take it!!!
please please please if you go take pens, paper, books, old clothes, or any old technology you dont want because you can exchange with them for making clothes! they also like towels so any old ones you have! anyone that goes i would strongly advise you to go to the roots tour that is very sad and opens your eyes to a lot of stuff
get your self a good tour guide and they will take you everywhere ask them to take you to the less fortunate places and but sweets and the children will cry cause there so happy its jus a really really wonderful place!!
please write a reveiw when you get back xx
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