Senegambia Beach Hotel

I visited this hotel recently with a friend and we thought it was the most amazing experience ever. The staff were briliant and catered for our every need. Everyone were so friendly. They do attended to be fascinated with young blondes and i happen to be one. Before i went alot of family said they would hassle me and said that i wouldnt enjoy the holiday because of that but a simple no thank you works on all the local bumpsters!! I found the hotel facilities basic but clean and all you needed. The animation team performed regularly in the evenings and i have stayed in contact with one of the younger men because he was so friendly. Anyone with children should find this holiday suitable but maybe not older people who aren't so active.

Visiting Gambia must have been a dream to me four years ago as it has certainly changed drastically.My stay was 10 nights at The Senegambia Hotel but I'd had enough after 1 week.The weather was great, the hotel was fine but the prices of everything(food,alcohol,souvinirs)was extortionate!The African Queen was the best bar/restaurant - stay away from Ali Baba's menu if you don't want Banjul Belly!I didn't mind the bumsters on the street - you get used to them,it's the hassel from the hotel workers that annoyed me.All in all, a "good" holiday but certainly not restful or stressfree for me or my husband. P.S. having to pay a pound a day each for our sunbeds around the pool should have been stated in the brochure.

My wife and I stayed at the Senegambia hotel for my birthday. The overall holiday experience was amazing with the culture and way of life there. Met some fantastic gambians and keep in contact with one. The hotel I thought as a whole was good. The food, the catering team inside and out were great. One complaint would be that of the "Animation/Poolside team"... Instead of allowing us to relax our troubles away, they would pester women, married single or otherwise and inform them how "different" they are to white men.. I found this very disturbing and they would not take no for an answer eventually pestering the ladies at the rooms!! The Senegambia strip is great though. Fantastic restaurants and bars especially Paparazzi's. My experience is, it is better to know the gambians than to ignore them. Watch out for extra strong Julbrew though. Thats some evil stuff..

I stayed at the Senegambia Hotel over Christmas and the New Year. I found the staff very helpful. The chambermaid needed to be reminded about loo rolls. The hotel is in need of a revamp but this did not cause any problems. We did not have any hassel with bumsters on the beach, just a polite no thanks then they went away. Outside the hotel there are a few scams saying that they are waiters at your hotel but you can usually catch them out. Otherwise you are only usually asked if you want a taxi or to come into a bar, but no-one if forceful in their approach. The food in the hotel was very good and we upgraded to a room with air conditioning, fridge, tv can cooker (not that we ever tried cooking), but the fridge was a godsend. My only complaint is about the entertainment which sent me to sleep. I would certainly go back to the Senegambia Hotel in the future. No way would I stay at the Kariba as others have said it is a jumped up overpriced hotel.

I have read the other reviews here with amazement. Are there two Senegambias? A friend regularly stays at this hotel and we booked Jacana (superior rooms) with air conditioning and a pleasant if rather dark, mud-hut style of applied decoration. They were certainly better than her more basic room which frankly, was rather akin to older Butlins style holiday accommodation. Cleanliness, (surely a fundamental requirement) was for me, inadequate and superficial. I strongly suspect the "fresh" towels were tumbled but not washed - but it didn't stop there! The swimming pool water deteriorated to an insanitary state after our first day and remained as such. I recognised the problem because I am a pool owner and am familiar with pool maintenance. This may have been connected with the reported dismissal and ominously instant replacement of the hotel's entire poolside staff ("the Animation Team") but it wasn't resolved during our stay. Success in tourism and business dictates that you are better than your competitors on all levels and listen to your customers. There is no excuse for poor staff morale and resultant poor standards either - not even in the Gambia. And who said the bumsters (young Gambian hustlers pleading for money) had been cleared from the streets? Utter rubbish. They are as prevalent as ever. Even hotel staff copy. It's not that I am cold-hearted as I was there in support of a charity but there is a limit to how many hard luck stories you can stomach and Gambians have it off to a T. There were all the usual stock pleadings, but if you're sharp enough and ask questions you can discredit most of them as blatant lies!

Having just returned to the UK a day ago, I still love this hotel. A few changes have occured. The hotel is now run by Italians with a Belgian manager since the end of November. There have been a few staff changes and sackings which has caused discord among some staff. The hotel is in need of some refurbishment, the pool area is now looking worn with uneven slabs causing a few large puddles which are constantly trying to be swept away by pool staff. There is now no volleyball "in the eau" in the morning, only at 3.00pm, but a crowd of people changed that while we were there; its now reverted to the afternoon again. The food is "international buffet" and has vastly improved since last year and most experianced no Banjul belly for a change. There are at least 6 main courses on offer every day. Rooms are still excellent, although bear in mind this is Gambia, not the UK, they are above basic accomodation but clean with great daily maid service; we suffered with more short power cuts than before. Staff on reception are still quite short and unhelpful, it took over 2 hours to get 1 loo roll at night and 3 visits to reception before someone appeared with 6 rolls!! Outside has vastly improved. We walked with little confrontation, and any approach was curtailed with a polite "no thanks". Overall a lovely relax, we will return next Xmas. Some great evening entertainment, now starts later at 9.30pm a little late I feel. Well done to all for a lovely Xmas Eve meal and Xmas day too. Wonderful.

The Gambia as a country, sells itself as a friendly place. That it indefinitely is - but to those who might only take "face values" beware, it most definitely is not a place for young children! Virtually every friendly greeting or smile (and they seem to be everywhere) appears to conceal an underlying culture with the aim of extracting easy money. Whether it be laying hands on your already loaded luggage trolley at the airport and expecting to be paid for it or more sinister street offerings of sex and drugs. There's usually a scam behind each and every approach. The Gambia's sex trade is mainly discrete but certainly prolific. It was difficult to ignore the large numbers of mixed race couples dining in the various restaurants. Usually the evening progressed from initial introduction to more tactile antics, even with older white couples going their separate ways. And don't be misled into thinking it is primarily young Gambian women selling themselves; for it is widely recognised that wealth and a British Passport are the ultimate reward for wooing British women, regardless of age. Don't be fooled by signs of "No Hustling" when out exploring either, because hustling is precisely what you'll get, like it or not. True it's not as blatant or persistent as you'll find in the medinas of Morocco's Tangier but it can still be intimidating to westerners. We used a green, official tourist taxi in one direction, the fare was 275D but the return trip in a yellow cab was negotiated for us by a local as we hid round the corner - that fare was 75D. Both cars were victims of much use and the locale's potholed highway structure but the yellow cab driver did hand us the all-essential window winder as we passed a major rubbish tip. The Hotel Senegambia's prime restaurant "The Flamingo" was for me, an expensive disappointment too as I had booked for my adult son's birthday. Our Lobster Thermador meal was in fact crayfish and was finished just three and a half mouthfuls later. (No exaggeration). I left the table more hungry than when I'd entered! I complained to the management and although polite, they offered nothing by way of compensation for the spoiled event. Frankly, if you like it hot, very hot include the Gambia on your holiday shortlist. For us, 30 degrees C indoors at night was just too much and you may, like us, need an air-conditioned room to get some relief. Thankfully we anticipated the problem and booked accordingly. If you want sightseeing and culture forget it. Tourist excursions are largely rubbish, even the "Roots" trip charting Alex Haley's discredited and plagiarised book. The Gambia offers poverty-stricken settlements by dirt track, mile after mile of boring (but relaxing) mangrove swamp by river or glorious beaches with hustlers. That's it.

We stayed at the Senegambia Hotel in Kololi from 1st December till 15th December. Upon arrival at the airport you are absolutely mobbed with boys trying to take your cases and escort you to the bus. Of course being our first time we took advantage of this as we had heard that it speads things up through customs, which it did. Of course he wants a tip, then the person who actually puts your cases on the bus wants a tip and so on. The entrance to our hotel was fab and the check in was really quick. When we arrived at our room however we were very disapointed. We had paid the extra for superior room but it was not that. It smelt horrible, there were two single beds for my husband and I, the television did not work, the shower moved around when you were in it and the room was not clean. I had specifically requested a second floor room but was given a ground floor with a view of a wall out back and behind the wall they were building every day. When I complained to my rep (Airtours), he said that there was nothing he could do about it and was annoyed that I was complaining. The good bits about the hotel outweighed the bad. The grounds were lovely, lots of wildlife including birds, lizards and monkeys. Most of the staff were very friendly, however the hotel has recently had new management and they have fired alot of staff so the overall moral was quite low. There were lots of sunbeds to go around at the pool and the beach but they do cost extra, as does the safe in your rooms. The beach is great but even though they employ security they do not seem to stop the constant stream of sellers and bumsters. This did become very annoying towards the end. The food in the hotel (Half board) was great, found something I liked every night, but we did not eat or drink in the hotel at any other time as the prices we almost double what they were on the outside. We found a great place to eat and drink called the Blue Dolphin. It is owned by a lady named Hazel and her and her staff were really nice and the prices were really good. Please keep in mind that when you walk on the streets to have your wits about you, and as other people have said the Gambians want to talk to you. They are friendly but most are only friendly because they want something from you (money). We were sad to leave, and we do plan to return however we will stay at the hotel next door (Kairaba).

I stayed here in Nov 2005 for one week. First impressions from the lobby were good, it is very spacious with high ceilings and leads off to the buffet restaurant and a large bar with very comfy seating. Through the lobby you walk straight out onto the terrace and all paths lead down to the pool and the main lawn/putting green and if you continue down you get to the tennis courts and the beach. Rooms: we stayed in standard rooms which are in two-storey blocks around the grounds. They are basic but do have everything you need - bed, toilet and shower and seating on the terrace or balcony. We had originally asked for rooms together so that our party wasn't split (I was having a rare holiday with my parents) but this did not happen and so the hotel offered to move us which was good. However my new room had a toilet that only flushed every couple of hours for some reason. The rooms also had a ceiling fan but this was not very effective and as the weather was (unusually) humid we upgraded to rooms with airconditioning the next day which was much better. The supplement was about £8 per day per room. Food: We were booked for half board and breakfast and dinner were served as a buffet. There was plenty to go around and a good variety. We got lunch most days in either the beach bar or the pool bar which serve burgers, sandwiches etc and the pool bar also serves pizzas. The waiters come around regularly to tell you it's lunchtime or "lovely jubbly icecream time"! Everything was pretty cheap and while service was slow the food was good and who needs to be in a hurry when you're lying in the sun! The hotel also had an a la carte restaurant and there was another bar (the Bantaba Inn) but this was not open the whole time we were there. There are also a few restaurants on the main street outside the hotel which looked pretty good. Facilities: The hotel had a pool, tennis courts, volleyball, putting, table tennis and the beach. Archery was also advertised but we were told it was not available. The pool is very nice and there is also a large terrace area and a bar there. It's best to avoid the putting green in the morning though as they do the vulture feeding on it at 11.30 and also beware of the monkeys running off with your ball! Loungers at the pool and the beach are about 50p per day and the staff will put them wherever you want. Towels are about 25p. Beach: The beach doesn't have the softest or whitest sand but it is still really nice. There are security guards to try and stop the bumsters from hassling you but they do get through sometimes. The waiters from the beach bar also come round the sun loungers regularly so you never have to move! The sea has some strong currents and the red flag was up quite a bit so if you are a keen swimmer it is porbably best to stick with the pool. Staff: The staff are all very friendly and helpful but it can get a bit tiring if you just want to read your book! A warning to any single girls going to the Gambia - you will get approached by every guy there and it can get very annoying. This was more obvious outside of the hotel (it doesn't matter what you wear, you can be in a baggy shirt and baggy pants)but on my last day one of the pool staff came up to me and asked straight out for my address even though we had never spoken before and you will get ogled very openly as well. Another guy from the pool staff came up to me and simply stood a foot away from me staring at my chest for 5 minutes before telling my dad he had a beautiful daughter! One of the local staff on one of the trips we went on was also rather out of line with anyone on it who appeared to be single - asking where we were from, did we have jobs, did we earn enough money etc. Wildlife: The wildlife here is great. I opened the curtains on the first morning to see two monkeys running across my balcony and they were often seen playing on the putting green or up sitting in the trees watching people having breakfast! Bijilo Forest is about 600yards walk from the hotel and the monkeys tend to come out and visit the hotels in the mornings and then go back to the reserve later in the day. I do recommend you go along there in the late afternoon and take a packet of monkey nuts. They are quite tame and will take the nuts out of your hands. The hotel also does vulture feeding every morning which is certainly a spectacle although they gather in the trees above the swimming pool to wait for the food which can be a bit unnerving! There were also numerous birds and lizards and also the odd stray dog and cat! Overall: We had a really good holiday in the Gambia and the Senegambia Beach Hotel was good overall. It takes a while to get used to having everyone be so friendly but we would definitely go back again. The only gripe was that hassle from bumsters and young guys wanting to escape the Gambia by getting married is to be expected outside in the towns etc but I think you should be free from it in your own hotel and sometimes I felt very invaded. I didn't really want to walk around on my own. If you want to see a bit of Africa, enjoy some great weather and generally relax then this is a great place to come, just don't expect it to be like the resorts you may be used to in the med which I think was a mistake quite a few people made while I was there. I heard alot of people complaining that the standards are not the same as Spain etc but IT IS AFRICA!!!

visited gambia end of may beginning june 2005. Loved it, but would not go back, purely because of the hassle from the bumsters. The hotel is great, lots of monkeys around in the evenings ( much to the delight of my son ). The food was ok, buffet breakfast, the flamingo restaurant within the hotel is out of this world; one of the more expensive places to eat, but by english standards very cheap; what would have cost us at least £120 in england for 2 adults and 1 child, worked out about £45! The chinese restuarant down the road was excellent. We stuffed ourselves silly in there at least 4 nights for about £24 for 3 people! The Scala was also very nice. The beach is lovely, but we only went there twice, because of the bumsters again....they even follow you into the sea! Saying that, after a few days, you learn what to say to them and they leave you alone....best thing is to say you've been to the Gambia loads of times and don't need anything, and they DO go away......eventually. Word of warning, DON'T take white shoes.....the roads are orange dirt, and it does'nt come off your feet! YOU MUST visit Bijilo forest to see the monkeys in their natural surroundings. GREAT and it only costs £1 entrance fee!!