Hotels Near The Gambian Reptiles Farm in Kombo South

Stayed at the Senegambia Hotel early March 2020 for two weeks (booked through Tui). Arrived at the hotel late in the evening (after a horrible flight in a Tui sardine can!), and was quickly and efficiently showed to our room which was a Superior double room. There was nothing 'superior' about it (although having seen some of the standard rooms, I suppose it was). It was tatty and felt dirty, the fridge was rusting and the front door didn't even close properly. This room was situated opposite the 'quiet pool' (room 105) and had a small terrace. We immediately went back to reception who then showed us a different room on the first floor of a more modern block which was so much better! Please note: The Tui brochure described the rooms as all having either a terrace or balcony. As we were on the first floor we had a balcony - but this is not a private balcony but a communal corridor! Other guests are constantly walking by, therefore there is no privacy meaning the curtains need to be closed all the time, so not able to enjoy the beautiful view. Also we had chain smokers next door which meant that we could not sit outside as there was not a totally separating wall. We would not have booked this hotel had we known this. Breakfast was minimal, enough to keep you happy I suppose, but was very little choice, especially for vegetarians. Fruit consisted of melons or papaya (sometimes bananas). Fruit juices (x2), cereals, egg station, minimal cooked selection (mostly meat products), and cold section (mainly meat products). The hotel itself was tired looking and run down (partly due to being closed through the Covid period), but survives on it's location. The grounds were superb, full of wildlife (birds, monkeys, reptiles) and were kept in good condition. There was vulture feeding every day and you could arrange a bird guide tour of the grounds in the evening (for a fee). The beach was clean and stretched for miles in each direction, but swimming was often 'red flagged' because of the conditions. I had cause to use the Mens toilets in the Reception area (I always think these should be the best in a hotel as they are 'front of house' and set a good impression). They were horrible! Dirty, rusting doors and on one occasion were so disgusting I couldn't go in there! So, would I recommend this hotel? For the location - definitely. Otherwise, not so sure. On the whole, a good holiday, but probably would not visit Gambia again as their environmental issues need to be addressed, such as their tendency to dump all their rubbish and plastic in the countryside, or take it to a massive landsite and just openly burn it (giving off huge plumes of toxic waste - and this within a couple of miles of the hotel!).

There is nothing I did not love about this place. It started off with a room change to meet our needs, so whilst we waited for this to take place we tried the cocktails. The staff are impeccable and all go above and beyond to make your stay as comfortable and relaxing as possible, all of them. Room cleaning staff, bar & restaurant staff, gardeners, pool attendants & life guards, reception, customer services, cooks, chefs and even management. The rooms are clean, bright and in good taste with the biggest and most comfortable bed. The pools.....ahhh. What can I say about the pools, there are thousands of them. From swim up pools to your room, a deep blue main pool and the lovely long pool alongside block 400's (where we stayed). Cleaned daily and kept in excellent and safe condition. You just wanna jump in, your just gotta jump in. The food was excellent too. Buffet breakfast with my own style pancakes to order (thank you Edward). Evening meals with very generous portions. Al la carte for the first few days then changed to buffet once the hotel became fuller. Topped off with a good dose of hotel entertainment and yes you guessed it more cocktails. A big shout goes out to Ibrahim who is the best bar Cocktail Maker in the World. He made us the best Long Island Ice Tea's & Pina Colada's you could ever wish for. Finally a big thank you to Yankuba who treated us like family from the very beginning and helped me out with a problem with ease and integrity even after I had returned home. See you next year familyxXx

The hotel is normal not luxury enough, but the location is in the center. The room is too large can live 4 people, recommend to stay