African Princess Beach Hotel

Verry Good

We stayed here for two weeks on half board. We were allocated a room on the sunny side of the hotel from the outset, which was amazing and very welcome. Check in was easy. As we came in on the Tui flight, we were not there until nearly 10pm as the trip from the airport using the free transfer was a nightmare, fighting through the Serakunda traffic. An hour and a half for what would have been a 20 minute journey with a private transfer. That said - the hotel directed us to the beach front restaurant and we could order what we wanted from the A La Carte menu. A wonderful first evening. The room was spacious and clean. A lovely comfortable bed, nice and firm. The shower took a bit of getting used to because it took quite a while for the hot water to come through, but when it did, it was very hot. The swim up room has a platform in the water with the sunbeds in the pool. A lovely touch. First of all, I must congratulate the hotel for employing the happiest crew I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I must give a call out to Mariama Marong, Modou Lamin Conteh, Alice Sissey, Modou Jobs, Fatoumatta Sanyang and Isatou Jobe who all played a part in making the holiday brilliant. Roy - thank you for your patience in handling the issues we had. Well resolved. Breakfast is served buffet style. A very wide selection. Tea and coffee, fruit juices. Fresh eggs (fried or poached to order) omelettes, pancakes, crispy pork (like streaky bacon) chicken sausages, baked beans most mornings, tomatoes once or twice, hash browns or chips, porridge, salads, fresh fruits, jams, honey in different flavours, toast, rolls, french bread and pizza. Lunchtime has a limited special menu that isn't advertised. Apparently, it dropped off the menu when it was revamped. Chicken burger is good, as is the chicken club sandwich, which can be takeaway. Otherwise, it is the same al la carte menu you see in the evening. The drinks from the bar are very good (thank you Modou) and reasonably priced. All can be charged to the room. Check your bill at the end as mistakes can happen. The pool has enough sunbeds and there are many also on the beach. Every room has at least 2 on the deck. All the pools are kept clean, the water clear and fresh by the team of attendants. The grounds are well kept, grass kept watered and trimmed, with lots of trees and other plants scattered around. There are several hanging seating pods (single and doubles) in the garden too. Any maintenance issues were very quickly resolved. The hotel also keeps on top of the maintenance of the appearance, with some painting going on around. Half board. The evening meal is served buffet style when the number of guests on half board is greater than 20. Under that it is a la carte. When we were there the hotel was full, so we were on buffet. I know the Tui write up says to expect it, but we were under the impression is wasn't going to be every night. The write up also told us to expect local cuisine, which is what we got

First time in the Gambia and we will definitely be back. The hotel is very modern and the swim up rooms are great but the hotel does lack a bit of African charm. Rooms are large and the bed very comfortable but they are a bit bland and soulless and there is no decor to make you feel you are in Africa. The staff are fantastic and very friendly and the location on the Kololi strip is great with several good cheap bars and restaurants nearby and the main Senegambia strip only a short taxi ride away. The grounds are nice but again a bit corporate and sterile - more colour and flowering plants would be an improvement. The spa is good, brand new and competitively priced compared to other local places. The breakfast buffet is good and quite extensive but on the downside we had one evening meal at the restaurant (again lacking any African charm) which was very poor and tasteless (hence the 4 not 5 stars)., as well as quite a bit more expensive than the local places. Gambia itself is amazing, very interesting, full of life noise and vibrancy and the people are lovely - just learn to brush off the beach hustlers.