Sunset Beach Hotel

We booked a junior suite & on arrival we were taken to our room. It was smelly, dark, tatty & small- def not a suite. The door wouldn’t open/close properly. We refused to stay in it. Reception staff didn’t care. There was no one to help us. After a while the man on reception told us we could look at a ‘delux’ room & if we liked it we would have to pay an extra £600!! This room was nice but to be honest not ‘delux’ - it was a standard anyone should expect. That said we felt we had no other option so paid the extra money. We did manage to relax & enjoy our holiday- hotel staff were lovely but sometimes not enough attention to customers in the bar/restaurant area. Not enough seating in the restaurant when busy & nowhere to sit whilst waiting for a table. Food was acceptable. We would go back to The Gambia but def wouldn’t stay in this hotel again.

This hotel only has 3 stars and that is probably the correct grade for it, however the staff make up for any short cummings to ensure your stay is the best it could be, special thanks to Sana our bar and restraunte waiter, nothing was to much trouble for him. First of all we were told by our doctors what vaccinations we needed, only one was available on the NHS we had to pay for yellow fever and malaria tablets, total cost over £200 for my wife and I. We were told that due to our age (over 60) yellow fever was not advisable due to possible side effects, but we could not get into Gambia without a certificate, so we both had the vaccination. At no point were we told you could get an age related exemption certificate for free and as it turned out we did not even need the certificate to get into Gambia. (if you intend to travel to Senegal to go on safari you will need the yellow fever certificate to get into Senegal). The Malaria tablets were also unnessary as it was the dry season (October - April) and the insects that spread malaria are not active, they become active in the wet season only (May to September) Our accommodation was a bungalow, a novel change, it was very clean but was getting a bit rough around the edges, consisted of twin beds and bed side lockers, a walldrobe with about 18 inches of hanging space so my clothes had to stay in the case, TV above a dressing table with 4 chanels which the reception was that bad they were unwatchable anyway, managed to get BBC World news for a couple of hours only during our 10 day stay, very hit and miss, but not the end of the world, we are on holiday in the gambia, not there to watch TV. The rooms were cleaned every day and towels and bedding was changed when you requested it. The resort itself is quite small with only one restraunte, one small swimming pool and a todler pool. Sun beds around the pool area were always availoable with probabley 30% never being used at all, service around the pool / bar area is excellent. The hotel is right on the beach, but this is a public beach and there is the fact that there is a small river running between the hotel and the beach itself, it is full of old buildres rubble and rubbish prevents easy access to the beach as you have to wade through the river and its contents. I believe there are two types of travelers, those that visit a country and get to experience every thing it has to offer, good and bad and those that only leave the resort once to get back on the coach for the airport, thankfully my wife and I fall into the first category and thoroughly enjoyed everything The Gambia and Senegal had to offer, yes ferries are very busy and they do occasioinaly break down, you may have to get out of your taxi and push it for a bit but its all about the experience, soak it up and enjoy life. If you do get out and about you will witness extreme poverty with partly built houses, mud roads, litter every where, kids in bear feet using rags rolled into a ball

my second trip to this wonderful hotel. we only had a week. The creek in front of the hotel was not a problem at all maybe ankle depth at high tide, you could access the beach without having to go through any water at the fruit sellers which is only a short walk at the end of the hotel. (maybe 25/30 steps from the pool) we had a bungalow room right on the beach front very quaint plenty of room, very clean and comfortable. The hotel are doing some renovation work, have to say I didn't notice or hear any noise from it, in fact i was unaware of it until the last day when it was pointed out to me. The beach was a delight at both low and high tide always seemed to look different. Yes there are beach sellers but a polite "no" and they will leave you alone. The food was always good and plentiful with plenty of choice, the barracuda was delicious. The staff from the reception security restaurant and bars were all so attentive and couldn't do enough for you, they made our stay relaxing and stress free, which is the reason we went and the reason we WILL return. A very special mention to our waiter around the pool Aruna Kondeh he was amazing, his friends too, so kind. The evening entertainment was good too as was the evening staff always there to help, never much waiting around for drinks or seating. We did the trip up the creek in the little canoe, with the bird watching people outside the hotel, was so peaceful maybe a little difficult to get in and out of, but they help you. they are so knowledgeable we also went on a walk with them to see some owls and a pig farm. Cost £30 for both of us lasted 2 hours or just over, felt very safe. I felt the airport tax paid both on entry and again on exit could mount up for a family, we paid in £s, we got change of 600 dalassi but i did have to ask. Would I go back to the Sunset beach??? In a heartbeat, Thankyou to you all