Leo's Beach Hotel - Adults Only

Nina and Alois have created a fabulous, chic hotel - ideal for a ‘get away from it all’ holiday. The rooms are stylish, spacious and airy and have loads of storage and wardrobe space with plenty of coat hangers. The bathrooms are modern and bright with a great powerful shower. The gardens and pool area are beautiful and tranquil - the perfect place for watching the many birds and monkeys that visit the gardens. The restaurant has a good variety of well presented and tasty dishes, we ate all of our meals there during our 11 night stay and didn’t get bored with the menu. The staff are polite, friendly and efficient and are a credit to the hotel. This was our first visit to The Gambia and I don’t think we could have chosen a better hotel, we definitely hope to return.

Our fourth stay at this superb Hotel, lovely rooms, beautiful garden, peace and quietness. You will be well looked after by the owners and the very good staff, nothing is too much trouble. All the rooms were occupied during our stay of fourteen nights, as there are only seven there is plenty of room in the garden to tuck yourself away if you want or join in the banter with other guests. I am a bit of a bird watcher so if you keep your eyes peeled you will see many different species fly over or use the gardens many bird baths that are dotted around. Leo's has a *No children policy* which is quite a big attraction if you have done the family bit and looking for a break away. The restaurant is very popular with local high diners but the staff all cope very well even when very busy. I am going to mention one little niggle which I have never done on my previous reviews.. The path up from the beach does have a *Residents only* sign but I did see a few people using it and strolling through the garden and the Hotel to the road outside, also some dining guests also wandered round even tho' there is a sign to say *Residents only* I did find this a bit concerning as I assumed that the garden was for residents only, I do understand that would be guests may like to look around before booking but feel they should be escorted by staff. Having said that our stay was very enjoyable, very relaxing and without doubt we will return.

Having visited The Gambia twice before and loved it we decided to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary there. We couldn’t get into Leo’s last time so we were pleased to get a room this time. Leo’s certainly lives up to its reviews, the room was lovely, tastefully decorated with all amenities. This hotel is a haven from all the stresses of life, perfect for a get away from it all romantic break. My favourite things were the gorgeous gardens, the pool which was clean and warm and has a jacuzzi at one end, the food at dinner was superb. All the staff are extra friendly and the owners do everything they can to help. We had a few trips out for golf and birdwatching but we loved coming back to our lovely hotel. The walk to the beach isn’t too difficult. I managed it and we found it really interesting, and I have some mobility issues. We had super prawns on the beach at the beach shack. They did take 2 hours plus to appear though! Downsides to Leo’s are few but I would say the standard breakfast was disappointing. If you are with Gambia Experience you get a much better choice, hot food , eggs pancakes and lots of other tapas. Ours was bread, muesli, yogurt and jams, fruit salad (small bowl of diced fruit). Exactly the same each day, no other choice. There was one croissant each on some days but not all. I think they had some problems with Ramadan. But Leo’s is not cheap and I strongly feel that all guests should have the same breakfast regardless of who they booked with. We’ve stayed at four other hotels in The Gambia and Leo’s was the worst breakfast we’ve had. Not awful, but limited and boring. The other thing which upset me a bit was that no mention or notice was taken of our anniversary which the owners knew about. A card or chocolate, maybe a pudding would have been appreciated. We went out to The Butcher’s Shop in Fajara, also celebrating their 30th year. We told the owner we shared an anniversary and they found us a special table and presented us with a lovely cake with a firework candle, and they didn’t even know we were coming. We felt a bit hurt that nothing was made of our special day. On the upside on one of our evenings we had dinner served in the Bantaba which you can book. That was very romantic, we took our own music and had a lovely evening listening to music and the sounds of the sea. Overall Leo’s was a superb holiday, and we send our thanks to all at Leo’s for everything they did. Highly recommend.

My wife and I spent a lovely two weeks at Leo’s beach hotel and restaurant in The Gambia, the peace and tranquility was only broken, as we laid in the glorious 32 degree sunshine, by the gentle lapping of waves on the beach and the sound of birds in their beautifully manicured garden. The Austrian owners, Nina and Alois, live at the hotel and so are always available to help and assist in any way they can. In addition were the wonderful team of Gambian locals who were always on hand whenever a drink was needed or to assist in the lovely restaurant. The hotel is small, it has 5 double rooms and a suite on the first floor with balconies which look out to the Atlantic Ocean, and a ground floor suite with two bedrooms which is where we stayed. Our accommodation was everything you could wish for, a place of coolness when time away from the heat was needed, with air conditioning and ceiling fans. The two bedrooms have large double beds, which could also be used as two singles. There was a lounge with TV, fridge/mini bar, HiFi system with speakers, a safe, plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, hairdryer, table and chairs, and a large comfortable sofa. The room ceilings were higher than standard rooms, the bedroom and lounge have large, full-height patio doors, with mosquito netting if you would like to keep them open. There was a well appointed bathroom, double sinks, toilet and large shower area. There was free WiFi throughout the hotel which was pretty good, although it did occasionally drop out. I am a wheelchair user, which is why they offered us the ground-floor suite. They made no claims whatsoever about the accommodation being fully accessible when we booked, but we had an exchange of emails which gave me the confidence that I would be able to manage. They improved the access to the room with the installation of a small ramp, as there was a slight step at the door. The room is large enough to handle a wheelchair, the shower wet room is also large enough to be accessible in a wheelchair, if this is needed. I was provided with a plastic shower chair which was very helpful for me. The toilet is a little low, which might be a challenge for some people with disabilities. The only other issue when it comes to accessibility is that access to the pool and gardens is down one step, Alois said that they would consider building a ramp so that wheelchair users in the future will have access to these areas. If you are a wheelchair user I would suggest you check to see if this is available. We managed to carry the wheelchair down the single step, if staff members were around they always assisted. The room also benefits from its own patio area with a table and chairs and two sun beds. I use a CPAP machine at night to help me to breathe, the reliability of the electricity supplier was pretty good, although it did cut out a few times. We elected to have half board, the restaurant was very good, breakfast was continental, although hot food

Our second visit to this perfect little hotel. We were last there back in January 2014, it was excellent then and was just as good this year. The small number of rooms, quiet location with the personal friendly service make your choice perfect if you were looking for that criteria. Both my wife and I are vegetarians but we were able to pick and choose what we required for every meal. The hotel has a fairly large beautiful garden where you can laze the day away with a book, a bit of music or simply day dream or snooze. I am a bit of a bird watcher - sad but true and the garden (especially when some sprinklers were on) provided me with many happy hours just sitting in the sun watching the many beautiful birds that were popping down for a shower and a cool drink. Put simply, a lovely ten days in a very relaxing, comfortable hotel.

Fantastic hotel, great room with good view of the pool, they even give you a mobile phone in the room if you need it (I used it once). Food really good with excellent breakfast and really good evening meal and the staff very attentive. The garden is really well laid out with plenty of space the only down side for me was the path down to the beach which was not very easy to negotiate as I have some problems walking. Will probably book again for next year.

A repeat visitor to this high spec small hotel with large airy modern rooms looking over the pool and well kept gardens. Very friendly welcoming staff and wonderful owners with the personal touch. An excellent relaxing location with a restaurant that serves quality well cooked food.

Leo’s is a stunning place to stay with an incredible view from each room. The restaurant is superb with a great selection of food. The staff are very friendly and attentive and nothing is too much trouble. The garden is fabulous with beautiful pool and the option of strolling down to the beach.

Just returned after 2 weeks in this lovely hotel. There are numerous positives to mention - Leo’s is a modern little hotel with spacious well equipped rooms, comfortable beds with firm but not hard matresses. Lots of storage space and a very nice bath room. Everything is kept very clean and well maintained. The garden is simply lovely, green and lush, and you will easily spot 15-20 different bird species in just a few days. Nice clean pool and sunbeds scattered over the pool area and pool area. The beach is a 2 minutes walk down the stairs from the far end of the garden. The restaurant is located under the rooms and the food here is very good. We found everything tasty and fresh, so we dinned there every evening and tried out numerous different dishes from the menu, and we were never disappointed. Most evenings we did a main course only, so portions are very well sized. We also liked the breakfast concept. Continental breakfast is included in the room rate and includes bread, butter/jam/honey, coffee/tea, juice, yoghurt and fruit salad. For a fair price you can add on various different eggs (the scrampled eggs with truffle oil and mozzarella was delicious), pancake etc. Big buffets can be amazing, but for a small hotel like this, their concept makes perfect sense. The staff and the service at Leo’s is fantastic. Everyone is friendly and helpful and is dedicated to make guests feel very welcome and enjoy a wonderful stay. The owners Nina and Alois are great hosts, helpful from the first contact prior to booking, answering questions before arrival, arranging airport transfer, excursions, money exchange. The whole operation is really well managed. Any negatives? Not really, but we were a bit surprised about the sound level from the restaurant in the evening. Located just under the rooms, it is definately not quiet on your balcony and your room from around 6pm A trio of other guests during most of our stay were also particularly loud as of late afternoon, which is of course just bad luck but and a bit unexpected for a tranguile place like this. It must be said that it was always quiet no later than 11 pm. There are sunbeds for every single guest in the garden and at the pool, but we think it would be nice to have a couple of extra as some guests on occasion brought a guest or two at the pool. Lots of guests at Leo’s return year after year, which certainly comes as no surprise. The place is lovely.