African Princess Beach Hotel

It was great

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

The hotel itself is really nice: great rooms even though I stayed in an economy room, clean, delicious breakfast. I also had dinner at the hotel which was very good though the menu did not change during all my stay (twelve days). Most of my lunches were outside hotel – there are several very tolerable eateries just outside. Never a problem with sunbeds, additionally there are several very comfortable hammock couches to chill out. Locality is good too, though not as lively as Senegambia. On the other hand, it is perfect for bird watchers as it is very close to the bird watching point. Also the spa centre of the hotel is very recommendable. Hiccups? There were several. I had issues with my room or rather rooms. At first, I was assigned to one room, it appeared there was some misunderstanding and I was relocated. Then I found out that my room door does not lock. After several attempts, it proved to be beyond repair and I was relocated again (that was twice in three days). Check-in was quite smooth, though no welcome drinks for our group (sufficiently big one), even though a group before us had them. Service is in some cases hit-and-miss. Our luggage was delayed by airlines and I had to go and ask for my luggage twice because it appeared that the shift at the desk did not leave any information about the luggage and it was just sitting in the storage room. No one bothered bringing it to the room or even informing me. A similar situation was with laundry. I had to ask twice whether it was ready and when finally someone knew where it was, I was asked whether I would like to have it brought to my room – I was standing in front of the man and the laundry was one pair of pants, so it sounded quite ridiculously. And finally, there is an ATM at the hotel, but it never worked during my stay, closest one being in Senegambia.

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.

This hotel has far surpassed any expectations. Absolutely blissful from start to finish. All of the staff from the gardeners, house keeping and pool attendants to the front of house and bar and restaurant staff have been helpful, polite and incredibly welcoming. Evening entertainment was local bands and some traditional African dance groups, very enjoyable and the food was varied with some gorgeous local dishes. Which i tried nearly all of them. We will definitely be visiting again and highly recommend this hotel to anybody interested in visiting the Gambia. We already miss you all

I’ve just come back from a 7-night stay at the African Princess. I didn’t have any expectations prior to going, but I really enjoyed my stay here and agree that the rating is correct. It’s not a party hotel (and there isn’t much entertainment). If your needs are business or relaxing then this is the hotel for you. We had a swim up room, which was lovely. There were a lot of insects swimming alongside me, despite the pool attendant constantly cleaning the pools and decking (he never stopped), which made me wonder if the chlorine levels were correct; but aside from that, no complaints. Our room was spacious and well furnished and the bed was comfortable. The bathroom was also a good size with a large shower area. The rooms have other amenities such as a safe, a fridge and a kettle (with mugs, tea, coffee, sugar etc.) The hotel grounds are immaculate - not a blade of grass out of place. The hotel backs onto the beach and there is a dedicated section for hotel guests with sun beds and umbrellas, as well as security and an attendant. You will get people trying to sell you things like juice, coconut water and other bits and bobs but if you’re not interested, once you’re firm, they will leave you alone. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the locals enjoying the beach on the Sunday - playing football, fishing, hanging out. Our board was bed and breakfast, though we did have dinner at the restaurant twice. Breakfast offered multiple hot counter and buffet style options with lots of international influence (e.g. a spin on a full English, American style pancakes and waffles, continental pastries etc.) and also Gambian options, which I loved. Even the fussiest of eaters would struggle not to find something to eat. Dinner is expensive but the food is really good and the portions are plentiful so you really do get what you pay for. There are also lots of other restaurants within 2/3 minutes walk of the hotel, all with lots of options and good food. Some of our favourites were Solomon’s, Sambas and Luigi’s. There are also small local shops and a larger supermarket within a 5-minute walk, the strip (with multiple bars and restaurants and the craft market etc.) is 5 minutes away in a taxi (which are outside in abundance) and there is also a small craft market opposite the hotel, so the hotel is well situated (monkey and crocodile parks are also nearby). We used the spa, which is tucked away at the side of the hotel and the massages were excellent. I didn’t manage to get to the gym, but I was told by another guest that it wasn’t in operation in any case, which if true, isn’t great. The other added bonus was currency exchange in reception if you can’t or don’t want to go out; and you exchange directly using your bank card if you don’t want to withdraw from the cash machine first. With regard to currency, the hotel needs to ensure that smaller notes (specifically 50D and 100D) are available in sufficient quantity so that guests can be g