Fajara Hotel Reviews

On arrival in the Gambia we noticed that there were alot of local people trying to hassle and pester you for one thing and another, if it wasnt taking your suitcase at the airport it was ' do u have a spare pencil so i can send my child to school' Unfortunatly u come to realise that this is a way of life in the Gambia, there is no goverment help if you are unemployed. No job means you dont have any money to buy food its that simple. Please dont be put off by this though, Gambia is a beautiful country and well worth a visit.

The Hotel Fajara was an informed decision of accomidation as we dont like lots of people and busy areas, the brochure said the hotel was small, friendly and of a basic standard. Ok i thought we dont mind basic as long as its clean and maintained.

On arrival we were met by several people who seemed very eager to help all for a small tip though. We were booked in and shown to our room. In the brochure the pictures were of some lovely bungalows by the sea, this was what we expected how wrong could we be. Up three flights of stairs and down a dark horrible corridor we were shown to our room, we honestly felt like we were in a prison cell. The room was small and VERY unclean there were bare wires showing and it had a horrible musty smell coming from the sheets which had stains on them. The toilet flooded when you flushed it and a colony of ants had set up residence in the light on our balcony. We spent a grand total of about 1 hour in the room before asking to be moved.

The bungalows that were pictured in the brochure were where we were moved to and on first inspection seemed reasonsble so we agreed to stay. After a quick minspection we realised that this was just as bad as the first room we had been in. There were more bare wires coming out of then wall, the only plug socket in the room was black and half melted and when you turned on the a/c water poured from the back. These are just a few of the problems we encountered at this hotel, at one point i cried and just wanted to come home, this was ment to be a relaxing sun soaked holiday.

The only other thing i feel you should know is about the food, we booked to go half board thinking this would be an easier option in a country we didnt know. As you can probably guess this wasnt great either. As someone who has a dairy allergy i knew it might be a bit awkard to start off with so i asked for anything that was dairy free as there was a very limited choice on the menu, to my surprise i was served a cheese omlette and chips, not very dairy free huh. I spent the next few days living on watermelon and banannas. We spent a grand total of 4 days at the Hotel Fajara before being asked to be moved or put on a plane back home, thats how bad this hotel is.

We would personally recommend the Sunbeach hotel a few miles down the road in Bakau. This was where we were moved to and we couldnt have wished for a more enjoyable Gambian experience than we got at this hotel. All in all please dont be put off of going to the Gambia by this review of the hotel. Gambia is a beautiful country and well worth a visit, just pick your hotel wisely.

Fajara hotel needs tearing down and starting afresh.1st day we reported wiring and plumbing faults to a very disinterested management - nothing was ever replaced or repaired at the end of our week.The rest of the staff were GOOD especially the room service.

Gambians are very friendly and welcoming especially if you are brave enough to get away from the tourist areas and use their bars and restaurants-(all we could eat and DRINK all day for about £20).
Get lots of 10,25,50 dallasi notes for tips

FIX price with taxi drivers before getting in - some do try it on.
WEATHER February 2004 90-100F every day -STUNNING

Beaches very good, be wary of the areas you go in the sea there are some sewage outlets in the area,(we were in the sea every day - just select the area if you want to swim -we all did )

You must all have heard of the dreaded BUMSTERS by now there are soldiers patrolling the seafront now but they are still a problem especially when your skin is still snow white - or if you are 2 single females (ANY AGE)there were girls staying in our hotel whose life they made a nightmare they came out with us a couple of times and were left alone (wonderful for my husbands ego walking along with lots of women).Be firm and polite and the bumsters will go away.

MARKETS.Aim to pay 30 to 40 percent of what they ask or walk away they will call you back.All are very persistant, but just smile and no thanks.
DUTY FREE. Half price of English airports for cigs and alcohol.
Hope we have helped.Joe Jill Nicola Joe.