Hotel Senne Reviews

We were looking for some winter sun and somewhere to chill out and relax. Neither of us had been to Africa and thought we would give it a try although Gambia was not our first choice. Both of us have travelled extensively and therefore have come across most situations but this was a whole new experience!
First of all the jabs and tablets cost almost as much as the holiday, £80 for tablets and the same for jabs. Also, beware if you are a blood donor, you cannot donate for a year after being in a malaria affected area.

Flights - Bog Standard package flight, no legroom and quite uncomfortable. Nothing new there! On arrival at Banjul airport you are immediately pestered by porters and people asking you if they can have your newspaper.

Transfer - quite short and no problem.

Hotel - Booked this hotel on the recommendation of the travel agent and some people who had stayed there (10 years ago!). It probably was a nice hotel back then but it is tired and dilapidated now. The main hotel areas look fine but the rooms are not the best and we stayed in a superior room with aircon. The gardens are the hotels redeeming factor and the walk to the beach is quite pleasant. We were half board in the hotel only because B and B wan not any cheaper but we only ate in the hotel on the first night and the african night. The food was poor. I would recommend going b and b and eating out, we had some great meals, reasonably priced and the atmosphere is always better outside, where the germans and the dutch aren't fighting each other for food.
The hotel staff were friendly enough and the entertainment staff seemed to get on with people in general, although the pool entertainment did seem quite repetitive. We spent most of our time on the beach and it was beautiful and unspoilt. However don't go looking for loads of beach activities because there are none, the sea is far too dangerous. Take some good books a load of sun tan cream and just chill. The juice men on the beach are a rich source of entertainment.

The resort of Kololi is basically two streets, barely lit at night and could seem quite intimidating. We had no problems but you do get pestered at any time of day. The first time i walked out of the hotel, someone tryed to sell me a newspaper and then i realised where he'd got it from!! They get the papers off airport arrivals and then sell them in resort!! Fantastic! Ask him for a copy of the Scotsman and he'll be scratching his head.
I'm trying not to be too hard on the people because it is a poor country and we're well off in comparison but we did get the impression that a lot of people want something for nothing and the hotel staff do not understand the concept of good service.

The only excursion i took part in, was to play golf at Famarra. The sports rep at the hotel had told me about it and myself and another guest paid £25 appx for clubs, caddies, transport and a round of golf. Pretty reasonable i thought. The course was by the sea and an experience in itself, with browns instead of greens! Our caddies were chatty and informative until halfway round they tapped us up for money for a tournament they were holding, a likely story! We politely resisted. Unfortunately more was to follow, when my caddie decided he liked my training shoes and asked if he could have them, even though his feet were 4 or 5 sizes bigger than me?? Again i politely resisted but it spoilt our rond of golf being pestered and having to pay for the pleasure of it.

Oh, i need to mention one thing that really bothered us when we were there. In the gardens of the hotel, there are monkeys, also there are wild dogs and the dogs keep the monkeys away from the rooms. However nobody else is in control of the dogs i.e, they are wild and not trained. Now the animal loving British public like to pet dogs and feed them and therefore the dogs follow them around looking for more. On the beach the dogs would lie under the loungers of people who encouraged them, unfortunately if someone walking their dog along the beach came near the hotel loungers, the hotel dogs became territorial and twice we witnessed quite nasty dog fights. The first one ended up on my wifes lounger and because she was sleeping at the time, she was pretty shaken up. We asked the hotel who was responsible for the dogs and they just said they're wild and there's nothing we can do. They said they were trying to solve the problem but i have a feeling they were happy with the inconvenience caused by the dogs because it keeps the monkeys away.

One of the other things you may find off putting is the number of white women who seem to be out there for one thing only, attractive gambian boys and there are a lot of them. We have seen this before in reverse in Thailand so it was nothing new to us but may bother some people.
Last point! There is a lot of the old waccy baccy around and loads of people smoking it, especially in the shanty style bars further along the beach but i suppose this accounts for the relaxed atmosphere!!

All in all we got the sunshine we desired but the place did not leave a lasting impression on us. I am happy to concede that soem people adore the place and most of the reviews on this resort/hotel are quite positive, after all we did read them before we left!! But unfortunately the Gambia was just not for us.

Good Luck!