Holiday Beach Club Reviews

My sister and I went to the Gambia for one week at the beginning of March 2007 and loved it! We stayed at the Holiday Beach Hotel in Koloi and it was brilliant!!

We were a bit worried after reading some of the reviews on here but we found the Holiday Beach basic, but very clean and safe, Fatima, our cleaner, must have spent about an hour each day cleaning our room and made the bed for us every day and folded our PJs! Bed clothes and towels were changed every other day i think! We stayed BandB... Breakfast was lovely but basic and the same every day -fruit, french bread, cheese and ham... juice and cereal.

The Gambia is full of ";friendly"; locals who want to know who you are, where you are from and tell you their life story - personally we enjoyed talking to the locals, fair enough they did usually want to sell you something but that is just their culture in the Gambia and how they make money! Overall the accomodation was brilliant, they have an entertainments coordinator - alexander - who organises snail racing!! pool volleyball, ping pong etc. Watch out for the monkeys! They run wild round your hotel - we were feeding them on our balcony!!!

The Airport in the Gambia was a bit of a nightmare... keep tight a hold of your bags and give them a firm no and you'll be fine... although I didn't have a choice on the way back as one of the luggage carriers took my case and ran off before I'd got off the bus!! But I just told him no and it was fine. Manual check ins in the airport so expect a long delay!

The resort was fantastic - I would recommend walking along the beach near to the Kombo Beach Hotel, here you can hire body boards which are amazing on the waves!!! I would also recommend horse riding - good fun! The fresh fruit drinks are beautiful!!! All the locals along the beach are wanting to sell you something... just give them a firm no and carry on walking - they don't usually want very much money for the things they sell - your money will go a long way in the Gambia - local beer is nice (jewelbrew) at just 30p per bottle!!!

A lot of people didn't leave the complex but we would recommend braving the 'locals' and heading into town just a two minute walk, the restaurants and bars are brilliant!! The Holiday Beach security guards walked us to our room every night even though we didnt tip them until the very last day!!! Most gambians are genuine and want to help you they love the english! Would definately recommend the holiday reps bar crawl and the makasutu forest trip - although wear LOTS of mosquito repelant!!! Truck safari is good too - the schools are a little sad - take lots of pens, stationery and unwanted clothes out with you - I have never seen anyway so happy to receive a pen! They also like empty water bottles to fill up at the well... lots of beggers on truck safari... and try the fire water!!!

Overall the best place I have ever been, a totally different holiday experience!!

just got back from 2 weeks at the holiday beach hotel.we knew we was going to a country that had limited resources and bearing that in mind we rated the hotel and resort very good.
i wish others would look into where they are going before they go because we still bumped into people who complained about everything.

we had a good start to the day with a platefull of english breakfast that you could get at most of the restaurants in kololi.the dolphin bar and restaurant being the pick of the best,english run and can be found opposite the senegambia hotel thru the arch.
other retaurants we found good were mandelas and for quality food and service scala,try the lamb shank here.
we knew we would be targets for the bumpsters from previous reports,but to be honest we found them mostly friendlly and after a few days they left us alone after getting to know us.we did befriend some locals on the beach to the left of the hotel. i met a guy named flexy b who showed us around our resort and took us on a few trips. a true gent and i recomend him highlly as a guide.he took us fishing with capt lami and after a fruitfull day at sea (cost me and a mate £15 each)our local friends cooked the fish with salad and chips and we bbq on the beach untill late.it has to go down as one of my best meals ever.it was a sad day when we had to leave them people behind.

my advice if its your first time to gambia dont be intimidated,get to know the locals and have fun.they dont have any money and all they want to do is say hello and maybe sell you some smaal gift.
some days i would go down on the beach and give these people a few hundred dalasi to get lunch.they were very happy and it made me feel a better person for the sake of a fiver. enjoy the gambia,we did.

Travelled April 06 for 2 weeks.
Arrive with small change as the airport helpers take your bags for you and a small tip helps.
When arriving at the Holiday Beach Club bear in mind that you are in Africa and be realistic about what to expect. The rooms can be a shock as they are VERY basic- it is definately worth paying the extra for superior rooms when booking the holiday, as it costs more to upgrade once you have arrived. We soon got over the basic condition of the room as in reality we only sleep there. Rooms are cleaned daily and clean towels are received daily.
Breakfast is also basic but sufficient- bread/cheeses/ham/fresh fruit/cereal and tea/coffee and you can eat as much as you like. Hot meals are available but at an extra charge.
DO NOT move sunbeds yourself as the pool boys dont like it- if you stand where you would like a sun lounger they bring it over to you and you DO NOT have to pay. Be aware the sunbeds are extremely uncomfortable- taking plenty of towels to help pad them up is an idea.

When you go out of the hotel the local Bumsters can be really annoying but dont be agressive just say no thankyou and they will eventually leave you alone. If they dont then be more forceful and say you wish to walk alone etc. Dont let them stop you leaving the hotel as theres plenty to see and do.
Kololi itself is smaller than we expected but there is a good choice of bars and restaurants and when you visit other areas you realise that Kololi is a good resort choice.

We particulary enjoyed the ";St Georges Tavern"; and were made to feel very welcome by the owner Jeff and the staff especially Jimmy and Wally. A bottle of local Beer (Julbrew) is about 35 dalasis in most places and at the time of travel there was approx 45 dalasis to the pound.
The nightclub Totties is good for the reggae and R and B music but be warned it can get very busy and crowded- Julbrew there is 50GD a bottle.

Another good restaurant is ";Chossan"; it serves very good meals and even has a late night menu for after midnight when a snack goes down nicely with a bottle of beer! Also good for music is the Ali baba garden which has a daily live reggae band out in the open air garden venue. They too sell food but it wasnt as good as other meals we had. For the football lovers visit upstairs at Ali baba - they have 2 large screens and show all the UK football fixtures weekend and weeknights with waiter service you dont have to miss any other the match!
Visit Serrekunda market, bilijo monkeys (no guide is needed), charlie the crocodile, abuko nature reserve and the vulture feeding at 11am daily at the Senegambia hotel. The trip to Senegal via the tour company is a LONG day- it is advisable to take plenty of drinks and DO NOT wear white. Plenty of sun protection is needed as the heat on the island you visit is fierce at midday!! The ferry journey is an experience in itself!

Most of our holiday we were unable to swim in the sea as the red flag was flying- however if you do get the chance to swim (white flag) its a nice change to the pool but beaware even though the white flag is up the sea here is strong with very big waves.

We went to this resort on 20th feb 2006 it was an excellent holiday very chilled and laid back. After hearing reviews i was a little doubtful but once we arrived it was brill. My husband and i went for our 22wedding anniversary and it made such an imppresion we are goin back next yr. If anyone going to this accom pleases take some tape cassttes with up to date music of any kind they had one tape which they played all week. But we still enjoyed it. the resort is a little scruffy but the people are so friendly and the beautiful views are worth it.

the beach is lovely , the resort itself is a bit run down, the locals spoil it by pestering you all the time thay all want money from you it really gets on your nerves shame really as i think more people would return if it wasnt for them. wasnt as cheap as i thought it would be ie 90p for a small beer, 7pounds for a meal. trips was quiet expensive. hotel was ok needs a overall painting, new furniture,bedding etc . nice pool and gardens .

entertainment at the hotel was bad. the bar closed at 11pm .best places was g.t.s bar.-- kora for steaks.-- taste of india. alibabas for music. cigs are cheap 5pounds for 200. not many shops but plemty of craft markets,but hard to brouse as the sellers swam all over you like flies . this was our first time to the gambia we made lots of new friends look out for a boy called handy he had polio as a child such a lovely genuine person if you do meet him he will look after you. we will be returning to gambia in the future as we now know what to expect.

happy holidays to you all.