Kairaba Hotel Reviews

Hotel certainly the best in Gambia with pleasent friendly staff. The hotel was clean and well arranged. I felt the evening meals at the hotel were not as good quality as outside in the local restaurants and over priced. Lunch by the pool however was good quality and value for money

OUTSIDE THE HOTEL.

The resort and country is extremely poor which can be an eye opener for some. The local people are really friendly.

EATING OUT

The variety of restaurants is wide. My personal favourites were "The Clay Oven" an Indian Restaurant which is a taxi ride out of the resort but is certainly worth it. The food was of an excellent standard and was great value for money.

SCALA - A fantastic homely restaurant with a brilliant menu. The Owner makes everyone welcome and is a favourite of the air/cabin crew which are on lay overs in Gambia. The restaurant proves great value for money and is a must try!!

OUT AND ABOUT

For lively bars there were 2 I tried

Aquarious - which had a happy hour between 9pm and 10pm. The music was varied and had a great atmosphere

Paparazzi - A great place with a friendly and fun atmosphere The music was varied and its a great place to be until the early hours!

hope this helps.... enjoy Gambia.... I did and will certainly go back!

This was our third year going to gambia and have booked again for next year already, the place seems to capture you.
Most people who go to gambia return that is the effect.We stayed back at the Kairaba this year as the difference between there and the senegambia where we tried last year seemed obvious to most people we spoke to.
We were disappointed this year on our trip to PARADISE bEACH as it seems to be looking a little tired.Mandelas restaurant(beautiful fish) which we found last year is still excellent value but them all the restaurants in the resort seem fine.
As other reviews point out there are bumsters but honmestly they are noy a problem if you refuse there advances- just be firm.
We again this year used Brian from the front of the hotel as our guide when we went anywhere,he is knowledgable,polite
good company without being pushy as that would definitely put us off.If you see him remember us to him please.
The weather and relaxation is unsurpassable.Only downside is we are not getting to see all the other places we promised ourselves we would go to but for now will stick with a safe bet.
Whilst there i used a company named PISCES FISHING for creek fishing trip and they were 3 lovely helpful ladies who came to the hotel to discuss our needs but i would definitely recommend you use them and visit their website.

This was our first time to the Gambia, and we certainly will be visiting again, and most likely will stay at the Kairaba. One thing I must point out is that the Gambia is a very poor country so please do not expect all the luxuries that we get back home. If you can take everything in your stride you will have a fantastic time!

The people all speak English and are all very friendly. There is the problem of 'bumsters' that want to make friends with you and show you around in return for money. As was explained to us by a hotel worker though - being a bumster is illegal, and annoying for tourists, but at least they are doing something to try and earn some money for their family.
We found if you ignored them they would soon leave you alone. One tip we were given was to not talk in the vicinity of them because once they know you're English or German they will start talking to you. It is difficult to ignore them because you feel so ignorant but it is better than being hassled.

Airport
Rather scary when you get there but don't let it put you off. There was a lot of confusion as you need to fill in a form with your details for immigration so they know where you are staying (you also fill one out when you are leaving). There is no longer an arrival/ departure tax.
Once out of the hotel you will get porters taking your bags (which if they do they will then expect a tip). Just politely tell them that you are ok with your bags and they will leave you alone. The coach driver will also put your bags in the hold and expect a tip which did annoy me a little bit.

Hotel
The hotel staff are all very friendly and will do anything for you. Whilst we were there we did tip quite a bit as we paid as we went along, but if you don't want to keep tipping then bill everything to your room and pay that way. We did find though that through tipping regularly we did get looked after a lot better than other guests.

The hotel rooms had free air conditioning, free safety deposit boxes and sky television. We stayed in a standard room, and although a Gambian 5* hotel it is comparable to a 3* hotel/apartment in Greece or Spain, which again comes back to the general standards/ wealth of the country. The rooms are cleaned everyday and towels are also changed daily (you also get free towels for the beach and pool areas so you don't really need to take any towels with you). The only bad point I have to make is that the function room was used one Saturday night as part of their religious celebrations. The standard rooms were located opposite the hall, and the music was very loud, and (apparently) went on until the early hours. It didn't really bother us but we did hear other people complaining the next day. Maybe if the hotel had given us prior notice it might not have been such a problem.

We went bed and breakfast and after talking to those on half board it sounded like it was the best option. There are a couple of restaurants within the hotel - one is a buffet restaurant (which those on half board had their meals) which we found was good. There is also the Havana Club opposite the standard rooms which again was good. The best restaurant in the hotel was the Shikra. The food was fantastic, and being restaurateurs we were very impressed. Although a lot more expensive than the other hotel restaurants, the service was second to none and you really felt you had been pampered. Those on half board have to pay to eat in the Havana Club and the Shikra but do get a discount. We also ate out in the resort which we found to be a lot cheaper than in the hotel (around half the price but then you do run the risk of bumsters). We also had dinner at Ngala Lodge in Fajara, and at the Coconut Residence just outside of Kololi. Again, these were more expensive but the food was very good.

Things to do
About ½ kilometre from the hotel is the monkey park - this was the highlight of my holiday! The monkeys are wild, although they have become tame due to human contact. It cost 30 Dalasi each (about 60p) to gain entry and you can stay there as long as you want. Make sure you take peanuts with you (and plenty of them). You can buy them from the bumsters. Once a monkey spots you there is no escape! It was fantastic to be so close to them, and they are very polite. Most of them will wait patiently and gently take peanuts from you - and the eye contact that you get is amazing.

Although the staff aren't meant to, one of the waiters took us out for the day and showed us the sights. He took us to the crocodile park where you can actually stroke live crocodiles. A very scary experience! He also took us to the market in Serrakunda where you got a real feel for what life is like in the Gambia. He then took us to meet his family. It brings it home how lucky we are in the western world. Their whole house was no bigger than my front room in my 2 bed semi! You really see how poverty stricken the country is and you feel so helpless. For those that have a job in a hotel or the like they are very lucky, and are so grateful of the £250 a year salary they get from it.

(Be aware that all hotel workers will try to befriend you and offer to show you the sights. This can get rather annoying went you have been asked by about 50 members of staff, so just listen to what they have to say and tell them that if you fancy going out then you will come and find them. They leave you alone after that).

We only went on one organised trip with the tour operator. This was the 'Roots' trip which took you down river to the place were the first slaves were capture and the family of Kunte Kinta still lives. It was a very good trip but because we were further down river it was a lot hotter so make sure you wear light clothing and take plenty of fluids with you. We were also the first pick up and last drop off so it was a very tiring 12 hours.

Weather
The weather while we were there was fantastic. Averaging 33C everyday and brilliant sunshine.

Schools
If you have room in your suitcase make sure you take some stationary for the schools. Although the new president is trying to improve education there is a shortage of stationary, especially paper, pencils and pens. The hotel has a box that you can leave stationary in and it is distributed to selected schools. We however decided to give pens and paper to one of the hotel workers for the school that his children go to as they are not so fortunate. The kids also love balloons so pack some of them too.

Overall a fantastic holiday. We really didn't want to come home!

this was our first time in the gambia but we will definetely be going again the hotel was fantastic and the staff were so friendly and helpful i was a bit wary of going there but it was the best place we have ever been the hotel restuarant was quite expensive but we used to eat out every night the best eating place we found was the irish bar at the end of the road staff in all bars were brilliant and the food also, the beaches were really nice yes you do have problems with the local bumsters but if you just politely say no thank you they will leave you alone if you do visit remember to take pencils and sweets for the local children at the schools

Had our 3rd holiday in Gambia and this hotel was certainly the best .
situated right on the beach in kololi.
Reception staff were very friendly and helpful, we had a bulb out in the bathroom, reported it and someone came within 2 minutes.
Rooms were lovely and spacious with a well laid out bathroom and shower cubicle.
TV, air con, room safe all FREE of charge.
Well stocked mini-bar too, although we put our own stuff in instead.
we went b+b, the breakfast was fantastic.
Loads of choice with a chef on hand to cook fresh stuff every morning.
Fantastic hotel grounds with peacocks and other birds wandering around.
free towels and sunbeds with proper mattresses are available around the lovely pool or on the beach outside the hotel.
Security guards on the front gate, beach gate and also patrolling the beach to keep the bumsters at bay.(more about them later)
Snack bar serving fairly good snacks throughout the day, however unless it was happy hour the drinks were fairly expensive.
lots of bars, restaurants and a few nightclubs outside the hotel in kololi.

When you leave the hotel you will be accosted by bumsters almost immediately.
they come up and ask your name etc and walk with you.
Do Not feel intimidated by this, Be polite and say you do not need their help, thank you and they will leave you alone, til the next time you leave the hotel when they will come up to you and call you by name.
If you like, you can take a bumster with you when you walk around if you want to feel a bit safer, but bear in mind that there is almost no crime against tourists anywhere in the Gambia.
give them 50 dalasi (£1) and they will mhappily walk with you and if you have a bumster with you everyone else leaves you alone.

DO GO TO BIJILO, it is a wooded area which you walk around with a guide and you can see dozens of monkeys.
buy some monkey nuts before you go in and they will come up to you, sit on your knee and will gently take the peanuts from you. It is about £1 to go into the bijilo park. Fantastic, we went three times last time, but do take bottled water as it gets very hot in there.
football fans can visit Skybar where all premiership matches are shown, they have about 15 decoders and show 3 matches at a time.
we found the best restaurant was La Scala, fantastic knuckle of lamb which melts in the mouth.
Plenty of other bars too including irish Scottish etc.
If you want to venture further out DONT use tour reps, take a taxi and do it yourselves. Taxis outside hotels, most wouldnt pass an MOT here but are okay.
Taxi prices include a 3 hour wait, so you can go out, have a meal and a few drinks and the driver waits for you and then brings you back for abour £3.

Gambia is a fantastic place for a relxing holiday, the peolpe are fantastic and all in all a brilliant holiday destination.