Mansea Hotel Reviews

Ok first of all I will state that I know this is a 3rd world country and after having been to Goa last year I thought I knew what to expect on this holiday.

First impressions of Gambia are that it is not as run down as Goa, the airport is quite nice and there are fairly decent roads leaving to the hotel.

As for the hotel itsself, it appears on first sight to be quite reasonable, however when you look a little closer there are things in the room and outside that need attention, namely...

* - Tiles in the swimming pool which are missing, these leave some sharp edges which could easily cut somebody
* - Missing covers on electrical sockets in the room
* - (Some) rude staff at reception
* - (Some) rude staff at the hotel bars
* - Breakfast is VERY basic indeed
* - One of our party was quite ill on the trip and general conscensus was that the rep should have been far more interested

It is for these reasons that I have marked the hotel down so low, there are some saving graces in that the guys who help around the pool were good guys especially Mikey, and our cleaner was very pleasant and honest too.

As for the resort itsself, well we found the bumsters to be very offputting....I dont mind a little bit of hassle (as per Goa) but here it is a lot worse, and the path from the hotel to the main strip is pitch black.....and to be fair we didn't feel very safe. Please if you go here, make sure you take a torch with you. We also found what quite a lot of the older guests to be up to quite offputting....prostitution is very much in your face here and having 70 year old guys telling us what they had been up to (in great detail) to be somewhat in bad taste.

Overall, we still managed to have a good time but will not be returning to The Gambia until the bumsters are moved on, they are just too insistent and very much in your face. Having had a wander round some of the other hotels in the resort, I'd also reccomend paying a bit extra and going to a better hotel than this one.

Arriving at banjul airport was an experience I will not forget.We were unindated with people offering to take our bags for a fee of course.The same thing again when we got to our hotel. This we had been prepared for after speaking to some one who had been before. But the biggest dissapoint was the hotel, ok we knew it was 2* and fairly basic but you do expect to have what is described in the brochure.There was no phone a tv that did not work, broken furniture. And has for the cleaning, there was the plastic covering from some ones swimwear stuck on the wall above the bed.Numerous squashed insects on the walls and resident spider with its own home from home web in the bath room.We left it there to see how good the cleaner was. I EXPECT ITS STILL LIVING THERE

The resort its self was average not much to do and the ever present bumsters pestering and basicaly telling you anythig to part you from your money. All in all the best thing in Gambia is a Irish bar and a Pakistani shop.
The best thing I can say is if you want to go to Gambia would not recommend the Mansea beach, and dont be fooled in to handing over any money no matter how sad the story.

we booked a flight only then booked the mansea over the Internet very easy to do.we arrived 25th dec 2006 and stayed for 3wk the staff are very helpful and friendly the food is better than some of the other hotels we have stayed in whilst we have been in gambia,we had a problem with loud music from the night club but we asked could we be moved to the other side of the hotel and this was done without any hassle.its about a 5/10 min walk back to the hotel from the main strip in kololi but this is not a problem and if the moon isn't bright it can be dark but we got more help than hassle from the locals and i don't think you need a taxi even if your told its best.the food in kololi is great we went to the jade a chinese near the holiday beach hotel and the buffet at the Indian is very good,we did find one little bar that did very good food called Munchies next to a bar called st Georges near the top just before you get to the craft market.

in all Gambia is a great place to go for a good holiday the weather is brilliant and we spent a lot of time walking up the beach and stopping at the local fruit bars for a plate of fresh fruit for dinner very good and would recommend it,we would like to go back again this dec and we would stay at the mansea its a very good hotel.
x x x

Stayed for 2 weeks at Mansea Beach, lovely quiet pool area (mostly) and plenty of sun beds always. Rooms basic but clean linen and towels changed daily. Showers worked well with plenty of hot water (sometimes water went off for several hours). Staff and management extremely friendly. For a 2 star hotel in a 3rd world country we found it excellent and would return again. Lots of repeat visitors to the area, so not everyone must not be put off by the bumsters and beggers. Excellent food at restaurants nearby, plenty to try.

The two words I would use to sum up my experience in gambia would be hassle and charity!

AIRPORT
When you arrive locals will try and take your cases for you. this will cost you and they ask for english pounds. Tell them no if you dont want this. You also have to pay £5 tourist tax to get through the airport something which the travel agent didnt tell us.

HOTEL
We stayed at the mansea bach hotel in kololi for a week 13th-20th december bed and breakfast.
Food-The breakfast was average cornflakes, bread and jam, fruit and eggs and beans with hot and cold drinks.
Rooms-very basic but clean. toilet was useless and nearly overflowed when flushes. Shower was also poor and drainage bad so that bathroom almost flooded when used it. No air con unless pay £9 per day for downstairs room with air con.
Entertainment-good variation of traditional dance groups each night. Sometimes music played after this was on till late and was very loud when trying to sleep.
Staff-Friendly and attentive but lots hanging around doing nothing all day. Prices for drinks are overpriced in hotel and often dont have change so you end up paying even more. The males inside the hotel hassle females at every given opportunity and can be intimidating.

RESORT
I felt that I was continually being hassled either by local bumsters, taxi drivers or restaurant staff. Everybody wants money from you and will ask you to give money for rice,babymilk,sick friend/relative, food or any other excuse they can come up with. I felt as if they saw us as a free bank and it became very annoying.
Bumsters follow you about and wont leave you alone, one even ran for two miles with us along the beach and then waited for us the following day to come with us again. Maybe they are only trying to be friendly but I didnt like the feeling of being suffocated by them all the time.

FOOD
The restaurants on senegambia strip are nice and most quite reasonably priced I would recommend-A taste of india, african queen, ali babas and sonias all very nice. At the top of the dirt track near our hotel was a row of shops where there was a lovely deli which did brilliant sandwiches.

TRIPS
We took a taxi to Banjul the capital which cost about 600 delasi (50 delasi to pound roughly). En route taxi driver tried to get us to go to a load of other places but you have to be firm and say NO. He however took us to the monument anyway but be wary you have to pay double the normal price to go up it AND you have to pay for the taxi driver to go up too-when you dont even want him to come with you-Then you have to donate once inside to the museum! Everything seems to be about money all the time.
The market at Banjul was good to buy local goods-wooden ornaments, paintings and traditional african dress. Barter with stall holders but be ready for the amount of hassle that you will get to go into every stall there!

We also took a taxi to paradise beach which cost approx 700 delasi. The beach was nice and the water was calm enough to swim in there. We were the only people on the beach which was nice. The taxi driver waits at the beach for you but you will also be expected to pay for his dinner at the hut next to the beach. It was nice to go there and not be hassled by bumsters like at kololi beach.

WEATHER
We had 3 cloudy days where it wasnt very warm but still capable of burning you and the rest of the days were scorching hot.

All in all the holiday was ok but not good if like me you get annoyed with being hassled all the time. The people there are friendly but obviously very poor and are not shy about asking you to give them things. Even the maids asked me to leave them my clothes and shampoo!