Banjul, Hotel Corinthia Atlantic

We have just had a wonderful holiday at the Corinthia Atlantic on our first visit to The Gambia. The staff and management were first class - they were attentive, full of smiles and anticipated your every need. Such a happy relaxed atmosphere transferred to all the guests who were equally relaxed. The food was excellent and plentiful, the rooms spacious and clean and the beds and pillows super soft. The leisure facilities many and varied if you could tear yourself away from the pool and the sunbeds. We can't wait to return.

The hotel grounds lead directly onto a white powdered beach, I walked this every morning and was not hounded once. The local people are welcoming and they give you feeling that they want you there. I traveled with thomas cook from EMA on 19th November 2008 for 1 week, I have just rebooked for 2 weeks this coming November. Both myself and my wife can't wait to go back. We used local taxi's and cafe's while out there and had no problems at all. Please try it and enjoy.

It was the best holiday ever. We are going back again because its great. There are no bad things about Gambia its great. I would recommend the Hotel Corinthia Atlantic, thank you so much.

Go and stay a this hotel and go with an open mind and you will have a great time. They will feed you at breakfast and dinner from the buffet and you will not want for anything. Lunches were not included and a little pricey as were the drinks but you don't want too much alcohol in the heat anyway!

More importantly the great country of the Gambia is waiting outside. Don't just sit there - get out and see some of it. It won't bite you and if you do get some of the so called hassle from the bumsters outside just ignore them and move on. Better still get a taxi and go independent to the nature parks and sites. It is so very easy. It was apparent that some of the guests did not venture very far outside the hotel.

The people are most pleasant. Also when you are done with your travels for the day you have this great hotel to come back to and relax or watch the entertainment some of which is folklore type stuff with African drumming and if that don't get your foot tapping etc then nothing will.

Air conditioned room and the electric plug sockets like we have in the UK.

Staff are very helpful and keen to go that extra mile. Security is good and hotel Corinthia Atlantic is safe. Food and drink expensive. Food poor. Hotel needs an up grade. Not a 4 star hotel. Good for a weeks holiday. The food and expense disappointed us. However, staff couldn't have been more helpful.

This was my 2nd trip to Gambia & 2nd time round was just as good as the 1st. I'm saving for next xmas as we speak.

The staff did an excellent job on xmas eve & were still happy after a extremely long day,a big well done to them all.

The manager was around most of the time & was happy to eat with other people around the hotel.He also greeted everyone on xmas eve.

The customer relations lady was always there on hand, a lovely person & made a great effort to make sure everyone was happy & enjoying themselves.

Staff entertainment team were just amazing as was everyone else with the long hours they put in they can still smile. I think that we do just forget just how lucky we are & I think that when we go to another country we should remember that not everything is going to be the same as what it ts in England. So except it as it is,we British moan to much.

Overall a great holiday & waiting for next xmas to go again.

The hotel (Corinthian Atlantic) seriously needs to be regraded, it is no where near a 4 star hotel by any means (I have been to other countries such as Kenya and Antigua and stayed in 3 star accommodation so I do have something to compare it with). The manager refused to put on the air con or bring in fans in the dining room in the evening so it was far too warm to eat there. We wasted £100 worth of meal vouchers due to being unable to stand eating in the dining room on an evening. When someone asked for this to be put on they were told to sit near a door, which they did and got eaten by mossies!!! He eventually put on some entertainment one evening after being badgered by some other holiday makers, this was some African dancing for less than an hour, the air con was only on for this hour and then we were told that it had broken!!!!! The air con in the rooms went off every night during the night when the electric was turned off.

DON'T GET A POOL VIEW ROOM - these have connecting doors to the next door room, and you can hear EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!! Luckily we had a nice couple next door but still not very nice.

Most of the staff were miserable especially in a morning, my husband even tipped one to see if it would cheer him up, it didn't. They were very slow with the tea and coffees and with bringing out the eggs, we actually had to leave them one morning as we had waited half an hour and was due to go on a trip. We were told that staff were not happy due to the hotel having new owners but it doesn't encourage people to stay in the hotel and will definitely not recommend it to anyone. I know we went out of season but I really think that they will struggle when it does get busier at the hotel.

We had been told that you get a better exchange over there, we definitely didn't and during the week it went down quite a lot, we found out that the rate was different at other hotels so it is worth checking this out.

Every where we went people wanted money for something or other, we were even approached by a member of the hotel's security trying to get money for an alleged nursery he was building, I mentioned this to the rep and others said that he had approached them too. There were people selling things in the hotel every day and night and people were taking detours to get to the dining room to avoid them. Even on the last day someone from the Gambian Experience company took a couple of cases to the coach going to the airport and stood there with their hand out asking for money before putting them in the luggage hold.

It is well worth going to see the crocodiles (only 50D to get in, this is about £1.20 each) and the guides their were very friendly, please accept their offer of tea as it offends them if you refuse. The 4 wheel drive trip was interesting, though no one on the trip enjoyed visiting the village and looking around a house as it felt rather uncomfortable. On the last day we went on the lazy day trip, which does exactly what it says it is going to do, well worth going on just to relax and have some fun. Our tour guide was Dudu (other wise known as Darling) and the driver called Landing. Darling was a one man show and made the trip that little bit more enjoyable, food and service was excellent and the drinks were very cheap (plenty of refreshments are offered during this trip which is included in the price, can especially recommend the brandy coffee!!!!). We also went to where the fishing boats come in, what an amazing experience and also went to Banjul market, would definitely recommend that you get a guide to take you there as it can be a bit overwhelming. Chat with other people staying at the hotel, especially those that have been there longer than you, before booking anything with guides and people wanting to take you anywhere, to compare what they have been charged and who they have used as they will try and get as much money out of you as possible and do try it to charge you well over the odds.

Can recommend Michelle's Fish restaurant in Banjul and Ali Babas at Senegambia if you want good value food. Even if you get a green taxi please be aware that they can still try and con you, one evening our taxi driver, who was supposed to wait 2 hours for us, told us he had to go as his wife was seriously ill, we said we would wait for him to get back but would only pay for what time we had agreed for (he returned early) and then watched him go over to the Indian restaurant and read the menu. On the way back he pulled into a petrol station and asked for some money to get some petrol to get back, we gave him the whole fare and told him it was up to him what he did with it, he then got a petrol can out of the boot and filled that up!!!!!

Luckily we had a lovely group of people who were there at the same time and we all got on with each other and made the best of things, laughing about things and exchanging experiences!!!! As I said previously I have been to other places and others at the hotel have too, so felt able to give a balanced view and we all agreed we would definitely not be going back, even another couple that were staying at a different hotel said that they would not be returning to the Gambia due to being hassled for money all the time.

Also on a positive note we flew with Astraeus and although it might not be the most modern of planes the crew were most helpful and did their best to make sure that the flight was as comfortable and pleasant as possible, Well done them!!!

We loved the hotel and The Gambia, we will be back as soon as we can. If you do get the opportunity to go, please do and make sure you do travel outside the hotel with any of the hotel's excellent guides and they will take you to see the real Gambia.

This is the fourth time we have stayed at the Hotel Corinthia Atlantic but since this time last year the prices have rocketed and the service has gone down hill. We waited over an hour for room service, which was just sandwiches and coffee, they forgot the coffee. We waited half an hour for drinks to be brought to our table, which we ordered before a meal. The grilled chicken meal took nearly 50 minutes to come. You wouldn't mind but they do tend to expect a tip. I don't know if the hotel has changed hands but we did notice lots of new staff and they only seem to be able to do their designated job. For example, three barmen were behind the lobby bar, they said they'd run out of beer and couldn't go to the bar in the restaurant to get one until the waiter came back. I think because it has become more popular they aren't desperate for our trade as in previous years, which is a shame as it's only a short flight and wonderful weather. Maybe try Egypt next time!