Kololi, Holiday Beach Club Hotel

Holiday beach club is set in an enviable position at the quieter side of senegambia. First impressions are good with colourful well tended tropical gardens and nice looking terraces of whitewashed single storey accomodation buildings. Freindly smiling helpful staff soon had us moved into our room, what a let down, away from the main complex in a garden annexe, A and B blocks are two storey blocks with a terrace or balcony, and although clean they are quite run down in terms of fixtures and fittings and do not have much of a view. Our first night there we eat at ali baba's on the strip and then crashed out after a long days travel. Next morning woke refreshed and hungry, next let down - breakfast. Bread, cheese, bananas, cold meat, tea and coffee, thats it, not good, oh well this is 2 star Africa.

A walk down to the beach through lovely gardens and past a good sized well kept pool brings you out onto the Kololi beach, a vast stretch of sand running in both directions with plenty of beach bars to choose from. We stayed here for two weeks in April and the area was quiet, with a few bars closing for the 'off ' season. There was however plenty to do out and about, the day trip to Senegal with ARCH tours was very good as was a lazy day on the river Gambia onboard a large well equipped pirogue.

I would reccomend Kololi holiday beach club hotel to anyone who is looking for a base from which to explore the surrounding area, it is child friendly and generaly well run. It would also be ideal for a poolside holiday although food and drink prices were quite high.

Holiday Beach Club Hotel is a good basic African Hotel.

We stayed at Kombo Beach last year but the money situation forced a downgrade this year.We booked "First Choice" and they use 2 "Cell Blocks" that are annexed outside the main complex. Our room B 10 was dark/dingy/dirty.Garden view was looking into a clump of trees,wardrobe and toilet doors did not fit and on the maids day off we had to wait until 6.15pm to get our room done and some towels.Sunbed ratio was very low and you need to reserve at 7.30am to get one.Breakfast of bread & jam/bread & spam just got boring.O.K this is 2 star Africa, The main complex around the pool and beach area is not too bad, so if you come here I would recommend upgrading when you book, and be prepared for "Basic".

The rooms at Holiday Beach Club Hotel, Kololi, are well maintained and very clean. All staff are very friendly and extremely helpful....not everyone looks for something in the Gambia contrary to belief. The beautiful hotel grounds are meticulously kept and are made up of well established palm trees, shrubs, bushes and flowers.....very beautiful. There are little paths leading to each apartment block.

As most people have probably written about their whole holiday I will just tell you about the hotel itself. It is just off the main Sennegambia strip about 100 yards just passed the Sarges (formerly Tafbel) and across from the GTS.

Entry is through 2 green iron gates with security guards. A short drive down a shelled gravel drive brings you to the start of the apartments which are enclosed within a wall for privacy and security and have a security guard. Our apartment was A1 which was at the end of 8 joined apartments at the bottom and 8 above us. It was very quiet and we were particularly envied because we were the only ones that had the sunshine til the very end!

The rooms are well maintained by Adama and very clean. 2 large single beds with brand new mattresses. Towels changed every day and bed linen every other day. There was a dresser and a built in wardrobe with loads of space. Bathroom was very clean with toilet wash hand basin and shower (although when using the shower it did soak the whole bathroom due to the design of the curtain rail. Nice little touches of beside wall lamps and 2 electrical sockets (3pin plugs). Entrance to the apartment was on a little terrace with a table and 2 chairs then through large sliding doors. In the evenings you have your own discovery programme watching the monkeys play and in our case jump on our almost completed jigsaw!

From our apartment which was at the very back, it was a short stroll to the hotel shops, reception, bar, dining room and very large swimming pool.

The back exit of this hotel is straight onto the beach so no having to pass through other hotels or walking via the road.

I have given this hotel a 9 only because of the breakfast which people did complain about.

On the whole this hotel well exceeded my expectations. This is my 4th trip to The Gambia . It is totally safe, clean and helped ease the stresses of the dreaded Credit Crunch!

I love this hotel ~ I stayed here 15 years ago ~ the 1st time I ever visited the Gambia ~I am now able to stay at the Karaiba which I love but I still go back to see all at Holiday beach I always take the ladies doing the washing nice presents and they remember me every time I love them all Love it !!

Love all the staff and the pool and beach always have a relaxing time and where ever I stay in Gambia I will always make time to go see all the people I know there.

We have stayed at holiday beach club hotel twice and have just booked to go again, we love the place, the people and the whole atmosphere of Gambia. It may be basic but that adds to the gambian experience. If you want luxury then its not for you but if you want to experience Africa as it is then we recommend Gambia. You will get hassled but you get used to it.

first of all i would recommend this destination to anyone who is interested in a relaxing pool/beach holiday as you can relax round the pool without being hassled and you can enjoy a nice meal which will be delivered to your sun bed by very polite waiters :) the beach is great but waves can get a bit out of hand at times so if entering with small children be aware. The weather was amazing, sometimes a little to hot but I cant say I complained , got back to england and everyone was complementing me on how good I looked. My mum runs a charity renovating and building nursery schools in Gambia so we try to visit Gambia 2/3 times a year. Now we are classed as 'real Gambians' rather than tourists we never eat down the strip outside the hotel we go to Serekunda every night (down kariba avenue) and rotate between Istanbul(a newly opened restaurant... tomato soup is lovely there),4seasons which is amazing, staff are friendly and very helpful and we also went to sultans (across road from Istanbul) this is great if you fancy trying foods from a selection of different countries as it has a huge menu. If you are eating out while staying in Gambia I would recommend eating in the local eateries rather than tourist restaurants as tourists places can cost up up to £30 a night for 3 people to eat and have a drink each but in the local places such as 4seasons where you can get all of the above for under£10.. its amazing and the food is scrumptious!!! :-D Also if u are visiting Gambia you must go to Lamin Lodge its almost perfect there , set in a great location .. so peaceful but just watch out for the monkeys , they will come to the table and grab your bag/food or anything u leave lying around , but don't worry they wont hurt you. :) xxxx

Fantastic holiday, even better than the first time we stayed here. The people are amazing and so helpful. If you want a holiday where you feel spolit this is the place to go. Great food with plenty of choice. Nightlife is great, just takes a bit of getting used to (completely different to England) but well worth losing sleep for. The hotel is basic but very clean, we visited some higher rated hotels and they were not as good as Holiday Beach. If you want a luxury hotel with all the mod cons this is not the hotel for you, just remember you are in Africa and it's all a Gambian experience. There was even less power cuts this year and we always had hot water (this was touch and go last year). Can't wait to go back in November.

Don't be put off by some reviews. I read of one couple who called The Gambia mozzie land. Hello people it is Africa, what were they expecting midges, which is the Scottish term for a small mosquito equivalent. I have two friends who have been coming out to The Gambia for over twenty years and the only place they stay is the Holiday Beach Hotel. Adama, Fatima and everyone else, in the words of Governor Schwarzenegger, I'll be back.

I managed to stay in Holiday Beach Club Hotel for 20 minutes! Though I was booked to stay for two weeks. The staff were OK but the owner was possibly the most rude, obstructive, uncooperative and aggressive man that I have ever met in the Gambia.