Serenity Holidays Traveller Reviews

Two weeks beach holiday in The Gambia, staying at the Palm Beach Hotel.

From booking to hotel, and hotel to home, efficient and comprehensive information

Welcome to the Gambia, Tamala Beach. Our first trip to Gambia and we will certainly return. Especially with only a 6hr flight from London (no time zone difference) and 25 min transfer by car. Tamala Beach, an ideal setting, walk through the grounds, lovingly maintained by the grounds staff to the beach and the Atlantic ocean, amazing walks along the sands, with the Hooded vultures, black kites and other birdlife around. The staff at Tamala Beach are amazing, greeting the guests with a beaming smile and a chat as they pass. We didn't eat at the a la Carte restaurant but used the buffet restaurant for our meals. Eggs/omelettes , pancakes, cereals, breads and cakes, juices etc for Breakfast. Buffet lunch and dinner, always choices at the griddle or Pasta Station together with other options in the 'keep hot' serving dishes, and fruit and cakes. Sunday Brunch and the Beach BBQ are a must during the stay. The large bedrooms do require updating in décor but improvements are happening at this resort. The wooden pontoons at the swimming pool were updated during our time there and the Parasols and bases were all replaced. The pool team work tirelessly to keep the pool and swim up area clean, but having palm trees and insects around the grounds, some small insect or the odd leaf will get blown onto the water. The bars serve local spirits and mixers, juice etc but premium drinks can be ordered at the a la carte bar and charged to the room or paid for in cash. We have travelled to various regions of Africa and the Tamala Beach hotel does not disappoint against those standards, the management are very pleased to discuss any issues. The minor room issues we experienced were dealt with very efficiently by the maintenance team: locked out of safe, retune of TV and our own room power cut . House keeping were also very efficient with cleaning the room, maintaining consumables and decorating the bed with petals. Very impressed with the service and Standards provided by Titan airways, The Gambia Experience offices in Whiteley and the in resort representative, Lamin.

very efficient in all aspects

We stayed at the African Princess for 7 nights in a swim-up room and enjoyed perfect hot and sunny weather, cooling off in our private area of the pool and walking directly onto the golden sands of the beach and the Atlantic Ocean straight from the hotel. We were greeted with smiles wherever we went and nothing was too much trouble for the delightful staff.

We received excellent communication from the tour company and hotel transfers were well organised which took the stress out of arriving and departing.

Travelling to Goa with my parents, husband and children for Christmas and New Year has made some lovely memories simply by being together. The Radisson Blu was not really to the standard we would normally stay at but we worked around it. Friendly, but broadly inexperienced hoteliers which made the experience fairly chaotic. Constantly having to ask for things like towels, or updates on WIFI could have been avoided. Not a massive fan of package holidays but Tui is currently far better than British Airways at every touch point of travel. More investment required in trips and things to do from the travel company. It would also help if the itinerary was accurate for where you were staying i.e. north or south Goa.

Responsive and friendly on booking. A little more fuss required on arrival. If a meeting is scheduled then the rep should be on time. If late, wait for the guests to arrive before starting. My parents have been travelling for over 30 years with a sister business Gambia Experience which is a much more polished experience. I would have expected my parents to receive a welcome gift. Details like this are important. When a company doesn’t call to ask us how we enjoyed the holiday we don’t return.

Arrived Christmas Eve, Great Christmas Eve Gala but then went downhill from Christmas Day with diarrhoea, once I was better after three days my husband suffered and so did friends and other guests. A la carte only open to 7pm and then given a different menu at 6pm where prices go up! But wasn’t given this information, only told there was one menu beforehand. Buffet food being touched by children and flies on food probably doesn’t help with getting diarrhoea. Choose B&B if you go here and support the local taxi drivers and restaurants and avoid getting poorly. Our holiday was ruined!

Always on hand to help.

My family and I had a great holiday thanks to all the staff both at Gambia Experience and locally. However Coco Ocean Hotel was very disappointing and did not merit its high star rating. This was my 8th visit to The Gambia and the most disappointing for accommodation.

Thorough, helpful, friendly and efficient both in the UK and in Gambia.

the experience was mostly good. When it was poor, they rectified the situation immediately, nothing was to much trouble for the staff. Well done excellent staff.

Very helpful and caring about every individual

Two weeks in The Gambia at the Senegambia Beach Hotel

Gambia Experience were excellent

We visited 3 islands (Sal, Santiago, Fogo) in 8 days which given the airport experience on Cape Verde is probably on the ambitious side. Flight times were changed with very little notice and when the flights changed we were given impossible connecting flights (given the time it takes to get through their airports). Most internal flights are always full so we decided to pay for an extra night of accommodation ourselves while we were out there, in order to de-risk the flight schedule and ensure we could get back to Sal in time for our international flight... but it is annoying that we had to do that, and the holiday company didn't take more responsibility.

The on-the-ground people working for Cape Verde Experience were helpful and tried to change our flights etc when asked, but the basic holiday schedule is probably too ambitious.

Great week in the Gambia with the Gambia Experience. Flights were good and the hotel was lovely. Rep was helpful and friendly all the time. Good value for money. Booking was an easy experience. Will recommend to friends and family.

Really helpful and easy to book. Friendly staff and smooth process.