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Average
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About
4.0
#3 of 23 hotels in Serekunda
Location
4.6
Cleanliness
4.3
Service
4.4
Value
4.0
This premier 5-star hotel in The Gambia is not one to sit on its laurels but has continued to build on its reputation over the years. Located on the idyllic, sprawling golden sandy coastline of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Centrally Located
Charming
Languages Spoken
English
Location
390 Senegambia Road National Bahai Center, P.M.B., Serekunda Gambia
The Kairaba Beach Hotel
1,035 reviews
Getting there
Good for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
We have just returned from visiting the Kairaba hotel in The Gambia for the 11th time in 12 years and always remained loyal to this hotel having given it good reviews in the past. Sadly, I now find it increasingly difficult to do this as do other loyal returning guests that I spoke to during our two week stay. The bathrooms in particular are looking really tired and shabby, new TVs have been put in the rooms but the reception is poor with no football on anymore and only the poor BBC world news available in English ( if the BBC wish to save money then they should stop this programme !), air conditioning not working properly with 5 nights out of 14 not able to use without water dripping constantly all over the floor. On the day before we left we were told that it was a blocked pipe and we would have to empty the wardrobe and drawers to enable the maintenance team to solve the problem. Something which had been said to other guests and seemed to be a common problem after speaking to others. Perhaps a plan should be drawn up to regularly check these pipes for blockages. WiFi connections are very poor in the rooms regularly dropping in and out which makes it very frustrating. Perhaps they should state that internet is only available in the lobby and then if you are lucky enough to get it in the room it wouldn’t be so frustrating. Lots of other little things as well, such as no afternoon tea and coffee served any more, no managers cocktail party where you have the opportunity to meet some of the management and things like the deterioration in the quality of things such as very poor tissue thin napkins at breakfast instead of cloth napkins as used before. People will say that this is Africa and should expect this sort of thing but We’ve visited 13 countries on the continent and even in some of the remotest places you can get WiFi, decent bathrooms and good quality napkins etc etc. Perhaps the biggest thing that would stop us returning to the Kairaba is the attitude of the General manager to his guests and to his staff. Only wanting to talk to guests on his terms is not right as is shouting at very good, loyal staff in front of guests. The staff are frightened of him but obviously would never say this as they worry about losing their jobs. Not a great place to stay under these circumstances. On the plus side, the weather is always good outside of the rainy season ( never stayed at that time of the year but I believe even that’s not too bad ). It’s only a short flight straight down from the UK so no jet lag, the gardens, grounds, birds and monkeys are delightful but most of all the staff are fantastic and do not deserve to be treated the in the way they are. Sort the management problem out and I could probably put up with the rest and go back.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Always book a deluxe or superior deluxe room in the garden
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed here for a week on an half board basis which included breakfast and a buffet dinner. The hotel is wonderful and a lovely oasis after a day of sightseeing. The staff at this hotel make the business as fantastic as it is. They are so friendly and accommodating. We had some issues with rooms and they made sure it was sorted promptly which helps after a long flight. The highlight of this hotel are the gardens. They are beautifully maintained and the gardeners are wonderful to talk too. Also the grounds have a great mix of birds, peacocks and monkeys which was a daily treat that we loved seeing. The bird watching guide Aladdin was phenomenal and definitely not to be missed. His knowledge was second to none and so interesting, a true asset to the hotel.
The rooms are a good size and would recommend booking the corner rooms which wrap around balconies. They have a great view and lots of space. We also stayed in the premium suite which is great for a family to stay in as it has separate rooms.
The beach and pool were fantastic and clean. Water the perfect temperature in the heat. There always seemed to be a space around the pool with games also set up to break the day.
The restaurant served a great variety of food, but its also worth noting that there are a number of fantastic hotels outside the hotel which serve some amazing Gambian food. Going again we would prob do B&B and just enjoy the range of restaurants.
All in all we enjoyed our stay and thought it was a beautifully maintained hotel. Its worth remembering that 5 star in gambia will be different to 5 star in europe but this doesnt detract from the wonderful hotel it is.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Corner deluxe rooms with a wrap around balcony are the best
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What brought us back to the Kairaba Hotel for the 7th time was their bird guide Aladin. Aladin organises birding walks around the grounds of the Kairaba but more importantly will take you out for half or whole day birding trips. He is one of the best bird guides in The Gambia and worth contacting on +220 7924977 if you are going there.
The Kairaba has some good features other than the grounds and birds. It fronts onto the beach with, almost, limitless scope for walking along. Certainly a walk for an hour in either direction along the beach is easily possible with juice bars and kiosks along the way plus cafes etc for breaks if needed. The accommodation however is tired and getting tatty in places with the hotel requiring a thorough overhaul to bring it up to the levels of the newer hotels being built in the area. That said it does have new owners and if they have any strategic vision about them at all they will see this and act upon it. If staying we find it worth paying the very little extra to have a corner "super deluxe" room. You get the extra space, they are quieter being upstairs and with two options for the balcony so you can sit in the shade if needed. This visit we did notice they are offering full board / all inclusive packages - mostly taken up by German clients - though given the number of very good eateries just outside the hotel I can't think why anyone would tie themselves to the hotel. B&B is the way to go as far as we are concerned. There are newer "upmarket" hotels now in Gambia but the Kairaba, whilst showing her age, is still worth considering. The staff are helpful, friendly and as far as we were concerned caring.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Visited this hotel last year and was able to give a positive review. Not the case this year I am sorry to say.
It seems the hotel is being managed under a rental agreement with a group of business people, that does not seem to have any commitment to the staff or its guests. The hotel is run down and in a very poor condition. There does not appear to have been any maintenance carried out on the buildings since my last visit.
I stayed on a B&B basis and paid over £2,000 for a two week stay. I had a bed (which was comfy) but I cannot say I had breakfast. There is a reasonable choice of food that is largely inedible. Freshly cooked eggs (good variety of cooking methods available) seemed to be the best choice, but who wants to eat eggs for breakfast every day for two weeks. Last year the representative from Gambian Experience breakfasted in this hotel almost every morning. I didn’t see him in the restaurant once this year and I think that says a lot about the quality of the food.
I can’t comment on the WiFi other than to say it only seemed to exist in the hotel lobby.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I arrived the Kairaba Hotel with my group of visiting officers on 9 February 2020. My group left on 12 February 2020 and I have a very bad experience of the Hotel. It’s really disappointing that despite all sincere efforts of the Gambian authorities to ensure a hitch free visit some shameless staff of the Kairaba Hotel will display acts capable of dragging the name of their country down.
I stayed in Chalet/Room 725 and unsuspecting that the staff of the Hotel had perfected the act of opening safes in the absence of guests. I kept getting dropped calls on my intercom without knowing I was being monitored. On the day of check out I got over 5 calls asking when I would be leaving while our Representative had earlier informed the management of our need for late check out. I suspect a tall lady who was the house keeper on duty and she must have acted in collaboration with 2 other men who kept roaming my corridor. This people will batch into rooms without even knocking and pretend they want to clean. My room was at the end of a corridor but I kept seeing movement towards my door leading to nowhere. I never realized that they were not done with picking from my money gradually and I did not suspect they would have been able to open the safe. It was not until I got to Dakar that I counted my money and found 1500 dollars missing.
I really hope the management of that outfit will look into this complaint and bring the perpetrators to book. This event is still fresh and it can be investigated. I mean where else will one put his valuable if not in the safe provided in the rooms. It is obvious that the hotel management has done nothing to address previous complaints/reviews from their guests. They seem to always defend the staff and that’s not good. I expect that this will not go the same way please.
Sunday O Makinde Nigeria
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have stayed at The Kairaba Beach Hotel for many years. We have seen it at it's best and now seen it at it's worst. Covid has a lot to answer for. It is so sad to see this Grand hotel so empty this year. Our first thought was to move hotels, but we have made many friends here at the hotel and feel at home here when we arrive. We decided to stay and even though the hotel is practically empty and working on a skeleton staff we felt obliged to stay and support. As usual the staff can't do enough for us. The management decided to allow local people to use the pool at a fee, and this has been taken up by them especially on the weekend. It gets very busy with lots of families n children most of whom can't swim. Which in turn is hard for the one pool attendent to manage as there can be up to 30 to 40 people in the pool. I understand that the management needs to bring in revenue but an extra pool attendent should be employed at the weekend. We need Whalley back at the pool❤️❤️ Breakfast is poor n not what we are used to, but on saying that we haven't gone hungry, it is once again so sad to see so few people in the hotel thus not a great selection and no buzz from it at breakfast from not being busy with guests. On the up side if we request something it is there the next day. On the whole yes it is quiet, we are under the impression that they no longer have a contract with Tui at the moment n can only be found on Gambia Experience which is expensive for the quality of the hotel at the moment. Personally I think that the hotel wasn't ready to accept guest in time for the winter holidays and with this, and what seems poor management from an higher level this once booming grand hotel has slipped into a sorry state. Hopefully with the support of regular guests that still belive in her and a higher better management plan the Grand old lady will get back to how she use to be once again in this fantastic location. We will always support as long as we are able thank you to all the stay you are doing an amazing job under the circumstances ❤️❤️
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Date of stay: January 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beautiful freshly cooked poached eggs every morning cooked by 2 lovely ladies.
Hotel is not 5 star it is in need of total refurb but rooms are clean & spacious with beautiful balcony with sea view & views of the lovely grounds.
The staff from cleaners , waiters, cooks & gardeners , beach/ pool boys are all delightful & always have a smile.
We have already booked arriving New Year’s Eve & looking forward 2 the celebrations.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maps10138709163, Directeur général at The Kairaba Beach Hotel
Responded Feb 14, 2020
Dear STwelvetree1, thank you very much for your comment for the Kairaba Hotel and Gambia. All our employees hug you and we want to see you again. Hedi BEN AISSA Kairaba Hotel General Manager and the entire team
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I stayed here for 2 nights on business recently. Admittedly this is my first visit to The Gambia but if you are used to European hotels then this place will come as a shock. The grounds were well tended but everything else appeared to have had little maintenance for at least a decade and looked tired, rusty, shabby and in need of a lick of paint. Perhaps this is why there are very few guests. The room and sheets were clean and the aircon worked. However hot water took 5 mins to arrive in a very dated bathroom and the internet is basically unusable. Breakfast is included but very basic. Drinks OK but very expensive. There is a 5m strip of sand outside the hotel but no beach as such, it has been replaced by a wall of boulders presumably to stop erosion. Thankfully I was not paying the bill myself but there must be better alternatives than this!
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Traveled on business
Room Tip:Avoid if you possibly can
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at this hotel last year,what a difference a year makes.There are new management in place the hotel needs a total refurbishment. It is NOT the tranquil hotel advertised in the Gambian Experience 2019/2020 brochure. The lower levels of staff were excellent and doing their best. I could list pages of problems but that would only bore you so just the one FOOD, the pictures show bacon after we had complained the pink bits are what they added the rest was burnt black.the tomatoes also burnt these pictures were taken on different days.we visited the restaurant about 8.30 am at no time was the hot food replenished just stirred up , the only thing that was replenished were the pastries and the yogurt if they had any. Sadly complaining seems to fall on deaf ears so after 5 years of visiting The Gambia we will not be returning.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Very nice place with beautiful gardens with many endemic birds. Clean rooms with a very nice balcony. Food-good quality but the breakfast could be better in terms of options. Very kind employees generally, always nice and helpful namely the boys in the beach and pool restaurant, as well in the Spa with very good services (Maria is a very good professional) also Security people always nice and one of them ( i think his name is Ansu) who helped me quickly and nicely when i fell down in the garden. Thank for one of the best holidays for the last years. I hope to return soon!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Boston, United Kingdom32 contributions26 helpful votes
We tipped the waiters and room staff at the end of our holiday. If the pool guys put the towels on your beds then it is nice to give then a small tip at the time (100 delasis)
There are more places to choose from in the Serekunda area.
PRICE RANGE
$113 - $127 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hotel kairaba beach, kairaba beach serekunda
LOCATION
GambiaBanjul DivisionSerekunda
NUMBER OF ROOMS
160
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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