Golden Beach Hotel

This is one of the best holidays I've ever taken, the hotel is set on the beach and I had wonderful views of the ocean from my large balcony, I went to sleep and woke up to the sound of lapping waves. The owners and staff in all areas couldn't have been more helpful or friendly. the rooms and communal areas are serviced and cleaned daily. Everyone knows your name and treats you as one of their family. I have made some very good friends who I am in touch with daily. I couldn't praise the hotel and staff highly enough. I will most definitely be returning to spend time with my extended Gambian family.

I had such a lovely time at this place everyone so so so friendly, so relaxing everyone called me by my name which was nice, fatou on reception was a star always happy with her Beautiful smile, and auntie was so nice to such a warm and delightful lady, and abes from the shop such a friendly guy and Abby from the Beauty salon, I was made to feel like I was family and on my last night auntie and Sharif put on a big seafood platter for me as a good bye , The taste was five star I love this place so much, I highly recommend and I will be going back very clean comfortable the pool cleaned every day room is cleaned every day, on my second day I've got the flu the staff went out and got me food drinks and fruit and went to the chemist for me for Lemsip what more could you ask for perfect,

I do not recommend! Poor quolity of the rooms - dirty and shabby, A lot of mold and it was stinking. In doors and windows there were wide leaks that insects entered without problems. During the day often problem with electricity - so the air condition didn't work and there were only warm drinks. Breakfasts always started with delay - after 8. I visited few hotels in Gambia but this one was the worst. The location of the hotel near nice beach was the only advenatge but it doesn't recompenasate the weaknesses.

The first bight when I arrived it all looked a bit dated and needed renovation. I got probably the only room with a small hole on the front door out of which at night many big insects appeared into my room. I was not planning to sleep there. I even wanted to change the hotel as I thought it would be symbolic for the rest of the hotel. However I got a new room and was satisfied even though the air-conditioning in this room was out of order since a long time. So I stayed. The hotel itself from the front is dull but it has a nice garden which also needs some TLC but they were busy on that. The garden immediately faces the Atlantic ocean and the beautiful beach of Bijilo. Do not forget to help the small local juice bars on the beach where local poorer people make their living from. Sometimes they see no customers at all for multiple days.... Very sad to see. The hotel mainly caters for Polish and Dutch guests. The Polish are all inclusive and sometimes can be rude to the staff but some of the staff especially the girls can also have an Attitude as well ! The longer I stayed the more I liked it there as I had no more problems with my room. I found the bed very comfortable. Breakfast was always the same and sometimes one needs to wait a bit before they come with new supplies but I liked it. How can you complain if you get a hotel, a pool, breakfast, flights from Europe in the high season in Gambia and transfers for only 700 Euro for two weeks in this exotic paradise ? So I wish them all good luck on the further renovations as since a few months it is under a new Gambian management. If you do not have a big problem with chemical looking juices in the morning, asking for toilet paper three times before getting or not getting it at all, pay extra for air or a fan, then you are at the right place. It is friendly to Gambian visitors or guides so there are always many Gambian people present which I liked. Location is good, quiet but with some restaurants around and only a 5 minute drive to the Senegambia strip for bars, clubs and other hotels and restaurants. Tip walk to the beach, go left instead of right and continue for an hour. You will first pass the former Sheraton hotel and then cross a very beautiful part of beach, totally overlooked by tourists but with beautiful Baobab trees and red earth. Then on your left is a cosy bar, called Smiles where very gentle locals wait for you to come and have a drink or eat delicious freshly made fish or chicken, go a little further and you come in the village of Ghana town, where Senegalese and Ghanian fishermen bring their catch at around 1 PM. Not friendly but very interesting to see and all by foot from the Golden Beach hotel.

We just spend two weeks in this hotel, it is not a bad hotel but there are defenetly better hotels of the same price range as the Golden Beach Hotel. The rooms are basic but fine since you wont be spending much time on your room anyway. The cleaning is perfect. Staff very friendly! During our stay there were problems with the electricity, it wasn't swiched on during the day but also very often in the evening or night it didn't work either! It is not a disaster that there is no electricity, but we experienced two times that sparks came out the switch-plugs and lights! That is a bit scary if it happens in the middle of the night. The whole impression of the hotel is that it is not finished yet. They expanded with another building of approximately 30 rooms and it seems like they had to open for the season although lot of things weren't where they need to be right now. Looks a bit sloppy!

After booking this hotel we had read some negative reviews about it but found that things were not nearly as bad as we expected. The rooms we had were very spacious, cleanliness was good and there was always plenty of hot water Air conditioning has to be paid for on arrival, but this is consistent with this area, and when we had a problem with the unit it was dealt with very promptly. The breakfast was more than adequate and eggs in any form would be cooked fresh for you. Service at lunchtime was very slow, we had to wait over an hour on the 2 occasions we ate at the hotel for a less than satisfactory sandwich. We had an evening meal which was served in a more timely manner and was delicious. The pool boys were fantastic and nothing was too much trouble for them. The sheets were old and bobbly (but clean) and the sunbeds were old and not comfortable but I wouldn't hesitate to visit this hotel again. And should there be any problems there is always Sue who will sort them out for you, she was wonderful, a real bonus to this hotel.

My husband booked us into this hotel, as a surprise, to celebrate my 70th. Birthday. We had been there 2 yrs. ago. What a change. The room had only 1 bed side table & lamp. The electric socket was hanging off the wall. Plaster had fallen from the ceiling. The toilet leaked and the bathroom door did not close. The dressing table drawer was falling to pieces and the occasional table was cracked. We took photos- showed the Thomas Cook rep. who arranged a meeting with the owner & manageress. We were moved to a different room. Poor layout! Wardrobe in front of sockets, TV aerial hanging off the wall. TV didn't work anyway! Lots of complaints to the rep. They gave us no notice of demolition work of the gift shop which cast a dust cloud over the pool. One guest stayed in her room due to her asthma. The pool loungers could not be used. Breakfast was minuscule with items running out before the end of the breakfast time and not replaced. Frequently had to ask for items. Our one and only dinner in the hotel found us waiting 3/4 hr for a bowl of soup and the same time for our main course. Pity as the food really was nice WHEN it arrived! The staff had to send out to the local store for a bottle of wine as none in the bar. Lunch time and the pool bar caused us to wait again- 3/4 hr. for a burger! The owner has apparently received a financial deal from his bankers but all we and several other guests could say was he should get the present building right before he launches into this grandiose scheme of his! None of us will be going there again!

Top staff, top food, top service and very safe, all in all a top hotel for the price, would stay again, BRAVO.

Quite far from Banjul ferry at the end of Senegambia High road. Nice staff but no connexion (equipment out of order !) and impossible to get a remote control for the TV set despite 3 times claim. Old age Hôtel quite expensive comparing the offers around

When traveling to Gambia you should not expect high standards. The country is poor. This hotel was nice and the AC worked great which was the most important thing for me. There was not a lot of people traffic and easy access to the beach. Easy access to catch local taxis to Senegambia.