Date of review:1 Mar 2011
We returned from our first holiday to The Gambia in March 2011, staying at the Sheraton Brufut Heights.
The Hotel was ideally situated for us away from the hussle of
the main towns, but close enough for a taxi ride to all the tourist destinations. Some other guests on "all inclusive" seemed to just stay in the hotel complex soaking up the sun, but this is a shame when there is so much of the real Gambia to see, we found a wonderful taxi driver called Sainey based at the Hotel who was very reliable, honest and looked after us like a real friend. His charges were always shown to us from the official chart and he took us where we wanted to go like a tour guide at no extra cost.
The food at the hotel was wonderful, and the staff were great, a few people did moan about the choices on the buffet, but we thought there was pleanty to choose from, and after seeing the real world outside the hotel could not even think of complaining about our five star treatment!
We already have a longing to return and see the Gambian friends we have made, and to visit more of the schools and rural areas, perhaps to some this may seem strange but it was a holiday experience with a difference meeting people with very little by our standards and yet so much more in other ways!
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Date of review:1 Mar 2011
My wife and I went to Gambia in March 2011. We spent 7 nights at the Sheraton on a B&B basis.
The holiday was just what we wanted, a nice relaxing holiday in the sun
. The accommodation was superb and staff were very friendly and helpful. My only problem with the hotel was location as we aimed to try and eat out in the evenings and try local places, unfortunately Brufut is a very residential area with little in the way of restaurants and bars. This was partly poor pror planning on our part. The hotel did however provide a complimentary taxi service to Senegambia where it was possible to eat out but this still involves arranging a taxi back yourself.
The local people were extremely friendly and fun to talk to. If you get chance to go into local villages or schools it can be a very humbling experience and leave ou appreciating how fortunate we are her in the UK. Charity is very welcome and appreciated.
We werent troubled by mosquitoes at the time of year we went. The sun was scorching, especially when you move away from the atlantic breeze on the coast so top up on sun cream.
I would definately reccommend this holiday to others.
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Date of review:1 Mar 2011
Excellent accommodation, good food in this all inclusive resort. Nice rooms with good views and well kept.
The only reason for noy going back again with Thomas Cook
is the airline! The seats are the most uncomfortable airplanes seats I ever experience in over 40 years of travelling all over the world!
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Date of review:1 Mar 2011
We've been to the Gambia a couple of times in the past and loved the people and pace of life but didn't enjoy Banjul belly so haven't returned for a while. When we w
ere looking for sunshine at this time of the year, in a place without the recent troubles/riots, the Gambia came into the picture.;
We found out we could now fly from Birmingham rather than Gatwick and also saw that the Sheraton group had opened a resort there.
So glad we tried it. The place was great, people still lovely, no problem with banjul belly but lots of lovely food, and to complete the relaxation we fell in love with the spa. Relaxation upon relaxation. That's my idea of a holiday, lying alongside the jet pool, looking down on the Atlantic, waiting to go for a hot stone massage. Does life get better than this?
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Date of review:1 Mar 2011
gambia was fabulous. the people were great. we visited the croc farm, the monkey park, senegal nature reserve and a local village. we also visited the main fishing v
illage tengai (i think) when the fish was coming in at the end of the day, brilliant. it was slightly blighted by the sheraton being classed as 5 star and paying 5 star prices to stay there. i have stopped in far superior 4 stars. the food was very nice but the same every day. the only entertainment was groups of dancers/musicians coming in for an hour every few days about 6pm. they expected tips so the hotel didnt provide any other entertainment. there is no a la carte restaurant. you can pay for a l carte in the buffet restaurant and get 25% off the bill, what is that all about? there is only one main bar in the whole complex which gets very busy. it is easier to go to the bar yourself as the staff are quite lazy who wait the tables. mariama, one waitress, was lovely but never seemed to do a lot.
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Date of review:1 Feb 2011
Great location with private beach and no hassle from bumsters. Good comfortable room, (although no fridge), great staff and good, varied food, but not 5* or 4*+ but
a good 4* experience. Hotel was fully booked so shortage of sunbeds and umbrellas - ok if you tipped a towel boy to reserve one for you. Queues at dinner at indoor and outdoor restaurants, and as there is nowhere to sit with a drink, you have to queue, maybe for 15-20 minutes. Staff worked very hard but had to clear and reset tables as well as serve drinks to guests, poorly managed. Some great music from local bands before and during dinner - why don't they publicise them more? - but nothing much after dinner. If you like football this is the hotel for you as it is shown at every possible occasion in both bars,(great for the waiters!), often competing against piped music and live music from one of the bands, but no manager around to organise events sensibly. We felt that the great work of the staff was spoiled by poor management and organisation and things could have been improved by a bit of investment and direction. The hotel's response to my Trip Advisor comment about not seeing any management on site was that they were there, but they were noticeable by their absence when there were no umbrellas/sunbeds, queues at mealtimes, long wait for drinks at mealtimes or when food ran out in the buffet. We didn't meet any guests who had met senior management, but every moring the animation team asked if we had any complaints, which they documented. We were pleased that we did the 4x4 trip to the villages and the Roots Experience as it gave us some insight into the country. Many of the hotel staff will offer to take you on excursions to boost their low wages. All in all a very enjoyable holiday, with a few minor irritations but nothing to spoil our 2 weeks in Gambia.
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Date of review:1 Jan 2011
Hotel is very nicely situated on the lovely beach for the hotel residents only. Staff at the Sheraton were very friendly and helpful to the guest's staying at the ho
tel.
We were on the all inclusive package and can say that the food was really good something
different every night to eat about a third of the food was repetative but you get that at most hotels on an all inclusive package, never understood why ice cream was free during day time meals yet chargeable at the evening meal?
Spa and massage was excellent, we both had 2 body massages and they were well worth the money, just remember the price that is in the brochure has to have tax added to it when you pay at the end of your massage which is not mentioned in the brochure.
All in all we had a great time and would go back the the Sheraton in the Gambia ( and the weather is fantastic.
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Date of review:1 Jan 2011
Great break , beach and hotel fantastic. Staff very helpful
Date of review:1 Nov 2010
Sold as a 5* type holiday and while it has a lovely beach the hotel in terms of service was more 2* and room quality more 3*. The hotel management were clueless. The
majoirty of the food was not available on the menu and when you did order it took an hour and a half to get a bowl of pasta and tomato sauce. The bar staff did not know how to go about taking food orders for lunch. As a veggie I had to have the same thing for lunch everyday due to lack of choice. The management accused you of stealing towels if you took the towels from one pool to the other, despite the fact the towels were thread bear and stained! The room required the electrics to be sorted, the door to be refitted so we could close the door, the door lock replaced. We had to ask for pillow cases as they need not put them on as a matter of course, we frequently did not get replacement bath towels. I don't think the sheets were changed at all. I could go on but I think you get the picture. Read trip advisor for more tales.
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Date of review:1 Nov 2010
started our 1 week hols for Noveber 2010, with an generic letter from thomas cook stating that there was NO entertainment on any thomas cook flights under 7 hours, i
f we had been told that before we had paid in full, we may have had freedom of choice with 2 other carriers (which do)!.
This is not our first time to gambia which has a great deal to offer, the winter sunseeker , with an variaty of hotels and accomedation.
the Sheriton hotel which we stayed for our week was a pefect quite location , only 5 minutes for the local high street etc....(taxi) or free shuttle.
thomas cooks rep and general customer service in gambia is and was exellent.
SADLY we will never be traveling with thomas cook again due to the way in which , information (entertainment) was not implyed or disscussed at the paypoint when booking. its take your money then tell you the bad news LATER/ after 6 hours reading an out of date inflight mag /dont let them tell you that you can take dvd or portable devices , some of which (as stated in there own gambia information pack) are not allowed into the country.you can hire a psp on board/ Ryan air ?
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Date of review:1 Apr 2009
Overall this trip was very good, I have stayed in a number of 5 star resorts and this was one of them. The hotel it's self has a gorgeous layout, I travelled with my
mum and we were upgraded as soon as we got there (this was because it was my 19th birthday during the stay). Our room was situated right on the beach front with exquisite views over the sea. The room was of excellent standard, fresh towels every day, sheets laundered every day if you required. Large bathroom, plenty of cupboard space, plus huge television with internet access. At night there was one main restaurant where a buffet was set out with wide range of food choice - certain nights would be themed...italian, indian etc. A la carte menu was available where there standard of food was much higher. The downside, you have to wait quite a while for your food so my advice would be to get there early in order to get the best on offer! Also at lunch be prepared to wait for your lunch as staff do take their time with your order. Although staff were very friendly and accomodating, always willing to help or send someone along to the room within minutes if something was the matter. Trips on offer by thomas cook were excellent, we went on a trip to see James Island and also a bar crawl round the local pubs and clubs which was excellent. We also went on safari to senegal which took a full day (we left at 6am) but was well worth it. Would definately recommend doing the trips as they are a must. The only drawback of the holiday was that there was not a private beach, locals were constantly coming along trying to sell/annoy/pester the guests...fair enough there is a lot of poverty and they are only looking for work but bomsters you must look out for. (the unemployed youth). This resulted in all of the guests sitting far back from the beach otherwise being faced with being constantly harrased. The hotel do have security along the beach to patrol the area and tackle any problems however one has to be careful as many are a little 'over friendly!!'
This holiday would suit families with older children and a male presence is definately a good thing as it was just me and my mum and not so sure we would have had so much hassle if there had been a man accompanying us!!
Thomas Cook are by far the best holiday company to travel with as they are attentive to your every need and do their very best to ensure you enjoy your stay. We have booked with them every year for as long as i can remember and have booked again since our last trip in April. This time however we are going to Sharm el Sheikh for Christmas - The Ritz so will keep you posted on that one!!
Hope this helps!
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