Great time had at the Atlantic

We have just returned from staying a week at the Atlantic Hotel. Very enjoyable, rooms very clean and comfortable, Hotel staff very helpful and friendly, buffet food excellent with local produce but would have liked Gambian night i.e. Chicken Yassa or Domodah etc. Hotel guides very friendly and overall helpful. Definitley suggest you take one with you especially into Banjul/Albert Market. Albert Market is not the place to buy your souvenirs. An experience to visit though. For wood try Brikama wood carving factory. 1/3 price of Albert Market's starting prices!

Drinks are expensive but it is a 4 star hotel.

Definitely go and meet Lamin (Birdman) in the Garden - very knowledgable! The other recommendation would be to have a meal at Lamin Lodge - if you have time, taxi in then crusie back to Denton Bridge where your taxi will meet you.

Roots and 4x4 trips definitely worth doing.

Brilliant

Stayed at the hotel in April 2005. Very clean. Food good selection, might not suit younger children. Expensive food and drinksas there is no competition. Beach lots of space. Locals very friendly. Hotel Tour Guides excellent especially

Seedy Kinteh. Air Con works only when key in lock cannnot leave it running while your out.

Just what we needed....

We booked this holiday about 3 months before travelling. We wanted a relaxing, hot break, where we could sit by the pool and completley do nothing. We got exactly this!!

Upon arriving into Banjul and after dropping some other visitors to their hotels, we must admit we were slightly concerned with the standards of accomodation we were seeing!! Thankfully, arriving into the Corinthia Atlantic hotel we were completley reassured by the welcome and first impressions!!

The staff at the hotel were very friendly and would do anything for you (including marriage!), all they ask for in return is a small tip! Don't be put off by this, they will happily walk away with a polite "No Thanks".

The food was always fresh and well prepared and presented. There was always plenty of choice and constant chaging selection. However, do not expect to experience a lot of local Gambian cuisine - it is all well known food aimed at the British pallet!

The hotel itself was incredibly clean and had all the facilities you would need - swimming pool, bars, restauarnt, wine bar etc. The rooms were fully equipped and air conditioned. The hotel was also sitauted on a very clean beach.

Overall we had a fantastic time in Gambia and at this hotel. We met lots of people who had returned year after year not only to Gambia but to this particular hotel. It has apprently undergone a major refurbishment last year which has ment it's increase to a 4 star hotel - it clearly shows and we would recommend.

Nothing but praise!

I have stayed in this hotel on several occasions over the years and have always found the staff and services to be excellent, I'm just in the process of booking again for April and looking forward to being able to sit on the newly reclaimed beach again!!

Fantastic holiday

First visited for Xmas 2003 and New Year 2004, best holiday in a long time, spent Xmas day jet sking with Santa. Hotel and staff brilliant. Food excellent. Made some good friends with the Gambians felt very safe. Children throughly enjoyed the relaxed surroundings. When you first arrive it is a culture shock but the people are friendly and always happy. We were so taken with the country my husband and I returned at Easter. We visited again for New Year 2004 and enjoyed it just as much. We met up with people that had been there the previous year, it would appear that people return year after year. We have just rebooked for three weeks over Xmas and New Year this year. The locals remember you year after year and they do not hassle you, we have kept in touch with several of them. Fantastic place to visit.

Trapped

The Corinthia Atlantic is a super hotel in a direct beach location with friendly helpful staff and excellent amenities within the complex. The food is great and there`s a wide choice to suit everyone. BUT - This is not just my opinion but a general concensus voiced by most visitors which the management should surely look into and that is that the bar and beach restaurant facilities have no competition from outside the hotel due owing to its remote location. The hotel is isolated within 2 minutes walk from the town of Banjul and as there are no worthwhile bars or eating places in Banjul it means that a taxi costing £10.00 plus tips is required to go to where there is a little more life just down the coast at Kololi to dine out. Also, a walk down the road requires the assistance of a hotel guide plus tips to head off the inevitable hangers on (bumsters). Subsequently the hotel are able to charge maximum prices for soft and alcoholic drinks which cost less than half the price elsewhere. They are equivalnt to UK prices. We would certainly holiday in The Gambia again but not at the Corinthia.

Isolated

The hotel is very nice. The staff are always helpful and pleasant. Good food. But the price they charge for drinks and snacks is very expensive compared to Hotels at/near Kotu Beach and senegambia. There are no other bars or restaurants in the vicinity so you are stuck in the Hotel unless you get a taxi. You cannot walk out of the Hotel entrance without being accosted by the Bumsters who refuse to go away no matter what you say to them so don't expect to be able to have any nice romantic strolls along the beach you'll be joined by these pests like it or not.

Excellent Holiday

Arrived at Hotel on 31st Dec, delighted to hear traditional music being played as you arrived by staff in very colourful traditional outfits, handed a fruit drink, although the reception was busy with the arrivals as about 5 parties departed from our coach the staff were very efficient & you had the keys to your room in no time. Porter took you along to your room with the luggage & advised you how to operate air conditioning, tv & fridge. The room was a good size & had plenty of wardrope & drawer space. Bathroom had a bath & an excellent shower. Clean towels & sheets changed daily.

Relaxed before heading to the Gala Dinner & enjoyed the entertainment afterwards, fireworks display on the beach directly after 12pm was a surprise.

Also ate in the a la carte resturant twice as an upgrade to this only costs an additional £10.00 per person.

Took in two trips during our week, Classic Cruise & the Truck Safari, both very enjoyable, especially as we had to rise early at 7am for the departure of the truck safari at 8am.

Also enjoyed beauty treatments for a fraction of the price you would pay in the UK & all were excellent.

We enjoyed it that much that after our arrival home at the week-end we have re-booked for this New Year & will look forward to the sunshine, the pampering I can have in the beauty room & meeting up with the friendly staff who made you feel very welcome & did their utmost to ensure you had such an excellent time you would want to return to their country.

If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me.

Lovely

went to the corintha on new years eve 2004 , arrived at 4.30 in the afternoon to music in rececption and a lovely drink, very quick check in and then shown to room. we had a interconnecting room for the children brill. the rooms were kept well clean and were nice ,we were at the bottom with balcony facing pool lovely view. cant fault the food always lovely , the gala dinner was great, entertainment was good we enjoyed the dancing and the bob marly songs. we had no problems getting sunloungers in the morning the staff came over ang gave you the cover to sit on. the pool was on the small size but never got full ,jump in at the deep end not as cold i found. the beach was nice sea looked great but did not go in as we were told it had a bit of a strong current . the staff were all very friendly and helpful and all spoke good english. all in all we really enjoyed our stay and would go back. any questions please get in touch.

Very eye opening

The hotel was very modern and well kept. The staff were very helpful and friendly and all spoke good english. Although the pool was small, the beach was only inches away.

The food was excellent and catered for all varieties, and you could pay a little extra to eat a la carte, altough we didn't bother as the buffet was sufficient enough.

We also paid for two trips with our hotel which were the South Gambia Adventure and Makasutu Magic which were both fantastic and eye-opening experiences. We would definately reccomend these to anyone.

The only problems with this holiday was that we were restricted to the complex unless you paid for a guide provided by the hotel to take you out around the city. Again very interesting to see how the locals live. However, do not go out alone at night.

Another tip for the holiday is to take goodies for the local children i.e pens, pencils and sweets. They are very much appreciated.