Very dissatisfied with the service me and my friends received at Tamala lodge on the Sunday brunch. The place is set up for tourists (although is open to the general public) and disrespectful with Gambians. We had to leave because one of us did not want to use a “common” swimming costume for religion reasons. Discriminatory attitudes towards local people are unacceptable. 97% of the population in the Gambia is muslim, and even if it was lower, swimming policies should be flexible to welcome everyone, no matter their colour, race or religion. Furthermore when we asked for a complaint form we were given a blank paper…

My Tamala experience was underwhelming..upon checking in I was barely greeted by the staff, then went into the room to no AC! The room was extremely hot. Had to call down to the lobby about 4 times before they sent someone in to fix it after 1 & 1/2 hours. Secondly the rooms were not the tidiest. Stained pillow Cases and the toilet seat had a brown stain, no matter how many times I cleaned it , it did not come off .. how hard can it be to replace a toilet seat ?? The breakfast buffet was NOT A BUFFET. everyday was the same 5 options. (Oatmeal, potatoes, baked beans, eggs and fruit ) EVERY SINGLE DAY. No variety. Juices were warm too. Lastly , We booked this hotel to celebrate my birthday, I booked a photographer to come and take pictures of me & they denied him entry into my room stating that photographers aren’t welcomed to the property, when I asked the reason, the only answer they had was that it was their company policy with no explanation as to why !!! So I wasted my money booking a photographer for no reason and they did not have this policy anywhere on their site.. They treat their non Gambian / African clientele way better than their Gambian ones. I’m very disappointed in their customer service and will not be coming back. I expected more. Staff need adequate training and rooms need to be maintained.

This hotel is a disappointment, I made a reservation for pool view room. When I got to the hotel with my husband they informed us that the room we made a reservation for isn’t available and that they would “upgrade” us to a seaview room. We got in the room there was a water leakage under the ac, mosquitoes everywhere, no shower gel or soap in the bathroom, the beach sand was dirty and on top of it absolutely no privacy. There was literally a security guard sitting in front of our room that could see and hear everything we do. The receptionist in charge that night told us he knows we don’t like the room and he would switch us rooms in the morning. I went back in the morning and he wasn’t there and didn’t inform the people in charge, I had to explain all over again to the manager. He showed us other rooms to see if we would like to switch there but it was even worse, rooms that need to be painted or has issues here and there and he apologized and explained that it was because of that time of the season. Honestly, having been to so many hotels before I know enough to say that this hotel is not maintained well at all. The concept is nice but customer service zero. We ended up keeping the room and leaving the next day. I honestly will never refer this hotel to nobody.

Excellent resort, friendly staff, good food, clean pools and plenty of seating. The rooms are nice as well with good showers and air conditioning. Great breakfast buffet each morning (do not bother doing the all inclusive, you can order whatever you want for cheaper). Stayed for 3 nights and enjoyed each one. Only downsides are potentially the abundance of mosquitoes in the rooms. I would advise to bring bug spray.

Treat your staff like royalty, dignity and respect, you can't expect good service for low pay, not good conditions, benefits..Besides you must be able to pay for their uniforms..and change your management in the kitchen..You make big money on tourist and be cheap to your staff..You get what you give..Stop being greedy..

Stayed here due to a great room rate found on a booking website, otherwise, the hotel is normally beyond my budget. Highlight The GM, Victor, is a positive attribute to the hotel - very friendly, attentive and always available to help out a. Each night, he arranged specially cooked Indian meals for me. His two Indian chefs, Shankar and Bhagwan, provided very tasty food and would take special requests. Positives. 1. Wonderful and appealing hotel layout with good size rooms. 2. Rooms clean and bed very comfortable. 3. Staff service and attitude good - I asked for a laptop table and chair to work on - they provided one immediately. 4. Food very good - breakfast offering had a decent variety and the few items ordered off of the a la carte, were tasty. Negative 1. Noise....a couple of nights they had a live band. The noise level was really bad to the point it sounded like the band were in my room. The hotel should understand not every guests wants to be hammered with 100db of sound. 2. Room décor could be improved a bit - the ceiling in my bathroom had leaked and there were large black water stains. This is a minor item, however, given they are promoting themselves as a high class hotel, it's worth highlighting. If they could address the noise issue and I can get a decent rate again, I would definitely want to stay.

Really good value for money out of the season. Great, modern, big Rooms, wifi working well, friendly staff. Even if you're not staying here it's worth coming for dinner as pricing is the same as on the strip off the beach but the quality and cleanliness of the restaurant much higher. We would certainly come back

Tamala is perhaps one of the best beach front hotels with entertainment programs lined up for tourists in the smiling coast of The Gambia. There are musical concerts, pool earobics, individual artistic performances. The food is great and don't miss the breakfast which is perhaps the best in The Gambia. The rooms when you enter for the first time may not look comfortable especially when you have the garden view but after a day you would find comfort. In any case you did not come Tamala be holes up in your room when the pool is there and the sandy beach is so inviting and the bar and restaurant provide a lot fun. Be warned though the road to Tamala is dusty and you may need some mosquito repellents if you are staying outdoors in the night

One of the best hotels in Gambia if not the best now. Their services are great with with lively environments. Sundays are exceptional great experience with their live band and lively entertainment and pool services. Highly recommended if you want to experience joy and happiness as well as relaxation. Giving u a great view of the sea and nature.

Stayed Dec 2021 for a week. Disgustingly bad, comically inept, dirty, cockroaches, broken furniture, peeling paint, bartender has NO IDEA how to make cocktails (warm orange juice with alcohol was offered as a "cocktail"), RACIST STAFF - we are interracial couple and wife had been subjected to "I don't want to serve *them*" by the waiter on duty on the MORNING OF THE FIRST DAY OF STAY. Had my room upgraded, twice, it was still awful, safe wasn't working, water would go off for half an hour randomly, sometimes when I was showering. Food choice was abysmal, all buffet items are kept warm BY DIRECT FLAME, instead of steam bath. By the end of 3 hour meal all items are dry, tasteless and awful like old leather, regardless of what the item had been originally (meat, fish, pasta, doesn't matter). Super close to beach and live band twice in a week were amazing. One gentleman waiter was amazing, really knew what he was doing and made an awesome tasting cocktail, after I complained about how his colleague bartender had been totally inept. Rest of the staff should seek employment outside of service industry.

Absolutely loved my stay here. Staff were great and friendly. Coming from London where everything is fast paced. It can seem like service is slow. But they are very attentive. Breakfast was included in my stay and was yummy and had a good selection of foods to choose from. The beach bar and restaurant had a great selection of foods and was tasty. I would recommend staying here. I would definitely come back here.

Nice location and hôtel...but i was there (_from Netherlands) on à week-end ...the hotel ..Pool..restaurant were full of kids ..and babies....weird for an adult only place !!!!!!

Came for my husband's 50th birthday from the US. First, the positives: 1. Hotel is beautiful from the exterior. The landscaping is very nice. 2. Employees are amazing! ALL OF THEM! They went out our of their way to ensure we were having a great time. 3. Spa services were very nice. Now my recommendations for improvement: 1. Do not advertise this hotel as adults only. It is not. There were kids here daily. 2. Do not advertise this hotel as all-inclusive. One drink (soda or water only) with each meal is not what travelers envision when you say all-inclusive. All inclusive means you can eat anywhere on the resort and all drinks/spirits are included and not limited in quantity. 3. It needs to be advertised on your website somewhere that this resort is open to the public use for a fee. As someone who paid a large amount of money to be here, I was not expecting locals to have access to what should have been my private swim-up pool facing the ocean. I would not have selected this resort had I been privileged to that information. 4. The rooms need updating. There was no soap dish or shelf to put our shower items on so we had to keep them on the shower floor. The shelf in the closet and the mini-fridge were leaning so bad. Nothing was level. They were improperly installed. The toilet seat in the bathroom was disgusting. It was brown! I tried cleaning it with my clorox wipes but nothing would remove the stains. Replace those, that is absolutely gross. 5. Food on buffet and brunch always cold and either over or under cooked. What a shame. Food was also very limited (no variety/same daily) and overpriced for what was offered. We ended up eating out a lot. 6. Get some entertainment. Having the same band come in and play the same set is ridiculous. We had a joke between us that we knew what song was coming up next by the 3rd or 4th day. 7. Feed ALL the cats, not just Tamala so they are not begging/harassing your paid guests for food we are having to pay extra for. One jumped on my husband's back one night trying to get the food from his hand. 8. Make sure parties at the resort end at a reasonable hour. A large group threw themselves a party on the beach and there was no plan to stop it until I said something at 2:30 am. The music and people were too loud and they had a fire burning which you could smell in the rooms. Parties should end at 12 am at the latest. Though I had a wonderful time in The Gambia, I will never stay here again because it is falsely represented as an all adult all inclusive resort, which it is not. I definitely do not fell I got my monies worth. I plan on contacting Expedia and letting them know so they can update the marketing of this hotel on their website. I did not voice my complaints while I was there as these issues are clearly known. How could management not know unless they are not doing their jobs as management. Also, for the owner, it is okay to speak to your guests. I spoke to him twice over the course of 2 days and he never said a word back.

Probably the most modern, beautiful hotel in the whole of Gambia. The modern design makes it standout from all the other hotels. The rooms are are the best and my favourite spot is the pool area. Nice spot to take pictures during the day. On the other side, breakfast at Tamala is the best. The vast varieties of different foods including local Gambian dishes makes it a unique experience. So far, its the only Sunprime hotel in The Gambia with the best of services and products for different types of customers. I would recommend Tamala to anyone to for breathtaking view, the luxury and the food coupled with a quality customer service.

If i have chance to give this hotel 0 star then I would have given it I had guests from UK, they were staying at other hotel so i ask them to check tamala hotel just in case if they come back to gambia again then they can stay there if they like it So as i enter the hotel, the receptionist denied me to go to bar and ask me to pay to use the bar as per there rule. But still i manage to use the bar after the permission of the receptionist. And note that I won’t be sitting at the bar without buying anything. So i order some chips to eat then some drinks and with that i was also trying to advertise the hotel to my guests so that next time they can stay there. Then later the receptionist came to us and told us that you cannot sit he, you have to take the bar pass. Really,,, bar pass for what So they wanted us to pay more. That the thing I will never go there again. But the hotel look amazing no doubt but what I encounter there today i feel bad for that

Stayed here for the last week of my stay in Gambia. We were met at reception and given complimentary non alcohilic drinks, which were refreshing and delicious. Our luggage was taken to our room by a staff member who was welcoming & friendly. We had a swim up room which smelt amazing. The room was lovely and clean. The only things that let the room down was the lack of a hair dryer, the show gel wasn't topped up to the point we ran out and had to ask for the bottle to be re-filled. The handheld shower was poor as the water came out of everywhere except the holes it's meant to come from, but there is a overhead rain shower which was working fine, not good if you don't want to get your hair wet though. There was a fridge in the room. However, no milk was provided, and they didn't sell any in the on-site mini market. There was tea and coffee but no coffee creamer. If you like milk with your hot drinks you need to bring some with you. The pool was cleaned every morning. Amazing beach front views with loungers and a sofa, perfect for lazy afternoons. The evening entertainment was a pleasant surprise. During our stay they were filming a promotional video in the hotel, which started at 7.30am, selecting your breakfast with a bright light shining in your face and being followed by a camera is not what I was expecting and made me feel uncomfortable. The breakfast selection that day was amazing, unlike the previous & following days, which was quite basic and limited. The staff when the boss wasn't present were slack and neglected to replenish cutlery and crockery & food, which made it kind of difficult to eat. Evening buffet were nice but quite limited, and again, the film crew were out shining that light in my eyes, which by now was really annoying. It seemed the filming meant more to Tamala than the comfort of paying guests. Overall, we had a pleasant stay, just a little more attention to detail is needed.

The hotel itself and the staff is fantastic and well worth the money. Food is different every day and plentyful. Don't waste your money in the shop on water as the housekeeping staff will keep your fridge well stocked. The Hotel is very clean, and nothing is too much bother. The staff insist on helping you and say "it's your holiday, relax". They even turn down the nets around your bed at night and spray mosquito repellent around your room while your out at tea. Don't be affriad to go on excursions, your tour guide will deal with the bumsters, just keep an open mind! If your being perstered, a firm but polite "no thank you" is generally enough. If you can bring clothes/shoes to leave at the resort and they will share it out with the needy.

This hotel is very nice. Great spa. Upgraded to a swim up room. Had hookah pool side. Restaurant food is good and well priced. Would definitely stay again, the experience made Gambia for me

I loved the concept and design of the resort, but sadly, for me. It was just average. The room was quite musty and in need of a revamp of sorts. Breakfast was good.

This place gets worse every time I visit. The first time I visited in July 2022, I payed cash upfront for two weeks in the best rooms available(private pool ocean view)The first room my husband and I were shown was actually dirty and not cleaned prior ..the second room was full of mosquitos and had a horrid smell. Third room was okay so we stayed in it only to find out the Ac was broken. We complained several times for over a week( they tried to accommodate with other equivalent rooms but turns out all the Acs were blowing hot air and they didn’t communicate anything to management)we pretty much had to throw a tantrum and demand them to speak to management. They finally had ALL of the ACs replaced in all the premium rooms on our second to last day of our stay. (They we’re ALL OLD AND BROKEN) It’s not fair to pay for premium rooms and service and they can’t ensure that things work properly. You can thank me and my husband if you stayed in those rooms after July 2022. And the rooms are very basic only the outside gardens and pool and decor is pretty. Most of the workers are humble and kind.(as they should be of course) but last night I visited for dinner service. We waited over an hour for some spaghetti and fillet steak..we actually left because it was taking so long and our server was too busy trying to accommodate the white Europeans instead of making sure our food went out on time.(Gambia is a sex tourism destination and unfortunately many of the men and woman hope to meet white Europeans for money and trips) We ordered water. It was 2 dollars even though water should be free at restaurants (at least it is in USA) our server literally harassed us to our car and tried to lay hands on my husband!! I took a video as proof. So Tamala hires servers who are willing to fist fight over $1.50 after giving bad food service. You would of thought he took the water from his own home fridge. Really crazy. Will NEVER EVER spend another dime at Tamala. We paid him for the water and didn’t bother getting the change, money is never the issue just the principle.

The room, larger than most and a very comfortable bed. On arrival rubbish left in planter, dirty patio windows cushion cover with out cushion and only 4 coat hangers issued! Shower drain overflowed twice due to drainage and sewage problems. The sewage problem was for several days. The food; lunch and dinner was mainly brown and no real desserts offered only cake, cake and more cake. Breakfast was fine although orange juice was not always available and the coffee machine was not working at the start of our holiday. There were two 'bar' areas both looked like they'd been put together using DIY kit and the bar staff were a little tetchy to say the least. However the restaurant, front desk and our permanent room girl were all very helpful, happy and polite. Sunbeds okay but with no mattresses and several days we were with a shortage of beach towels. As we were all inclusive we did not try the paid restaurant but were aware that a few people had not had a very good experience. Overall feel that the owner(s) and management need to get their act together.....need to be proactive not reactive and to keep saying sorry just doesn't cut it sometime.

We were in a room with a private pool facing the large pool. It's like in the photos. It is very good and clean, The hotel is nice. Sunbeds on the beach with very good security to leave your things and walk along the huge beach. Varied and good breakfast.The management of the hotel is a disaster, which makes the Service a disaster. First at the reception they told us that there were no rooms, and in booking there were all kinds. That Room Service left you towels for the bathroom, a miracle! You came to shower and they had removed the ones that were there and left no others. You called the reception and they arrived hours later, a disaster and several days. The restaurant is not very up there and it is expensive. It is far from Senegambia which is the busiest area. Outside the hotel, there is nothing interesting to walk to. Wifi ok.

Beerdrinkers beware! The biggest ripp off in The Gambia. They offer a pint (0,56l) Heineken draft beer for D400 ( €5,90) which is already on the expensive side in Gambia. But received only a small glas of 0,25l… I thought that a mistake was made by the staff, but they confirmed that all is correct. Even the restaurant manager who was watching the scene was nodding his confirmation. That makes it the most expensive beer in my live with a price tag of € 23,60 per litre.

Had a very enjoyable stay at Tamala. We had a swim up room which was lovely, no issues with the room. Lunch and Dinner were great, nice variety of meals made with, majority of which were tasty. We want to thank a few people that made our stay extra enjoyable… Fatou, Madeline and JJ. One area which I think should be improved on (but is a minor detail) is when there are guests staying in the swim up rooms, if the waiters/waitresses could accommodate us in terms of getting drinks as the pool guests were being looked after but we were often forgotten about and kept dry! Other than that, had a very enjoyable stay at Tamala and would definitely visit again.

Wonderful housekeeping staff. Wonderful waiters. Splendid location. Loved it. Vip for New Year's Eve was not it at all. The food was cold and we didn't have choices. And we never got dessert. But overall 95% . Next time we will just stick to buffet.

Fantastic stay at this hotel. The staff went over and above to accommodate our requirements. Thanks to everyone from Yvette and Lilian, but a special thanks to: Victor, Suleman, Madeleine, Kebba, Fatou. We went out by ourselves several times on excursions, visits, shopping, and felt safe at all times. Gambian people very friendly and welcoming.

TRAGIC SERVICE AT THE TAMALA BEACH HOTEL IN GAMBIA 23. 12. 2022 We would like to share our opinion on how we were greeted by the Tamala Beach Hotel in The Gambia the day before Christmas Eve. This is a small thing, but when you are after a long journey it is quite unpleasant. We were given a faulty room card. After I asked for a second katta it turned out that I would not get a second card today. Another very unpleasant surprise was that despite the travel agency's assurance that we would get two separate beds we were given one bed. After lengthy interventions, the gentleman from the staff no longer wanted to talk to me and ran off to other guests. I got the impression that he just wanted to get rid of us. After a while, an old, tragic-looking bed was brought to us, on which it was simply unsafe to sleep. I asked for this bed to be replaced. The hotel staff brought us another bed, after which the gentleman from the staff himself stated that the bed was cracked and unsafe. Another third bed turned out to be Ok. On arrival we still wanted to use the bar. Despite assurances from reception we were refused after 11pm to prepare a drink! It was a few minutes after 11 p.m. The reception staff assured us that we were all inclusive and that the bar was open until midnight. Just to add, near the friends room smells of carrion. We advise everyone against staying at this hotel!!!

Not worth the money! Avoid!! I decided to stay here, Balafon and an AirBnB. The Sunprime Tamala was awful, so bad that I decided to get a refund on the other nights and stay elsewhere. 1) The room was in VERY poor condition. Just a few minutes after checking into the room, the cleaner came in to clean the room… This should’ve been done before issuing me the room. Do not get me started on the condition of the toilet! The handle was broken and toilet seat an unwelcoming colour. It was really bad. 2) The mosquito net had holes in them. There were bugs in the bed due to the holes in the net. 3) Pool light was broken. The pool did not light up where I was staying, so at night it was very dark also the pool was littered with bugs. 4) All inclusive was just a buffet with below standard food. The alcohol was not the same as the other bar and watered down. The cocktail selection was as poor. 5) The staff misled people and said that the hotel is run by Gambians, it’s not. It is not even black owned. Personally, I don’t care and it’s the least of the things I care about but some people do. Some like to know that money from these hotels support the surrounding communities. However, I did see the part owner and he was a lovely guy very easy to talk to and gave a nice vibe. This is my honest opinion I really wished I liked it and I can see the surface level ‘picture’ social media appeal but not worth it. Listen to this review please save your money. £200 a night I would’ve rather used that money to fly back home than spend another night there.

Perfect hotel in all aspects. E.g.: two in-room problems were solved within 15 minutes without any hassle. Food is great, staff is extremely friendly. Not any doubt in recommending this location!

Beautiful beach side hotel, cozy environment, very spacious rooms that is a mix of cosmopolitan and African

Do not stay!!! We had a horrible experience with Tamala. Electricity problems and stolen property. First, the electricity was going on and off on our last night. Second and most disheartening, we mistakenly left our tablet on the bed in our room when we checked out and it was never found, we are certain that we left it there. Someone from the staff clearly took the tablet and switched it off right away, hence untraceable with our tracker. Mind you, we called several times/days and they told us that housekeeping did not find anything and that was it - no explanation or accountability; We emailed and no response. We are very disappointed given we paid $400 at this hotel (very expensive for a Gambian hotel) and our property was stolen. Be mindful.

Apart from staff quarrels without regards for customer presence. This place has great potential to be one of the best in Gambia. The restaurant manager (from Helsinki) is vastly experience with exceptional customer service. Not all the food in the menu may be available but you can trust the staff to choose for you.

We all have our own experiences, the hotel dose its best to please their clients. Beautiful hotel and friendly staffs! Especially the receptionists

We didn’t stay here, rather came here for lunch and a change of scenery. This place, really beautiful, stunning pools, lovely gardens, and it is right on the beach. This is most definitely a tourist hub, lots of foreign visitors and there are tour guides all around, and they have currency exchange at the front desk. There is a cute boutique store and a small market in the resort. The food here was okay, casual, not gourmet (although it was lunch, I don’t know what the dinner is like). We took a walk along the beach and were hassled quite a bit by vendors, so quickly came back to the resort. The staff were very friendly and the service was good.