Coco Ocean Resort & Spa

One of the best hotels we've stayed in anywhere in the world. Okay, it's not 5* but we are talking about a third-world country. One of the bars has disappeared, as has the gym, but all the other facilities are as advertised. The junior suite we had was comfortable, well-appointed, immaculately maintained, and conveniently located. The hot water was a bit temperamental but when you learned to make a cup of tea whilst waiting for it run warm it was okay! The trip was made by the fabulous, caring staff. My wife had a fall (not at the hotel) and dislocated her shoulder; every day for the rest of the holiday more than one member of staff asked after her welfare and genuinely cared.

Excellent choice to base yourself in Gambia. We stayed here for 5 days and had a very comfortable stay: very nice expansive grounds, quiet relaxation at the beach, excellent restaurants (Thai!) and a very nice sunset deck at the bar to watch the hustle and bustle at the beach go by. The room was very clean and spotless thanks to excellent staff. Friendly staff all over the place. Agreed, the place is a little worn out but this is what you can expect in such a harsh climate. Recommended.

We moved to this hotel after staying at another one which was shocking. I really liked this hotel a lot- yes it is a little tired, but the grounds were lovely, the restaurant service was great and the food in the Thai restaurant was beyond delicious. I would return.

Wonderful hotel. Comfortable room, three excellent restaurants, and a well-trained attentive and friendly staff. We stayed for seven nights, and ate most of our meals here. Also used the spa and had a couple of wonderful massages. Will definitely stay here again.

I have dined at many Thai restaurants around the world and I must say that this one matches any of the best. The dishes were extremely fresh, the flavours combined to perfection and presentation beautifull. We had Ibrahim as our waiter, he was exceptional. He even remembered to extra chill my beer (as I like it very cold) when I called again to reserve a table. Great job to the Thai chefs at Coco. You deserve an applause. And for all of the above, I found the price of the meal reasonable, fair and affordable.

There is no doubt the hotel is very spacious. In my opinion too spacious with nothing. The pool in the spa is dirty with lines of green moss around the pool, which is filled up with water by the workers. This was not cleaned up to when we left and had been reported about 5 days prior to leaving. You can see cobwebs in the walls to ceiling in the reception area. The rooms are spacious and cleaned exceptionally well. The style of the rooms are lovely. They even come in the evening to turn your sheets. We complained about having to buy water for the kettle & drink. To be fair they started to leave two small bottles a day after this. The shower failed to drain they came in a fixed it. It still didn’t drain the water out straightaway. The tray filled with water after each shower. Our toilet stop flushing we were told that someone would come in the morning. My friend had to make two calls and go to reception for a maintenance person to come. Internet is terrible but I think this is a Gambian thing. The hotel needs to be refurbished. The restaurant has missing glass from the shutters. We had to mentioned that the big chandelier in the restaurant needed cleaning, which was done within a few a days. When we told people where we were staying they were thinking we had money, because Gambia VIP’s stay in this hotel. This is a 2 star hotel that we believe was beautiful when it opened but over the years the up keep to maintain the standard has not be followed through. Everyone we met said their hotel was either horrible or okay, so we have come to the conclusion that you have to find somewhere just to be comfortable. Gambia is a lovely place. We are looking to go back to Gambia in November, but the price at this hotel has gone up by approximately 33%. The hotel are charging per person for the rooms if you book directly with them. We definitely will be looking elsewhere. We will not be paying what they are asking now that we have stayed there. We could create a list of things that failed a 5 star rating. I have photos but would prefer not to download them to give the hotel a chance from the reviews that are ringing the same bell as mine. The restaurant staff are amazing. Nothing is too much for them to do. Keep up the good work. I was feeling unwell and they made me honey and lemon that tasted amazing and made me feel so much better that I was able to function for the day.

The first and most important thing: Exceptional service. Well-trained staff that genuinely seem to care about their guest’s experience. Beautiful setting that allows you to relax and recharge. The rooms are spacious and very clean. I’ve tried other hotels in the Gambia. None compare.

This was rated as a 5 star resort but fell short by at least a couple of stars. I’ll start by the positive of saying how friendly all the staff were except for a very grumpy lady who was working at the pancake station at breakfast. The Manager Mohammed (Mo) made a point of speaking to all the guests. The only down side to some of the staff were that we felt like we were constantly being hustled with sob stories plus a couple of the male waiting staff who waited until my husband was out of the way then were saying things like beautiful boss lady or you are an extra special lady, it made me feel very uncomfortable because I felt that I couldn’t go to the toilet without being hassled plus my husband wasn’t too impressed about how underhanded they were being. The deluxe room we were in was next to the pathway that everyone used at all times of day and night. The broken windows in the room meant that neither of us slept a full night for the fortnight we stayed due to the noise levels. The awful saxophone music that played on a weekend plus music on the other side of the hotel complex until the middle of the night and noisy wedding guests made it very frustrating and not relaxing at all. Thank goodness I remembered to pack ear plugs is all I can say. I could continue with many concerns about that but you get the idea. We had to ring reception at 2am because of the noise levels but were told it was what should be expected at that time of year. The bathroom was very smelly, bit like a compost heap, we did report it and someone came to plunge the plungeable but it still stank. I wondered why there was a sofa in the bathroom but was grateful of it after passing out with ?? Food poisoning?? Banjul belly. A very helpful waiter Smiley made me a guava tea as he recognised the symptoms, it helped to settle my tummy albeit temporarily. There was a bar which was opened on request but not a functioning bar so had to wait ages for service. We found out that the hotel was up for sale, it definitely needs some serious investment to bring it up to 5 star level. There general layout of the hotel isn’t well thought out, it could do with a special area for families too. I’m not sure I would actually return to The Gambia but might consider it if this hotel made substantial changes

To think Tui rated this hotel a 4.5 ⭐️ ridiculous!! I’ve stayed in better 3 ⭐️ hotels. There should have been a separate bar to the restaurants but we were told it was opening 2 weeks after our holiday!! The pools were covered in black mould, missing & broken tiles. Paint peeling off external walls. Gala booked where hotel customers were not invited and the music was so loud our room shook which went on to early hours of the morning. Conference event whilst we was there and due to there not being enough waiters the service was appalling. We like to give tips for good service so we tend to do the majority of our tipping at the end of our holiday and give substantial amounts to those who deserve albeit if we had good service in restaurants we would pay at the time. We didn’t expect to have to tip to GET good service which is what this hotel staff expected. If you go to the ***** where bars and restaurants are then expect to be constantly followed and hassled and it was quite scary. The Gambia is a beautiful country it’s such a shame the locals spoil it, yes it’s poor and we would have given a lot more money if they didn’t hassle you so much. Will I go to this hotel again NEVER!!!