Leo's Beach Hotel - Adults Only

First time back in Gambia with friends for 11 years and what a great find this was. Stayed 10 nights with friends and really enjoyed the peace and tranquility of this small boutique hotel. Nina and Alois were super hosts, staff were great and we we were certainly well looked after throughout the holiday. Rooms are excellent, spacious and well maintained with balconies overlooking the lovely pool and beautiful gardens. There is plenty of space outside where you can always find a quiet sunbed to relax. Restaurant food was top notch and you are only a 10 minute taxi trip away from Kololi restaurants if you want to venture out, although be prepared for a more noisy experience ! I would certainly have no hesitation in recommending a stay here. Thanks for a great break and we hope to return again.

Nina and Alois have created a fabulous, chic hotel - ideal for a ‘get away from it all’ holiday. The rooms are stylish, spacious and airy and have loads of storage and wardrobe space with plenty of coat hangers. The bathrooms are modern and bright with a great powerful shower. The gardens and pool area are beautiful and tranquil - the perfect place for watching the many birds and monkeys that visit the gardens. The restaurant has a good variety of well presented and tasty dishes, we ate all of our meals there during our 11 night stay and didn’t get bored with the menu. The staff are polite, friendly and efficient and are a credit to the hotel. This was our first visit to The Gambia and I don’t think we could have chosen a better hotel, we definitely hope to return.

Having visited The Gambia twice before and loved it we decided to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary there. We couldn’t get into Leo’s last time so we were pleased to get a room this time. Leo’s certainly lives up to its reviews, the room was lovely, tastefully decorated with all amenities. This hotel is a haven from all the stresses of life, perfect for a get away from it all romantic break. My favourite things were the gorgeous gardens, the pool which was clean and warm and has a jacuzzi at one end, the food at dinner was superb. All the staff are extra friendly and the owners do everything they can to help. We had a few trips out for golf and birdwatching but we loved coming back to our lovely hotel. The walk to the beach isn’t too difficult. I managed it and we found it really interesting, and I have some mobility issues. We had super prawns on the beach at the beach shack. They did take 2 hours plus to appear though! Downsides to Leo’s are few but I would say the standard breakfast was disappointing. If you are with Gambia Experience you get a much better choice, hot food , eggs pancakes and lots of other tapas. Ours was bread, muesli, yogurt and jams, fruit salad (small bowl of diced fruit). Exactly the same each day, no other choice. There was one croissant each on some days but not all. I think they had some problems with Ramadan. But Leo’s is not cheap and I strongly feel that all guests should have the same breakfast regardless of who they booked with. We’ve stayed at four other hotels in The Gambia and Leo’s was the worst breakfast we’ve had. Not awful, but limited and boring. The other thing which upset me a bit was that no mention or notice was taken of our anniversary which the owners knew about. A card or chocolate, maybe a pudding would have been appreciated. We went out to The Butcher’s Shop in Fajara, also celebrating their 30th year. We told the owner we shared an anniversary and they found us a special table and presented us with a lovely cake with a firework candle, and they didn’t even know we were coming. We felt a bit hurt that nothing was made of our special day. On the upside on one of our evenings we had dinner served in the Bantaba which you can book. That was very romantic, we took our own music and had a lovely evening listening to music and the sounds of the sea. Overall Leo’s was a superb holiday, and we send our thanks to all at Leo’s for everything they did. Highly recommend.

My wife and I spent a lovely two weeks at Leo’s beach hotel and restaurant in The Gambia, the peace and tranquility was only broken, as we laid in the glorious 32 degree sunshine, by the gentle lapping of waves on the beach and the sound of birds in their beautifully manicured garden. The Austrian owners, Nina and Alois, live at the hotel and so are always available to help and assist in any way they can. In addition were the wonderful team of Gambian locals who were always on hand whenever a drink was needed or to assist in the lovely restaurant. The hotel is small, it has 5 double rooms and a suite on the first floor with balconies which look out to the Atlantic Ocean, and a ground floor suite with two bedrooms which is where we stayed. Our accommodation was everything you could wish for, a place of coolness when time away from the heat was needed, with air conditioning and ceiling fans. The two bedrooms have large double beds, which could also be used as two singles. There was a lounge with TV, fridge/mini bar, HiFi system with speakers, a safe, plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, hairdryer, table and chairs, and a large comfortable sofa. The room ceilings were higher than standard rooms, the bedroom and lounge have large, full-height patio doors, with mosquito netting if you would like to keep them open. There was a well appointed bathroom, double sinks, toilet and large shower area. There was free WiFi throughout the hotel which was pretty good, although it did occasionally drop out. I am a wheelchair user, which is why they offered us the ground-floor suite. They made no claims whatsoever about the accommodation being fully accessible when we booked, but we had an exchange of emails which gave me the confidence that I would be able to manage. They improved the access to the room with the installation of a small ramp, as there was a slight step at the door. The room is large enough to handle a wheelchair, the shower wet room is also large enough to be accessible in a wheelchair, if this is needed. I was provided with a plastic shower chair which was very helpful for me. The toilet is a little low, which might be a challenge for some people with disabilities. The only other issue when it comes to accessibility is that access to the pool and gardens is down one step, Alois said that they would consider building a ramp so that wheelchair users in the future will have access to these areas. If you are a wheelchair user I would suggest you check to see if this is available. We managed to carry the wheelchair down the single step, if staff members were around they always assisted. The room also benefits from its own patio area with a table and chairs and two sun beds. I use a CPAP machine at night to help me to breathe, the reliability of the electricity supplier was pretty good, although it did cut out a few times. We elected to have half board, the restaurant was very good, breakfast was continental, although hot food

Fantastic hotel, great room with good view of the pool, they even give you a mobile phone in the room if you need it (I used it once). Food really good with excellent breakfast and really good evening meal and the staff very attentive. The garden is really well laid out with plenty of space the only down side for me was the path down to the beach which was not very easy to negotiate as I have some problems walking. Will probably book again for next year.

A repeat visitor to this high spec small hotel with large airy modern rooms looking over the pool and well kept gardens. Very friendly welcoming staff and wonderful owners with the personal touch. An excellent relaxing location with a restaurant that serves quality well cooked food.