Lemon Creek Hotel Resort

Lemon Creek is a beautiful hotel in a nice place. But, it is a hotel, which rests on its laurels. They give me a room with ineffective air conditioning, which floods the room with water, a room with a very complicated door opening (locks are rusty) and whith a maid, who leaves the bay window, unlocked… There is no maintenance. Only the quality of the meals and the staff save the honor of this hotel...

We booked Lemon Creek Hotel through *********** in June 2023 for 3 weeks room and breakfast for two in November and got a good rate on one of their cheapest rooms. We arrived at 2:00 a.m. due to a scheduled late flight and the reception was open and we were directed to our room with no fuss. The room was about 7m x 5m with glazed doors to a balcony of 5m x 2m. We had a bathroom with toilet, shower, (Tepid, but that's OK in the heat.), basin and vanity unit. The room had 3 tables, a suitcase stand, a settee, large four poster double bed with an excellent mosquito net, 5 speed ceiling fan, wardrobe, safe, kettle, (bring tea or coffee) cups, plates, cutlery, tv, aircon (an extra 5 euro per 12 hour session) and a fair sized fridge that has to be turned down to prevent the beer going lumpy. The balcony had a table, two chairs, a drying rail and a view over the gardens. The room was always kept spotlessly clean with pristine white Linen changed two or three times a week. Breakfast in the restaurant was a buffet choice of: fried boiled or scramble eggs, french bread, butter, cheese, ham, jam, chocolate spread, honey, pancakes, toast and marmalade, bake beans, potatoes, mushrooms, sausage, porridge, cereal, museli, fresh fruit, cakes, fruit juices, tea, instant coffee, milk and sugar. The extensive hotel lunch and dinner menus were comparable in price and quality with those of the Senegambia strip restaurants and we never had a disappointing meal there. The staff were professional, happy, friendly and attentive. The hotel grounds are a wonder. They extend at one end toward the beach via a guarded gate and at the opposite end to the road where taxis wait in the shade. There must be about 300 mature trees on the grounds mostly baobab and palm, interspersed with sloping lawns, paths, flower beds, hedges, the Lemon Creek itself and the swimming pool. This creates an excellent environment for over 50 species of birds, many butterflies , dragonflies and of course the green vervet monkeys, who, don’t worry, kept their distance. All this surrounded the 7 hotel units with 8 rooms each and the restaurant serving the breakfast, lunches and dinners. The greatest resource of the hotel were the staff who at all levels were smiling and welcoming. Nothing was too much bother for any of them. Whether it was an extra napkin at breakfast or a drop of oil for your fishing reel they would be there with a smile and no trace of any expectation of a tip or reward. Our room cleaner was so keen to ensure that our stay was as pleasant as possible. The hotel had a well informed resident Gambian bird guide who calls himself “Best Boy” who for a very reasonable price would organise trips to any of the Gambian birding locations or just walk you through the hotel grounds. Best boy is an excellent bird guide who can identify any of the Gambian species you are likely to encounter and share his knowledge with you. It is clear that for Best Bo

Lemon Creek is under new owners and management. Really pleased I stayed here. I had been staying in the Tourist area (Senegambia Strip) and decided to relocate nearer to my Workplace office. What a find! My room overlooked the sea and the beautiful gardens below. The Management and staff were warm and friendly. The room had tea and coffee making facilities, a mosquito net and shampoo in the shower. These 3 items were not included at my previous, well promoted, hotel in Senegambia. The rooms were thoroughly cleaned everyday by a friendly chambermaid. The Buffet Breakfast was good and the staff serving the restaurant were always efficient. The pool area was quiet and very clean. The staff once again were attentive and helpful. Lemon Creek is ideally located away from The Strip but close enough if you want to enjoy the nightlife. I would not entertain taking my 21 and 24 daughters to the "Tourist area" but here I would. Clean, welcoming, safe and with tasty reasonably priced food. I would return without question. Please ignore many of the reviews about "The Management" they are out of date.

The bed was a dirty mattress with a single sheet. Neithervof the pillows had protectors or pillow cases. It still stank of whoever last slept here. Zero hospitality. The manager was rude and abusive to elderly British guests. The breakfast was nasty. I chose nothing more than a black tea ratger than risk it. The pool was overrun with local families witj kids and toddlers. There is nothing positive here. I videod the manager being abusive to the elderly gursts for their and my own protection. The situation was sinister and threatening. Avoid at all costs!

An otherwise perfect location in such beautiful surroundings. Yet totally ruined by its management. You expect shortcomings in maintenance and even cleanliness, after all, this is Gambia. Indeed, we were here for five weeks and are also frequent visitors to the country. It’s part of The Gambia experience Nevertheless, profanities and threats of extreme physical intimidation have no place at all in any hotel under any circumstances. Many members of staff do make guests welcome. But the management culture is overbearing and totally ruined our stay - and that of fellow guests, who checked out early as well, in fear of their physical well being. A shame this beautiful hotel in Gambia deserves so much better.