“lovely and peaceful”

i visited le royal lodge in january 2012 with a friend who lives in dakar. our cottage was enormous and elegant. there were few other visitors at the time so it was very peaceful and quiet. we alternated between laying on the beach and laying by the pool. somehow our room always managed to be magic… more

i visited le royal lodge in january 2012 with a friend who lives in dakar. our cottage was enormous and elegant. there were few other visitors at the time so it was very peaceful and quiet. we alternated between laying on the beach and laying by the pool. somehow our room always managed to be magically cleaned and turned down without us ever seeing any housekeeping staff. the meals were excellent and fresh. the tourism desk arranged several excursions for us and were very accommodating. we had a great visit.

less

“quiet and beautiful”

We enjoyed four nights in a lovely suite at Le Royal Lodge. The suite was large, well cared for and very comfortable. Hotel restaurant is excellent. Good pool and beach.

“great location...not as chilled as the Gambia”

really loved the hotel..fabulous enormous rooms and gorgeous grounds. Opted for a garden room as we enjoy gardens and birds etc... if I went again I would go for a garden room again. We were late getting to Dakar because of the snow at Brussells (from manchester via brussells...really good flights … more

really loved the hotel..fabulous enormous rooms and gorgeous grounds. Opted for a garden room as we enjoy gardens and birds etc... if I went again I would go for a garden room again. We were late getting to Dakar because of the snow at Brussells (from manchester via brussells...really good flights and lots of legroom...and 46 kilos plus 20 kilos handluggage EACH! great for taking stuff for our next destination, the Gambia. Arrivals smooth as silk, transfer problem free. the transfer was as others have said...long and the last bit on a very bumpy road. The driver Yammeh was a very interesting man and took lots of short cuts across the coastal land/salt flats/sand/flood plain area for the last hour or so leg of the journey...as this was at 10 - midnight sort of time it took on a very other-wordly quality and was hypnotically surreal! Arrived just after midnight...taken to the room (all luxurious stand alone 'huts'); a tray of dinner was there, and although we felt a bit bush-narnered, we perked up and got a second wind with the delicious salads, bread, fruit...and a bottle of wine from the mini bar (which was very expensive!! sprite was £6 a tin in the mini bar...but at after midnight in a fab place on the first night of a holiday you aren't going to turn down a drink are you!). Fantastic rooms and the greatest bed I've even slept in re quality of mattress, and huge. One other UK couple there...half a week overlap with our week. Everyone was quite reserved, including most of the staff...who seemed to be working from a script. We speak french...so no real communication issues, except a couple of silly mistakes on our part which left us looking a bit like idiots and the staff thinking we were lunatics with a strange sense of humour (try translating Groucho Marx humour into French for a Senegalese breakfast waitress over oeufs-a la coque). Fabulous beach, lovely gardens, great for admiring birds, some really nice staff...some a little 'stiff' (but the manager (a really nice guy) was often on site and didn't look like he suffered staff doing their own thing - which is a bit of a shame...but they obviously have their policy). Great food ...fab fish and daily specials...snacks for lunch a bit expensive...or eat lunch in the restaurant (which we didn't do, but I think it was the same menu as the evening...and it would have been better value to do this, with hindsight). Missing - beach service for drinks and snacks and lunch...considering the price/hotel quality I think this would have been a good addition to the offer (room service was charged at an additional 10,000 CFA...can't remember exactly what this is but around £10 - £15 ?? on top of the meal cost). The MOST MEMORABLE BIT: the local guys we met and chatted to...lovely and genourous and a pleasure to meet. My partner helped the fishermen a couple of days (because he is a busy-body and because he is a nice man and because he enjoys talking to people wherever he goes) and we realised that the fishing 'crew' is actually quite small and that other people just come and help...artists, craft market sellers, people with no jobs, and occasionally tourists. I bought some things and the craft market guys were very generous...you might think I've been conned but I haven't - they really were lovely people and gave us extra cadeaux and were just fantastic!!! Jean-Pierre has a shop selling fab bags made out of rice sacks...which would not look out of ;lace in Liberty! And Louis has carved wood and jewellery. I've posted some pictures. Other guestes mostly adults; two boys were there and seemed very french as in polite and well behaved. just the day before we left a couple and their daughter (8 years at a guess) arrived and she looked a bit of a little madam as only girls of that age can look. The rep was a nice guy, but very keen to talk about himself, and his fantastic/dramatic/tragic life so far: he told us lots about himself, quite a lot about the excursions and not very much at all about the hotel and the tips that might have been useful to know, like pay the night before you leave, and what time the transfer was going to be!!!...ah well..if we DID go back I doubt that he would still be there. When we arrived we thought it was fab and that we would go back for longer / when we left we thought we'd never go back / and now we think we might go back...as it was very very very relaxing and a great chill-out. We went from there by car transfer to The Gambia...left at 8am and arrived at the Nala Lodge in the Gambia at about 3pm (ferry crossing included)...back home to our favourite hotel.

less

“nice place but wouldnt go again.”

le royal lodge is a lovely hotel, with superb accomodation, especially the beach facing rooms,where the views of the beach, sea and sunsets are awesome. I had read many reviews prior to going, so had a good idea of what to expect,but now have my own opinions! The hotel is very isolated, literelly n… more

le royal lodge is a lovely hotel, with superb accomodation, especially the beach facing rooms,where the views of the beach, sea and sunsets are awesome. I had read many reviews prior to going, so had a good idea of what to expect,but now have my own opinions! The hotel is very isolated, literelly nothing near by, no bars,shops, restuarants, not even the odd vendor! This means that the hotel has you firmly in its grip! With no competition, they can (and do ) command ridiculously high prices for food and drinks, especially if you are silly enough to use the mini bar! £3.50 ish for a coke! There is only one restaurant, with a menu that is boring, repetetive and of a fair standard at best. There is a set daily special, but that was often repeated in various order! And, as everything is listed in french, with a brief english brekdown, it was hit and miss on what you actually had, (one meal i had twice, different both times). Im not very good at french i admit, but the language barrier really is a problem! The bar had a small snack menu, which was ok, but expensive again. I think that for a hotel in the 4/5 star price range, should have far more choice available of both bars and restaraunts, and at least a beach bar,(as the beach is huge!) and an occaisonal barbeque evening would be nice to break the monotony. The pool area is very nice, but had inadequate number of sun beds and umberellas, as some people thought it was ok to reserve both a bed at the pool and one on the beach. I also think the pool could have been cleaner, as it was quite "green around the edges" with many missing tiles. However, the beach/pool attendent worked hard to ensure clean towels etc. Also, service of driks at the pool was sporadic, and on the beach, rare! As the prices were high, we didnt drink much at the bar, but, on the one occaison we fancied a few drinks after dinner, they closed the bar at ten thirty, not the midnight quoted in the brochure! On the whole, i thought the hotel was not woth the £5000plus we paid to stay ther, on a half board basis, for two weeks. We still ended up a final bill of £1000 at the end, just on snacks and dinks. The managment team(french) do nothing really, to enhance the experience and dont really seem bothered at all. The serenity holiday rep was lovely, and very helpful when i was ill. But, again, the trips on offer were very expensive and definately not woth it. Generally, a lovely place, but it could be so much better with a few simple changes/additions.

less