We went with Thomas Cook to the Kairaba from 11-Jan-2012 to 25-Jan-2012.
We had a standard room 1521 in the block near to the reception. It was perfectly adequate but not as nicely situated as the garden rooms. The balcony was small with a table and 2 chairs that nearly filled it. There was a drying rack fixed to the wall which was more than enough for underwear, t-shirts and swimwear. You’ll need pegs. No matter how wet the washing was, it dried overnight. The weather was upper 20s and 30s but not humid. Everywhere in Kololi is dusty so take slippers as you are bound to tramp in dust and sand. Also take a torch. The electricity failed a few times and the hotel generator sometimes took a few minutes to kick in. The hairdryer was fine but if you like a lot of waft then take your own. There were small bottles of shower gel & shampoo and little blocks of soap. There was also a box of tissues. The air-con worked fine. The hot water took a long time to run hot. This block is by the Senegambia hotel which was noisy at times with discos that lasted into the early hours. If that was to happen we got a letter from the Kairaba management warning us.
The safe in the wardrobe is digital operated by keying in 4 digits after inserting the room card key in the safe door. Don’t try to change the number first chosen, as security has to be called to reset the safe.
It is very easy to change cash into dalasis in the plentiful bureaux along the strip and the exchange rate is better than here. We took £50 worth and got 42 to the pound here when it was 47 in Kololi. We needn’t have bothered as we could have changed money on the way to the first evening meal. Porters etc, if you want to tip them, will take sterling coins. We were approached several times by locals wanting us to change sterling coins into dalasis which we were happy to do. Dalasi notes are extremely dirty so take hand gel.
Beach towels are free from the hut by the beach and the sunbeds have thick, very comfortable pads on them. Take long bungee cords to keep the towels down when it's windy.
We had very moreish orange and lime juice from Doctor Juice near to the Voodoo bar – turn left after going onto the beach. The Boabab bar next to the Seaview – turn right – is Gambian and cheap.
We’re baffled why we never went to Gambia before – it’s as exotic as long haul with a relatively short flight and same time zone – so we’ve booked again for March.