Royam Hotel

Yes it is great but strange that o b

It’s okay hotel , needs better branding for good directions

Location was great. The hotel is right on the beach and the huts ( rooms) added to the atmosphere. BIG negative is that there is nowhere to escape the too loud nightly entertainment which is repetitive - even the artistes sing the same songs in the same order . English was not spoken by reception other than 1 person if they were on duty and the restaurant only had 3 waiters who understood English. This meant that often meals came wrongly which spoiled it slightly, food was mainly good though and very friendly staff.

It's a nice place but it's more or less a classic package tour hotel for elderly French people. English is not spoken much, if at all. Having said this, there is nothing wrong with the place. It's somewhat luxurious and comfortable. It's just that you don't feel especially warmly welcomed and everybody seems to be on auto-pilot including the guests. Great breakfast bar and a fun lineup of music, fashion and cultural shows per a big spa hotel.

I enjoyed my stay at the Royam a lot. I came here with a package from TUI and stayed a week. The hotel is beautiful with gorgeous gardens. The rooms are extremely comfortable and stylishly decorated. It was my first time in West Africa and I was originally a bit concerned that the beds had no mosquito nets, but it is really unnecessary. The rooms are fully air conditioned and in any case I didn't see a mosquito the whole trip – they apparently don't come out in the dry season. I still applied my insect repellent and took my malaria tablets, but I suspect that may have been an excess of caution. There is a slight shortage of space around the pool area, but there were always more than enough sun loungers on the beach belonging to the hotel. The beach is lovely although the Atlantic is unexpectedly chilly – more like an English sea in summer than the tropics. The beach is only semi-private – there are security people employed by the hotel there but I gathered that people are free to walk along it and you will often see local people selling souvenirs, offering tours etc. They are never aggressive or difficult, although you may find yourself agreeing a rather higher price than you expected… The food is good – largely French in style with occasional local touches. Breakfast was great with omelettes cooked to order, crepes, plus all the usual continental stuff. Dinner was slightly more variable in quality – sometimes very good, sometimes just decent. There is a buffet two nights a week and on other nights guests choose from a short menu. Food hygiene was, as far as I could tell, scrupulous and I didn't hear of anyone suffering digestive troubles, despite the hotel serving some slightly "adventurous" choices (eg raw oysters, sea urchins, rare beef, fresh cream etc). Drinks are chargeable but at reasonable prices: about £2 (1500 francs) for a small beer, £2.50 for a large bottle of mineral water or a fruit juice, £3-4 for a glass of house wine. The staff were friendly and helpful, if occasionally seeming a bit overstretched at peak dinner service. I spoke to them in French but I gather that most if not all speak some English. In Senegal more broadly it is extremely useful to have some French as English is not all that widely spoken. You can certainly get by in English, but you are more likely to spend your time on escorted tours and not get to talk to people so much. I would happily return to the Royam and to Senegal. It is an interesting country with friendly people, as well as offering a pleasant escape from the European winter only 5-6 hours away. Saly is a pleasant place which has been a tourist destination (largely for French and Belgian travellers) for some time. There are a number of excursions to interesting places in the area and even without that, Saly is an interesting place to wander around on foot. The Royam is a good base to explore from and, unless you want a pure fly-and-flop holiday, much better situated than the Riu hotel down the coast, which is totally isolated and is not in walking distance of anywhere as far as I could tell.