4 Star Hotels in Somone

We stayed in one of the beachfront bungalows and it was an excellent stay. The bungalow was right on the beach with a veranda with 2 chairs and 2 sun loungers under a thatched parasol. The room which was air conditioned was very clean and cleaned daily. The bed was extremely comfortable. Our bungalow was fairly close to the reception / dining complex which meant we had some noise from the various entertainments but it wasn't too intrusive. Some bungalows are further away but that means a longer walk to get to the restaurant etc. The grounds are beautiful and scrupulously maintained, as is the beach which is very clean with safe bathing areas. There are 2 pools, but we didn't use them. The food is good with a wide selection. I would hesitate to call it excellent but we were pleased with the quality and choice. We only used the buffet, there is an a la carte restaurant but we didn't use it. The overwhelming majority of the visitors are French, consequently we found that very few of the staff spoke good English. We managed OK with our very basic French but some may struggle. We found it difficult to change money. Sterling is not accepted and the ATM in the hotel only accepts Visa cards - when it is working. They do accept payment in Euros. We would recommend the Royal Horizon Baobab and would happily go there again.

Hands down 4.5-5 stars!!! — and I rarely give ratings this high… but it’s really hard to fault this place — and it’s definitely the little things that make the difference! From check in to check out, everything was wonderful. They have clearly recently renovated and the aqua and teal colors everywhere are fabulous! Our room was sparkling clean, complete with everything we needed, and the shower is absolutely amazing! (just be careful you don’t scold yourself, as I accidentally did, as the handle in the shower does not indicate which is hot and which is cold…) Staff are all-round wonderful, and many of them speak English. The beach chairs are a perfect width, with built-in pillows and your own Hotel Africa Queen quick-dry towel… how cool is that? The walk into the village is a short but sweaty one, with a local market, fruit and vegetables, and souvenirs galore… make sure you try at least one trip into town! I walked up and down the beach a few times and never once felt hassled or like I didn’t belong here. The beach is filled mostly with young kids playing in the water and playing soccer on the sand, as well as a few stray dogs trying to shelter from the heat. When the tide goes out there are a few places along the beach that look quite dirty, with trash everywhere… however, the hotel area is pretty clean and I noticed the staff were up early cleaning the beach first thing every morning. Something that fascinated me was watching locals come down to the beach to wash their goats and the young kids measuring out a soccer field on the beach using the inside of an old cassette tape — genius! Dinner was fantastically displayed and staff were wonderful during each meal. Awesome live music and entertainment on the Saturday night, full of energy, Senegalese traditional dance and amazing African drumming — what a treat!! Excellent wifi (I could stream videos/TV shows and upload same with relative ease). Super quiet hotel — we slept like a baby each of the three nights we stayed! Only two (very small) negatives: quite a few cockroaches around; the cleaners came to our room around 1pm each day and left our door wide open whilst they left for about 20 or so minutes — this seemed a bit odd and not very security conscious… These last two points aside, Hotel Africa Queen set a very high standard for the remainder of our trip and we wouldn’t hesitate to return!