About
A guest house in Kololi
Not a resort, not a chain. A house with rooms, a kitchen, a pool and a bar, run by people who live down the road.
Our story
How AJ's came about
AJ’s sits a few minutes back from the beach in Kololi, on the stretch of coast The Gambia calls the Smiling Coast. Close enough to the Senegambia strip to walk to dinner, far enough back that mornings are quiet.
The idea was never to build something large. It was to have a place where somebody arriving off a long flight is met at the airport, handed a cold drink, and shown to a room that is actually cool. Then to feed them properly.
Most of our guests come for two weeks in the dry season. Some come to see the country their family came from. Some are here for the birds. A few just wanted somewhere warm in January. All of it is fine by us.
How we do things
Three things we care about
Small on purpose
Nine rooms. We know who is staying, when they arrived and what they like for breakfast. That stops being true somewhere around forty rooms.
Bought here, cooked here
Our produce comes from Serrekunda market and the boats at Tanji. Not because it is fashionable, but because it is what is good and what is close.
Local guides, fairly paid
The people who take you to Kunta Kinteh Island or Makasutu are from here and know it properly. We pay them a fair rate, and we do not take a cut on top.
Where we are
Kololi, on the Atlantic coast
Kololi is on the coast just west of Serrekunda, about a half-hour drive from Banjul International Airport depending on traffic. The beach is a short walk. Bijilo Forest Park, with its monkeys, is barely further.
Send us your flight number when you book and someone will be at arrivals waiting for you.
