After just one year of operations, Lemon Creek, one of the smallest Hotels in the country, has been named as one of the 30 best hotels in the world.

The award comes from Thomas Cook, the worlds biggest tour operator based in Northern Europe. The award was based on client evaluation of hotel quality results regarding expectation, cleaning, hotel staff, ambience, and satisfaction with the rooms in all Thomas Cook winter destinations world-wide.

From a catalogue of 663 hotels, Lemon Creek emerged as the world's 21st best hotel. The hotel is also the first in The Gambia to bag such an award. Speaking to this reporter shortly after a conducted tour of the hotel, Lindsey Atkins, duty manager of Leman Creek said they are delighted to be the first hotel in The Gambia to receive such an award from Thomas Cook, disclosing that they have been winning the Best Hotel of the season from the same tour operator twice in a row. She said that they were able to bag this award because of their unbeatable record in guaranteeing customer satisfaction.

For his part, Erik Ravin, the general manager of Lemon Creek said the award has manifested that something unique is coming out from The Gambia. He noted that even through the hotel is trying to maintain European standards, it prioritises ecotourism and environmental sustainability. "When we were constructing the hotel, we made sure that we did not cut down trees, so we fixed the buildings in between the trees,"  Erik Ravin remarked. He also disclosed that most of the materials in the hotel are made out of local Gambian products.