Latest Reviews for Sal

We didnt venture out the front of the hotel simply because we just wanted a pool & beech holiday. We were told the nearest town Santa Maria is approx 30mins walk out the front of the hotel or 1 1/2 hours walk on the beech, or 10mins & 3 euros in a cab. The beech is very open, but when the wind gets up you can really tell with the small grains of sand hitting the back of your legs - killer!!Sea is quite choppy but nice once you get in. The reps on the welcome meeting do the usual sell sell sell for the trips - we didnt bother with these either again just a nice relaxing holiday. The check-in staff at manchester didnt know about the visa situation, neither did the guy at the information desk - worrying I know but a few jars of larger soon made me forget before boarding.Its was extremely windy when we stayed here and that took away how hot is was, subsequently we both got really realy sunburnt - even after bathing in aftersun & using factor 30, so, take plenty of both.

My wife and I took this holiday 03/06/08 - 10/06/08.Just to let you know all of those that havent got an entry visa.If you have booked from Thomson the cost of this is included in your holiday but you do have to apply for it seperatly. Go to www.thomson.co.uk/cape-verde-visas, fill out the forms and HEY PRESTO its done.When you get to passport control in Cape Verde there will be a seperate sheet of paper behind the desk with your name on it(you wont see it but its there)they check your passport and your entry card you fill out on the plane, then off you go to wait for your luggage. The hotel itself is Very VERY big, dont go if you dont like alot of walking to and from your room (depending where its located of course) Decor in places needed touching up, not a lot to look at apart from some strange upside down boat monument. But reception staff helpful, understand english quite well and always smiling.

The Island of sal is developing fast still will be paradise for some years yet with long beaches plenty of sun and nice breeze enjoy yourselves the locals are great and respectfull with no problems experienced. plenty of good craft and art shops, The Island Tour is a must and not to be missed visit the capital, the salt works float in 23% salt water you just can not sink, see the mirage in the desert thats a first and excellent. the funbuggies for off the road south end of island also worth a go very rough surface and bumpy crazey rides some fun and unexpected events just ask jady. Laze and sun bath or active holiday its all there and available, see the blue eye and see the beaches a wonderful island we must visit for a longer period next time we will stay at the same hotel and perhaps go on the trimarang to boa island possible try sea fishing big blue marley were caught and the fishermen brought them up to the pier for distribution. most bars have tv world wide mobiles ok hotel web cams are fun for your uk friends to see you on holiday yes its all there

SAL ISLAND CAPEVERDE ON MAY 2008 - Santa Maria - Our Holiday booked with CapeVerde Experience Travel Company using Thompson Group air line Now Direct flights from Gatwick UK to Sal CapeVerde, just over 5 hours an Excellent flight, premier seating, meals, facilities on journey, flight attendants looked after us very well. We were met at Sal airport by our representative who organised pick up and delivery to our hotel, some 15 minutes away on the sea front at Santa Maria. the hotel Moraneza is in an excellent prime location with sea views, having a beach club bar and restaurant located from a walkway on the main beach. both the hotel staff and our capeverde representative were very well informed and able to communicate in all aspects of the holiday including the facilities at hotel at the resort and on the islands, we booked bed and breakfast coupled with the bon appetit arrangements which are more than sufficent to fill our needs giving us the opportunity to visit the local resturants,the Alantus & Papayas both very good value & service The meals at hotel were excellent the staff excellent always friendly and cheerful breakfast excellent, staff preparing your individual hot cooked dishes fresh.The rooms very trendy suits, airconditioning, fans, fridge, tv, secure and pleasant. We would highly recommend this resort and especially this hotel definatley the best by far. guests of other hotels agreed. we will visit again soon and stay at this hotel The resort is developing fast still paradise with long beaches plenty of sun shine some 10 hours a nice breeze you do need to use some protection as you will burn use shade and enjoy yourselves the locals are great and respectfull with no problems experienced. good craft art shops, island tour is a must and not to be missed, funbuggies for off the road south end of island also worth a go. Laze and sun bath or active holiday its all there and available a fantastic resort holiday hotel and people all enjoyable We met some good friends Derek & Carol, Gareth & Kerry, Dave and Giggles all of us enjoying the resort the hotel the restuarants the bars happy hour and entertainment in the hotel is excellent spent some wonderful time together good conversation chilled out lazing in such wonderful company and weather conditions totally relaxed.

Sal as an island is very appealing to the adventurer, with its many different beaches. Though the locals are very friendly they can be a little bit intimidating at times

A great place to stay if you want to totally relax, we stayed at the garopa for a week at the end of April where we had faultless sunshine the whole time we were there.

The positives are:

Great weather. Modern facilities. Excellent staff. Good food (if you don't mind buffet). Plenty of space around the large pool areas. Good water sports available free at the beach. Can't reserve sunbeds until 9am (unlucky germans). Karaoke all levels of singer very amusing. Good excursions (dune buggies and Sal sighseeing). Excellent waves if your into water sports.

The negatives are:

No a la carte service available, which i expected from a 5 star hotel. Not 24 hr eating. Entertainment in Portuguese (but watchable). The waves are intense and unpredictable.

To sum up it was a very good standard of hotel and facilities, with everything you expect from the RIU chain of hotels.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE ISLAND OR THE HOTEL ... as these were both excellent. This is a complaint and a warning about Thomson holiday company. When you book a holiday to Cape Verdé, the cost of a visa to enter the country ( which is 25 euros) is included in your overall holiday price . However, when we landed at Cape Verdé, about 50 people on our flight were told that they had to pay for the visa again even though we all had proof that we had applied for the visa online. The Portugese authorities said that Thomson had not paid them the money for the visas. They also told us that this happens almost every week on Thomson flights and a lot of people were very upset and angry. It took one and a half hours to get through passport control because of the situation with the visas. When we approached the Thomson rep, he just laughed and basically told us to proove it. When we eventually got to the hotel the Thomson rep there even admitted that it happens on a weekly basis. This is a scam from Thomson to try ang get money out of people and they are very reluctant to refund money even though you have already paid. My advice to everyone is to avoid Thomson holidays as they scam people. However, do not be put off Cape Verdé as it is a beautiful place and we had a great time.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE ISLAND OR THE HOTEL ... as these were both excellent. This is a complaint and a warning about Thomson holiday company. When you book a holiday to Cape Verdé, the cost of a visa to enter the country ( which is 25 euros) is included in your overall holiday price . However, when we landed at Cape Verdé, about 50 people on our flight were told that they had to pay for the visa again even though we all had proof that we had applied for the visa online. The Portugese authorities said that Thomson had not paid them the money for the visas. They also told us that this happens almost every week on Thomson flights and a lot of people were very upset and angry. It took one and a half hours to get through passport control because of the situation with the visas. When we approached the Thomson rep, he just laughed and basically told us to proove it. When we eventually got to the hotel the Thomson rep there even admitted that it happens on a weekly basis. This is a scam from Thomson to try ang get money out of people and they are very reluctant to refund money even though you have already paid. My advice to everyone is to avoid Thomson holidays as they scam people. However, do not be put off Cape Verdé as it is a beautiful place and we had a great time.

I have just returned from Cape Verde, having gone for 2 weeks with my boyfriend and friends of ours. We all had a brilliant time and would recommend Cape Verde to anyone wanting a relaxing holiday.

We stayed at the Riu Resort. In the brochures the resort is advertised as two separate hotels (and can use both hotel facilities) We opted for Riu Garopa. Having arrived at the resort though, the Garopa and the other hotel Funana is just one massive resort, so I'm not quite sure why they are advertising as two separate hotels. It really does not matter what one you book as they are both the same, although I think the Funana is slightly more expensive.

The resort was excellent. Rooms were spotless and were a good size. All the restaurants served nice food. We did not have one bad meal whilst we were there. There are four speciality restaurants and we tried them all out. The asian restaurant was our favourite, serving chinese and sushi. There is no need for you to get bored with the food if you try out a different restaurant each night.

There are two massive swimming pools (although they were freezing!) and plenty of sunbeds for everyone, so no need to set the alarm to put your towels out. The beach is also really nice, with plenty of sunbeds. I didn't go into the sea though as is it looked a little choppy.

Entertainment is not great - the usual miming to songs etc. We usually ended up going to one of the bars that had a band on each night. Pacha is your usual hotel nightclub - nothing more you can say about that!

There is nothing really to do outside of the resort. We went on a half day trip around the island that was worthwhile (just to say we have seen some of the island). I would not recommend the snorkling trip as there were no fish!

The weather in June was nice and hot (late 20's). It was a bit windy, but that was quite nice during the day. I would recommend ladies taking a cardie and sometimes it can be a bit chilly in the evenings.

If you are looking for a holiday to just relax and flop on a sunlounger for 2 weeks, then I would def recommend this holiday. If you like to be a bit more active and go to the shops etc, you will be disappointed as there arn't any!.

We have just got back from 2 weeks staying at the Pontao Hotel (bed and breakfast) in Santa Maria and I thought I'd post some information about it as we couldn't find much out before we left.

Overall a very clean and friendly hotel. Not very old - only a year or so I think. Rooms are fairly spacious with fridge, air conditioning and balcony. Safety deposit box in rooms with charge of 15.00 euros per week to use. Ensuites are clean and in good condition with a hairdryer above the sink. Maids clean and change towel everyday. Breakfast buffet has a good choice (cereals, yoghurt, fruit, toast, cakes, omelettes). Pool is keep very clean.

The hotel was very quiet when we were there (June/July) and there is building work going on around - but there is building work going on in the whole town! It didn't disturb us really. We headed down to the beach most days as it's so beautiful.
I would recommend this hotel to anybody who prefers a smaller place to an all inclusive. Makes a great base for anybody who likes to get out and about and be more independent. As the Pontao doesn't provide evening meals you can sample the restaurants in Santa Maria each evening. Great for fresh fish!

The only problem we encountered was the night club over the road - The Pirata. Music goes on well into the early hours. Take some ear plugs with you just in case you end up with a room over looking it (like we did)! I believe the rooms overlooking the pool aren't affected.

The Pontao is also one of the most reasonably priced hotels in Santa Maria (paying about £650.00 per person for 2 weeks through Portland (agent Thomson). I believe it is Cape Verdian owed too, so at least some money going back into the community and not all to a big International chain.

Hope that helps.

We have just returned from our 2 week holiday in this new holidaty resort.We stayed at the Riu Funana.

On approaching the hotel it looked like a giant sandcastle.On arrival we were greeted by the hotel staff with a cool glass of something.We checked in which was completely effortless and given luggage labels to put on our cases which were delivered to our room not long after we found it.The complex is quite large but not overpowering.The rooms were clean and inviting and as my daughter says the shower is massive.......

The food in the hotel was good and plentiful with a good selection day and night .With speciality restaurants also you won't be bored.Even though we did'nt eat in them people we meet did on several occassions.The beach is idylic with soft white sands and tourquoise blue sea however very rough and not really ideal for bathing especially not children.The winds on the island were present every day some days stronger than others.During our stay the cloud was heavy and we had 3 whole days of sunshine and a couple of hours on other days when the cloud was thicker but still managed to get sun burned quite badly so beware...use high factor.

We did venture into Santa Maria and it was exactly what we imagined ,not a lot there really but you have to see it to believe it.Lots of building work going on here but it's all part of this up and coming holiday destination.Our reps in resort were spot on and very helpful,already knowledgable about this new resort.One thing I will say is if your a chocaholic try to take some with you as it cost a fortune in the little shop in the hotel we paid a euro for the equivilent to a bitesize Milky Way ,Snickers ect ,it does get quite costly if you have children that want chocolate.The evening entertainment was generally good some nights better than others but you see the annimatioin team working from morning till late at night..give them a break.

All in all our holiday here was superb and extremely relaxing ,we could have quite easily have stayed another 2 weeks..Enjoying Cabo Verde with NO STRESS.Go now to see the resort unless you want to pay a small fortune in a few years time.

excellent hotel, with great food and drink. Rooms spacious and spotless. Beach great but you must be a strong swimmer. Cape verde is windy so take a jacket. Go into santa maria, you get a little hassle but a polite no is enough. Take a treat for the dogs they are very friendly. There is a lot of building work going on but this did not affect us. A great holiday, go now before the prices double

When we arrived in Sal it looked just like the desert, when we arrived at the hotel it was just like a palace, you couldn't fault the hotl, it was so clean, and the staff were very friendly, very good choice of food, it was better to go in the dining hall about 8:30, as the foreigners get there when it opens as they think there isn't going to be any food left, and rush about when they do get in there, we always found enough when we went in. Cleaners came in the rooms every day plenty of cupboard space. Bar in reception could have stayed open later closed at 12, everywhere we have been has long as people are there, they stay open, not everyone wants to go to a disco, when we did go one night it was full up with all the hotel staff,

entertainment was done by the staff, the compare never once spoke in English.Be careful when visiting the beach no flags up, sea got very rough about 4pm. All in all lovely hotel great food, friendly staff, if you want a nice relaxing holiday but nothing outside, the next town Santa Maria was like Shanty Town people pestering you all the time, maybe in 10 years time I might think about going back, we are not into discos and Karoke, but like a bit more life than just the hotel

We have travelled with Ocean Club Holidays before to Lanzarote, but we didn't quite know what to expect with this holiday. The flight takes about 5 an a half hours but is OK. You need to get a visa on your arrival and, depending on how quickly you get off the plane it can take a little while to get all the paperwork sorted out.

We took a taxi from the airport to the town of Santa Maria. This took about 15 minutes and was very cheap (about £8).

The apartments at Porto Antigo are beautiful. We had one with a pool and beach view and it was fantastic. As we sat on our patio, the pool was just in front of us and the beach just beyond that - heaven! The area around the pool is well maintained and there are plenty of sunbeds to be had. The pool is super and never crowded. The apartments are well kitted out and have everything you really need. There is regular maid service.

There is a piano bar/restaurant just on the harbour wall and that was a nice place for a drink and meal. There are a few nice restaurants nearby, Tam Tam's is very good and the staff there are terrific. Fish and seafood are the main menu items but there are limited meat dishes to be had.

The beaches are beautiful white sand and the sun shines all the time. There is usually quite a breeze and do be careful as you can burn very easily.

This place is really a beach/water sports lover and is a great place for someone who wants to get off the treadmill for a while. I suggest you book now rather than leave it too long and it becomes over developed and too touristy!

All in all a great holiday.