Riu Garopa / Funana Reviews

We stayed at the Riu Funana evor two weeks in November 2008 with Thompsons. Make sure you complete a visa on-line before you go because many of the Thompson staff are not aware you need one for Cape Verde. The Hotel was very good, clean and the food was excellant, with plenty of choice. The hotel is attached to the neighbouring Riu Garopa and all the facilities are available to all guests in both hotels. There were 4 themed retaurants in addition to the 2 main buffet restaurants that had to be booked in advance. The Mandalay was the best but they all served good food. The weather was excellent, the beach vast and there were some turtle hatcheries on the beach in front of the hotel. The down side is that the island outside the hotel resembles a moonscape and there was little opportunity for sight seeing. I have never visited a place where no vegetation grew except that planted around the hotels. We did hire a car and we were able to travel around the whole island in a day. There are only two tarmac roads on Sal and the off road routes are difficult to negotiate if you are not familiar with the island. The holiday would therefore suit those looking for a chill out and relaxing destination.

we had a weeks stay at the funana.when you arrive at thec hotel its best to take your own cases to the room otherwise you could wait over an hour to come to your room.the location of the hotel is by far the best part ot this massive complex which dominates the skyline.take a leisurely stroll on the almost empty beach and admire the view whilst dipping your feet in the sea.(temp 25c).if your lucky see the turtle enclosure on the beach just outside the hotel.its amazing to see them just been hatched.we would reccomend snorkeling if you can get your hands on them as there arent many to hire which is crazy due to size of the hotel.you only hire them for an hour.on the beach we went on a quad bike safari which is brilliant for 2 hours.you go all over the island and see many things.its 70euros for a twin,but we hired a single at 50euros each which is much better.a warning to wear old clothes as you get dirty and dusty but still great fun. back at hotel the food was ok but not a 5* standard. we ate at the chinese(great) also the fish restuarant(great)and tried the grill (rubbish). the entertainment was shocking the tiny bits we saw. ie karaoke night and a grease night very very poor.if you like butlins then you will like it.the hotel is nice but not a 5* more like a 4*. lastly the airport is tiny,so do all your duty free shopping in the uk. a small tip for you--- make a sandwich at the hotel before you leave as their are no food outlets at the airport.

The Funana/Garopa is one large hotel. The staff are friendly but don't have time to talk as the bars are always busy. You always have to queue for a drink. Staff don’t talk much in the restaurants as EVERYTHING is self service. The beach is good but the waves are big and will knock you off your feet if you are not careful. If you want a sunbed, be at the pool before 9:30 and 10:00 on the beach. People also use them as sunshades so feel free to remove them as they should use the umbrellas. The pool staff will also lift any unattended towels before 9:00am. This upset some people but was amusing to see when they returned and someone else was on THEIR beds so be warned. The food is average and always luke warm unless you arrived when the chefs were adding fresh food. This was the same at the Mandalay (Asian) speciality restaurant. The rooms are clean but do not leave any Euros lying. I left 3 Euros in the room and it went missing. I assume the cleaner thought it was a tip for her services. Funny how the hotel accepts no responsibility for theft unless valuables are locked away in the safety deposit box! The Jeep Safari is a good trip if you want to see some of the island but you do get bounced about a bit as the drivers race each other when offroad. You are also taken to a couple of souvenir shops and stop at a local bar for a drink. The ½ day catamaran trip was good if you want to laze about and enjoy the sun. I would recommend the introductory diving course with Scuba Caribe (Ilson and Robin) who give a free trial around the pool. The good bit – we were pestered by flies at the pool and beach all day long. I expect some flies around but not this many. Watch the Funana dance, you can practice by swatting the flies. We used the open-air Santa Maria restaurant beside the pool at lunch time and you cannot leave food or drink on the table unattended as it will have a few flies on it when you return. There were also flies in the main restaurant. The other problem is the mosquitoes. Cape Verde had about 3 years worth of rain in 1 1/2 days just before we arrived. There were stagnant pools of water in front of the hotel blocks and on the beach. We were eaten alive during the day at the pool. The evening was OK as we used a repellant. We had more than 60 bites each by the end of the fortnight and were not the only ones. Some people had left the speciality restaurants at night because of the mozzies!

well what can i say?When we landed it was like landing on the moon! The hotel is literally in the middle of no where! There is absolutely nothing to do but relax and if that is what you want from a holiday then Cape Verde is the place for you! The hotel I could not fault ,spotlessly clean, good food, comfortable rooms and a fantastic beach but absolutley nowhere to go . We did a half day trip around the island and there really wasn't much going on anywhere else on the island either , very dry and barren not a tree to be seen!

It is definitely up and coming....It just has not up and come yet! Glad we where only there for a week.

My Partner and I travelled to this hotel in June 2008 and would liek tot say we had a fantastic time. The staff were very helpful more than what can be said for the Thomson reps. The island is very windy so be careful when in the sun as it doens't feel that hot but it certainly burns. You will need a light jacket / cardigan for the evening as it can be very cold. We would throughly recommended this destination to people, it is a great place to chill out and relax. As long as you do you research you will enjoy Cape Verde.

This hotel is advertised as a 5 ***** and i can catagorically tell you that this aint no 5 ***** hotel. Being an avid RIU customer we have stayed in dom rep 3*** + Riu Yacatan and mexico twice and these were 10 ********** by comparisom. The staff in the restaraunts and bars are lazy. The accomodation was pretty much as excpected for Riu, The hotel feels like a prison on the inside and pretty much looks like one (not that iv'e done time). The Cabo Verde's landscape is devoid of fauna & flora you may be lucky enough to see a couple of small wadders down at the truly magnificand beach,a better beach you will be hard pushed to find anywhere in the world go there before it gets spoilt. The food at the hotel was boreing and lacked imagination and veriety. Its a short walk into Santa Maria along the prominade,try not to feel to intimidated by the local Del boys they are poor and only want your business for arts & Crafts stand firm on your price though i would say as arule of thumb offer a tenth of the stsrting price Oh and beware of the english girls trying to sell property and time share they normaly get to you first. Cape Verd'e is a great destination if all you want is a beach hol because the beach is fabuluos pure white sand for miles and when you walk this beach you can turn around after 10 mins and not see a single sole in either direction (how cool is that). Our flights were changed to First choice and had i been able to cancel the hol i would have purely for that reason because frsit choice use the older Three by three aircraft wich are uncumfortable and not in good working order, wec ran out of water halfway outbound and they had the cheek to sell bottled water you couldnt use to W/C nor could you wash your hands no tea or coffe and home bound one of the toilets was out of order First choice is a shambles. Beware of the scam at cape verd'e airport they will take advanced bookings for xtra leg room on the return journey and charge you up front and when you get on the aircraft GUESS WHAT all the leg room seats have been allocated so if like us you paid for xtra leg room at your travel agents before you left stand firm with the cabin crew and ask to be seated in the appropriate seats. We will not be returning to cape verd'e and if we did it will not be in the Riu Garopa/funama...

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.

We went for our honeymoon. Couldn't fault anything apart from evening entertainment. Always plenty of fresh food. Rooms really good and spacious. There wasn't anything to complain about

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.

What a fantastic holiday we had in April 08 when we went with Thomson's to Sal, Cape Verde. The weather is glorious (no rain for 10years). The Hotel Funana shares a complex with the Hotel Garopa so each has it's own restaurant, pool, poolbar but guests can use the facilities of either. There are 3 speciality restaurants (no extra charge)! just book in advance. ALL the staff are absolutely brilliant and so friendly nothing was too much trouble, rooms cleaned daily, restaurant food was lovely and fresh every day with unlimited wine, beer, fruitjuice in fact you don't need to wait for a waiter just help yourself plus we NEVER had to queue to go into the restaurant. Always tea/coffee, soft drinks and beer in reception area 24hrs. Beach was beautiful with LOADS OF SUNBEDS - daily activities there and round the pool. Evening entertainment not professional but local girls and boys who worked so hard and did a fantasitc job. Only down side the nearest small town was Santa Maria which was 30mins walk along the beach or 40mins by 'road' (I use the term loosly) although taxis queued up outside the hotel and were only 3euros. There is very little to do in Sal so if you like shopping don't go there. There isn't very many trips either (don't go on the catamaran one it's a rip off) but if you want a peaceful and tranquil holiday go now before it becomes too commercialised and spoilt. FANTASTIC!!!