Riu Garopa / Funana Reviews

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!!!