Ratings based on 15 Guest Reviews
Hear it directly from our travellers
4.7 Room cleanliness
TRAVELOCITY GUEST REVIEWS
Hear it directly from our travellers
by A traveller
Lovely property
Posted Apr. 6, 2024 on HomeAwayWith this property you get the best of both worlds- you get to enjoy all the resort facilities: pools, tennis courts, kids club, entertainment, gym, beaches etc but don’t have to pay all inclusive prices and you can go to town, get to see the shops, markets and restaurants and try out the delicious seafood. It’s worth bringing any frozen meat you would like in your suitcase but other than that you can get what you need in the supermarket
Comment from Hotel Management
Apr. 6, 2024 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thank you Alex for the review, we look forward to welcoming you back to Sal.
Roy
by A traveller
Good value, great owner, okay property.
Posted Mar. 14, 2023 on HomeAwayThe unit is within a very large Melia complex however it is close to the main hotel building. The beach is a bit of a walk. There are pools scattered throughout the property so finding a pool is not a big issue. The rooms are comfortable and the AC works but the kitchen area is very small with limited counter space. The refrigerator is a small (very) bar style fridge so if staying a longer time (more than a week) plan to grocery shop in Santa Maria often. The kitchen could use the addition of a toaster oven and a cutting board as well as manuals for other kitchen appliances. The wifi is okay but not great. A signal booster would be a great help. The best thing about the unit is the owner. If you have a problem or need some advice and e-mail Roy, you will hear back (usually with a resolution) within an hour. Amazing attention to his guests. SAL is for kite surfers, sail boarders, fishermen and scuba divers. If you are going for a week, there is enough to do to keep you occupied. More than a week, I would recommend visiting other islands as a part of your trip. The condo is a 5 Euro ride to/from town and there are a lot of decent restaurants there.
The washer in the unit is very good so bring a few laundry pods and you will be all set to keep your clothes clean. The unit is advertised with a roof top patio and it does have that but nothing to sit on up there so we did not use it.
This is a comfortable unit but not luxurious. I would consider staying here again for
Comment from Hotel Management
Mar. 14, 2023 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thank you for the review Neil. We will be looking at your suggestions.
We look forward to welcoming you back to Sal .
Roy
by A traveller from Leicester
Better than Expected!
Posted Feb. 1, 2023 on HomeAwaySecure, within a large complex that has everything, swimming pools, entertainment, bars, restaurants, free sun beds (by the pool and beach), clean large sun bed towels (towel card is 20 euros deposit, change as often as you like throughout your duration, 20 returned when card returned). We stayed self catering, because less than 2 miles from Santa Maria’s supermarkets, bars, restaurants and gift shops. Hundreds of taxis, which none charged more than 5 euros each way. So much I could say, thoroughly loved it and will be back!
I loved
Comment from Hotel Management
Feb. 1, 2023 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thank you Mark, glad you had a great time.
I look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Roy
by A traveller
Great spacious apartment in beautiful resort
Posted Sep. 9, 2022 on HomeAwayLovely apartment with loads of room, nice comfy sofas and beds, everything well equipped.
The location is an all inclusive resort which has six swimming pools and a mini water park, and ends on a gorgeous beach with a lovely manmade cove - perfect for snorkeling. However, they are not really setup well for self catering and paying as you go. The nearest food shop is in the adjacent resort - about a 15 minute walk.
Roy was great as a host - we had a couple of issues outside of his control (our boiler broke and our key card stopped working) and both issues were resolved in really quickly.
by A traveller
Great stay!
Posted May 7, 2022 on HomeAwayWe stayed a total of 2 weeks on Sal and the first few days at this appartment. It was the way we wanted it to be, enjoying the facilities and swimming pools of the resort to start our holiday and still having our own place. We mainly stayed at the resort and explored more the island from our other apartment in Santa Maria. We dived with cabo verde diving and could walk from the apartment to the dive base in 5 minutes. Which was great for us!
Comment from Hotel Management
May 31, 2022 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thanks Carlijn ,I am glad you had a great time.
We look forward to welcoming you back to Sal in the future.
Roy
by A traveller
Everything was perfect
Posted Feb. 9, 2020 on HomeAwayThank you for a wonderful first visit to Cape Verde. The self catering was a great option for us and shops in Santa Maria had everything we needed. I’d suggest bringing English bits like tea and coffee and any home favourites. The place was spacious, clean and ideally located in the resort. The trip provider suggested in the brochure at the apartment was a great help and very reasonable. Roy was fantastic at communicating by email and couldn’t have asked for more.
by A traveller
Perfect for us
Posted Nov. 24, 2018 on HomeAwayWe have recently returned home from a 2 week stay in Roy’s apartment. We really loved the location. We had previously been to the island last year but wanted to stay 2 weeks this time. The whole apartment is great, no issues with anything. Air con works great, hot water, very clean. A mid stay clean was also carried out which was great.
The hotel itself is quite busy with all the sun loungers getting reserved early on the pools and beach but usually lunchtime we would get a spot on the beautiful beach front. It gets very hot though.
The balcony and roof terrace was a lovely touch. Me and my partner often sunbathed on the roof terrace with no one else around which was lovely and private. We also fed the sparrows bread crumbs in the mornings and evening and the same pair used to come back which was sweet to see.
We didn’t do all inclusive as we prefer to explore the place we visit and all inclusive doesn’t really for accommodate that, we really enjoyed the town and the taxi ride is only €3. Mareas was our favourite but you have to book in advance on what’s app. We also really liked cultural cafe and palm beach. We also used the apartment guide and hired a car through surf hub and got a 4X4 for the day for €60, we did our own island tour and it was really great.
Highly recommend taking snorkel equipment for the sea. It’s stunning and I loved it.
We will return again for sure.
Thanks again.
Comment from Hotel Management
Mar. 25, 2020 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thank you for the review Nichola.
Im Glad you enjoyed it and some good restaurant recommendations there.
Hope to welcome you back soon!
Roy
by A traveller
Lovely well equipped apartment with beautiful sun terrace and great servace from the owner.
Posted Oct. 19, 2017 on HomeAwayThe apartment was spacious, clean and had all the equipment needed for a self catering holiday. The owner responded within 10 minutes by email when we requested a second key card. It arrived at our apartment within the hour. We were extremely pleased with the level of service we received from the owner. I would definitely recommend this property.
by A traveller
Great stay In cape verde
Posted Sep. 10, 2017 on HomeAwayJust spent the week in Roy's apartment in the complex of Melia dunas/ sol dunas.
First of all the hotel is amazing, lots of pools and easy to get sun loungers, fab entertainment, helpful staff who go above and beyond for you.
Secondly , the apartment is lovely with a fab roof top Terrace and balcony. It was squeaky clean and can not complain about the cleanliness. However I only give 4 stars as I really think essentials such as washing up liquid, bin bags and toilet roll should be included in the price of the apartment. Also I found it strange how we had to pay extra money for a maid to clean the room midweek - this should also be included in the price. Also there was lots of meat knives but no bread knife? Little extras like this would be ideal. And we had to find the manual for the oven and hob as we found it confusing - I think these manuals should be left out in future Roy.
Another thing is the all inclusive / putting things on your account fiasco. It is really confusing and we did not bother doing this -- none of the staff seemed to know how much things cost and it was too expensive to go For separate meals (breakfast was €22 per person, lunch was €42 per person and dinner was €48 per person). You could go all inclusive for the day at €65 but we ate in town mainly. Also getting drinks in the hotel was hard work as nobody knew how to charge to our room so We ended up paying in euros - but the bars never had change!
The town is a 5 minute drive away in a taxi at €3 day/€4 night. We also caught the free shuttle bus some mornings. The cazu supermarket was good and reasonably cheap - however the goods are limited so don't think you will find everything. The town is nice but Cape Verde is still developing - there is a lot of construction going on. The bars and restaurants were relatively cheap . Some people are lovely some people are just plain rude depending on where you go. And be prepared to be blagged to buy rubbish souviners.
Never the less the beaches are lovely, and the hotel is spectacular. Would probably return to the same hotel all inclusive next time as it seemed to be easier.
PS make sure you go to the lion king show... it was amazing!
Comment from Hotel Management
Mar. 25, 2020 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thank you for the feedback and glad you had a nice time in Sal.
I usually pay for a midstay clean for stays of greater than one week.
I suggest doing all inclusive days rather than paying for individual meals as this is difficult but usually signing for drinks is not too difficult but remember the mantra on CV is 'no stress' !
I will take your other comments on board
Roy
by A traveller
Excellent apartment, great facilities at the hotel, lovely island
Posted May 5, 2017 on HomeAwayWe stayed for 2 weeks in April, family of 4, with 2 daughters aged 4 and 7. Roy was very helpful prior to our trip, providing contacts for airport transfers and car hire, and information about the island (shops, restaurants etc).
The hotel is really good - our kids loved the waterslides, pools and the playground, and also had fun at the kids club. Pools are good with plenty of sunbeds - although towels were a little scarce! We had a lovely day on a "Bali Bed" on the beach - with fruit and prosecco included for €25.
The vast majority of guests at the hotel are all-inclusive but we didn't find it particularly difficult getting meals / drinks etc. Breakfast at the main buffet was €24 per adult and the kids were free - dinner was €50 per adult and again kids were free. We also ate in one of the other restaurants a couple of times - each restaurant has both a small buffet / walk up station (eg pasta bar) and a la carte - there is a price for the buffet and a priced a la carte menu if you ask - we ended up just having the buffet and it was €25 per adult - again kids were free. Drinks at the bars during the day were €2 for a bottle of water or a glass of coke. We decided not to bother with any days all-inclusive - the price would have been €65 per adult and €33 per child per day.
Santa Maria is a lovely town, either €3 taxi ride (€4 at night) or about 30 minute walk. There are lots of good restaurants and we ended up eating in town most nights - we didn't have a bad meal at all. We tested the tuna tartar in most restaurants and decided the best was in Angela's, a restaurant on the front, just along from the pier!
There is only one supermarket in town - we didn't actually cook in the apartment, and only ever ate breakfast there (cereal and toast) so can't really comment on how easy self-catering would be - but there did seem to be a selection of basics.
Amy at "Surf Hub" was really helpful with car hire and other outings - we had a car for a day and did a tour of the island - salt mines were great viewed from the top of the hill (we didn't go in), the blue eye was good - best bit was the natural pool. We also did a half day sailing trip with some snorkeling, the kids had a body board for a few days and my husband had kite surfing lessons which he loved - all arranged for us by Amy.
In summary - a fantastic 2 week break, perfect apartment and hotel, and I would definitely recommend exploring the town and island.
Comment from Hotel Management
Mar. 25, 2020 by VrboOwner, Hotel Management
Thanks Cath, very informative and glad you had a lovely time.
Out of interest where did your husband get to with kite surfing after a few lessons ?