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Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
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Cabocan Lote A2, A3, Santa Maria, Ilha do Sal Cape Verde
Hotel Riu Funana
3,657 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Last two weeks my wife and I visited Sal, one of the Cape Verdean Islands. This is a story about our experiences and mainly about hotel Riu Funana.
We had a wonderful trip, we were in general very happy with the hotel and advise everyone to enjoy this wonderful hotel. If anything negative is said, it’s because every wonderful experience has some minor drawbacks. A 10 always can get a 10+
We started in München (MUC) in Germany with TUIFLY 7104. After an hour on Boa Vista to get passengers for the flight back to MUC, we had a flight of about 15 Minutes to Espargos (SID).
On arrival on Sal you have to show your passport, a digital facial recognition is made and that’s it.
Myths (?). Nobody asks for immigration papers you were told to have with you, nobody wants to know and administrate how much money you have with you (of course you should stay within the max limits, or declare). Above that, every time I paid in Euros, I got the change in Euros. I do advise to have cash in 5, 10 or max 20 Euros bills.
Sal is mostly a desert, a lot of sand, no water other than in the sea. Water to use is desalinated seawater, water to drink comes in bottles or containers from an other Island. Obviously there is no food produced on the Island, so it has to be imported from other islands or the mainland (Europe). You are not at home, where everything is highly up to date, here you find low wages and struggle for life. There are very poor places, especially on the outskirts of Espargos, bidonville at its worst. Keep that in mind and you will be pleasantly surprised by what the Island offers you.
We stayed in Hotel Riu Funana, one of the many hotels near the town of Santa Maria. Directly next to Riu Funana lies Riu Cabo Verde. The Riu family owns the hotel. They work closely together with TUI (Touristik Union International) which until 2021 owned part of the hotel chain.
The TUI bus brought us from the airport to the hotel. The roads are terrible, many holes, also in the “highway”, the other roads, made from little stones are worse. The roads from the hotels to Santa Maria are great.
The Main Building of the hotel contains the reception, three restaurants, some bars, a theatre and a disco. The service is very good, everybody is very friendly (more to come)
Room We stayed in building 7 room 038, suitable for reduced mobility, my wife uses a wheelchair. The room was spacious enough (who wants to sit in a room?) with a small fridge (only water, the hotel is also for children, so no booze). There is a water heater with loads of tea and coffee to use with mineral water. We never used it; there are enough bars and if you really want or need it, the sports bar is 24/7 open for drinks and some food. The safe in the room is spacious, it even holds a laptop with ease, really great. Speaking about laptops, you can have 4 devices on the Internet free of charge. Internet works everywhere, on the beach not as much (duh). Beware don't use your roaming (stay on flightmodus), it will cost you loads of money.
The 5 “houses” are provided with everything needed by using a golf cart, using regular fuel. I’m not a member of the climate religion, but I think this smelly vehicle should be changed for something environmentally friendlier and not only because our terrace was directly next to the door of the building and they kept the motor running, or were braking too late and drove into the wall.
Restaurants The main restaurant, Espargos, has everything you need, starting with breakfast over lunch up to dinner at night.
The choice of food is large. Next to the area with ready food (at breakfast from bread to cereals, jam, fruit, cake, lovely smoked salmon, cheese, sausage and ham; at lunch and dinner salads, cold meat, fish and desserts) there are three stations with freshly prepared hot products. Cooks are working to provide you with pancakes, donuts, waffles and french toast, several omelettes and eggs in every way you can imagine at breakfast, Italian, fish, vegetables and meat at lunch and dinner. Drinks are self service, but the service will gladly help you if wanted. In and around the restaurant is a large area where you can use your food and drinks.
The service at breakfast and lunch is good and helpful. The service at dinner is great. The waiters and waitresses are very fast, super friendly, helpful and still have time for a little chat. We always sat in an area where the wheelchair was easy to handle and were very lucky with Yozi and Barbara, two lovely young ladies who are not only nice to see (they could be my granddaughters!), but were so efficient and observant that they would fit in any high end restaurant in Europe. Being the odd one out in a family of a wife, sons and daughter who studied restaurant and hotel management, that is not an empty statement.
Again, keep in mind: the food is not from the island, they are heavily dependent on supplies from far away. The overall quality is good and the choice is rich.
Negatives? Well, I think they should cut the meat thicker, as thin as they slice it, it becomes dry. I know it takes more time to prepare, but that minute or so should be an increase in quality. Further, the knives generally are so blunt that they hardly meet their requirements.
Nothing to do with the restaurant but really annoying, people who fill their plate with fruit and desserts, take a full glass and then leave without a bite. Two Dutch young ladies talking about starting a hospitality business sitting next to us did that every time, I hope they get a lot of guests like that. Thinking about what I've seen in the suburbs of the capital, Espargos, you would want to spank them.
Next to the pool is restaurant Mambana, during the day you can eat there, in the evening you have to make a reservation for the grill. This was really disappointing. The red wine was chilled (!) and watery (the wine in other restaurants was OK), The starters were not very tasty, the chicken in peanut butter sauce never saw a peanut, where was the sauce. De main grill. Well in the Espargos restaurant they use large grill plates to prepare the meat, here they use large plates to grill the meat. The difference is that the thin slices of meat were more black and the meat more dry. The barbecue sauce wasn't there when I came to the grill, there were a lot of signs saying what could be there but wasn't. The grilled potatoes were mainly salty (some condiment they used?). The desserts were the same as in the main restaurant, but with less choice. At the side there were three large chunks of cooked meat (1 kg each?), just an ornament? In contradiction to the main restaurant they know exactly how many guests are coming, but they were not prepared?
Next to restaurant Espargos is Mandalay , an Asian restaurant. The food was good and tasty. We are great sushi lovers, so we were surprised to get Nigiri with smoked salmon instead of raw, but can understand the choice as raw salmon is probably hard to get. The “spring rolls” were filled with cheese. As there is enough chicken, bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage and other ingredients on the menu, a rather strange choice.
Animation We did not see much of them by day, on different places (we met them at the beach bar, the swimming pool and the san Antao bar) the group did some nice dances (10 minutes), and some aqua aerobics at the pool. In the evening there were shows, we visited two. Let´s be nice, it was not our thing.
Trees and shrubs and care, o my. Sand, sun, salt and sea are not the best friends of buildings and plants. People spend all day doing maintenance, sweeping, mopping, taking care of plants, removing leaves from palm trees, repairing paths, you name it. There is an on-site nursery with fresh plants and trees. Hoses run along all the plants and provide water at night. Really wonderful
Pool. The Pool area, higher than the rest of the terrain, has 4 entrances, three with stairs, one with a slope to the north of the restaurant Mambana. With the wheelchair the last one was our choice. There are plenty of stretchers in the sun and in the shadow. The pool bar, Mindeloo, was nice, especially when you are in the water. The service is great and friendly. In the afternoon it's often noisy because of the guests with too many drinks. The sea is the better choice then.
Water world and beach. There is a main entrance to the hotel and there are two small side exits near each other, one leading to a hotel next door, Riu Palace Santa Maria. All entrances are guarded by security. There is Splash Water World, also for guests of Riu Funana. Many slides and fun for younger people.
The second exit to the south leads to the beach, a few hundred metres dirt road between palms, which first leads to the exit of Riu Cabo Verde, the (adults only) sister hotel. There is a toilet which can be used by all hotel guests. The dirt road, getting more sandy, leads to a little bridge. On this road are the travel agencies that want to sell you trips to the rest of the island. After the bridge the track ends for wheels, the sand is soft and warm, so from there it's back or on foot. At the left is the turtle hatchery, where the eggs that turtles lay on the beach in the laying season are saved for predators (and careless tourists), on the right there are beach volleyball fields. Between the palm trees you can lay in the shadow, somewhat further is the place for people who want to get a sunburn and then there is the sea. The beachwatch was very alert and was standing next to us with three men the moment we hit the sea. Having lived near the sea in the Netherlands we are careful enough, but it's nice they are there.
BTW, the beach does not belong to the hotels but can be used, with care.
Santa Maria, the town nearby (1,5 km). There you find the pier, where the fish is being traded, souvenir Shops all around and people selling trips on the Island. The town has some nice streets to stroll along and beautiful murals. You can walk there from the entrance of the hotel. The first 400 m are terrible when you are on wheels. The little cobblestones lay everywhere they shouldn't, from the roundabout the road is asphalt with a wonderful bicycle road. We left the hotel at the exit to the waterworld, the dirt road is nice to walk and ends up at the mentioned bicycle road at the entrance of the Hotel Riu Palace.
After the Hilton you can optionally take a road to the right and come on a walking road along the beach.
Excursions: We had an introduction from the TUI host offering us excursions. The prices are high and the only thing they offer extra is some food and drink for double the price you pay with locals. The locals will thank you if you go with them. We were advised to take a private tour (because of the wheelchair) for € 480,--. (Imagine you fly 10.000 K and live 14 days all inclusive for € 250,-- a day)
We found a recommendation on the internet months before we travelled to Sal for a local agent called Caramau. He and his wife Michaela gave us the tour of our live for € 150. It was cosy, informative, fitted to our wishes and a wonderful experience.
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Date of stay: February 2024Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Manager, Owner at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Mar 20, 2024
Dear herman v, thank you for your honest and detailed review of our hotel Hotel Riu Funana. It was a pleasure having you stay with us and we are glad that you enjoyed most aspects of our property. We look forward to welcoming you again in one of our worldwide premises. Best wishes, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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We spent a week at the Funana getting some much needed Winter sun .
It is a 20 minute transfer from the airport (if not on a package deal there is a 31 Euro Visa fee which is included with Tui) Check in was quick, you need to pay 2 euro pppn tourist tax on arrival at the hotel.
We had a couple of issues on arriving in our room, air conditioning wasn't working and the safe was locked, it took a few hours to sort out which was frustrating on our first day, on the plus side these were the only issues we had during our stay.
We were in block 7 which is well placed to access all the amenities.
Our room was very clean although a bit dated, maid service every day. Large very comfortable bed. Plenty of hanging and drawer space for clothes. Nice powerful shower. Hair dryer wasn't very good.There is a mini fridge but only water supplied (no soft drinks or beer like other all inclusive 5* hotels). Nice balcony
Pool area was very clean, plenty of sun beds despite people leaving towles on unoccupied beds.
Food was plentiful & good with enough choice, we ate at all restaurants, 3 are buffet and one is table service. I wouldn't get stressed if you can't get into one of the speciality restaurants as there really is little diference between them all. What the hotel misses is small cooking stations that you see at other 5* AI hotels offering a more personal experience. Also they need to do more to encourage people to use the hand sanitizers at the restaurants as we noticed that a lot of people didn't use them
There are enough bars, service was always pretty quick, there is a small cocktail list however they will make anything you ask for if they can.
Staff were all very polite & friendly.
Entertainment was good, a mixture of singing & dance shows. The entertainment team work very hard.
Beach is about a 5 minute walk along a sandy path, theer are a number of locals trying to sell tours but they are very laid back and dont hassle you at all. The sandy beach is fantastic, loads of sunbeds, water is warm enough, you need to be aware of the currents, there are lifeguards who are very vigilant. The beach bar has only soft drinks and beer & no food. Toilets are back up towards the hotel. There is a family of semi wild dogs on the beach (common across the island) who don't cause any issues but if you are afraid of dogs this may be an issue.
10 minute walk to local town where there are a number of bars and restaurants.
Overall a very nice hotel and great for a winter sun break, tempertaure most days was 26 - 29 degrees.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Feb 7, 2020
Dear Danny S, Thank you for sharing your experience with us and with the travel community! We are glad to learn that you had an outstanding vacation during your stay at our Hotel Riu Funana! We appreciate your kind words! It was our pleasure taking great care of you! We hope to host you again in one of our worldwide hotels in the future! King regards, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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The hotel was fine, the rooms were good, as was the food and the staff were all excellent, friendly and efficient, but getting there was a nightmare. Storm Ciara caused a 33 hour delay at Gatwick which is not Tui's fault but the organisation to look after us was disastrous.
We arrived in the dead of night which immediately showed us that the outside lighting is not the best and could do with being somewhat brighter.
The rooms could do with a little bit of refurbishment but they are very clean and tidy with efficient air conditioning and a fan too. The shower is relatively powerful and hot and there's a kettle for hot drinks and plenty of bottled water supplied and kept cool in the fridge.
We tried all of the restaurants which were generally good and I can't imagine that someone wouldn't be able to find food that they liked as the choice in the buffet places is huge.
The Kulinarium restaurant is the only one where you choose from a menu and is well worth trying but book early or you may not get the day or the sitting (7pm or 9pm) that you want.
The Mambana poolside restaurant is fine for lunch but we wouldn't recommend it for dinner as it is open to the elements meaning that there were plenty of mosquitoes around when we ate and we got away as quickly as we could.
The Mandalay Asian restaurant was OK but not brilliant but they did a very good Chicken curry which was well worth second helpings!
Evening entertainment was patchy, some good and some performed with enthusiasm but not a lot of quality, but it's worth a visit.
We found that the Sports Bar lacked any atmosphere and was cool and clinical so we only visited once.
Of course, despite being supposedly banned, many people reserve their sunbeds first thing in the morning but we never had any trouble finding a spare one. We enjoyed going down to the beach too where there were also plenty of sunbeds but the sea did get pretty rough at times. The bar down here doesn't serve a great range of drinks but there's a good atmosphere and there's always something going on.
The pool with the Bar is nice and warm but the other one is quite chilly, so is a lot quieter.
However, despite having a pretty good time, do take plenty of Mosquito repellent with you. Almost everyone seemed to be sporting multiple bites. ourselves included. To us, it seemed best if you stayed away from the trees and bushes by the pool or on the beach but they were everywhere, particularly during the day. Long trousers in the evening were a good idea too but be prepared to be itchy and scratching almost as soon as you arrive.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Rooms
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Room Tip:No rooms appear to have a particularly good view so take whatever you can.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Mar 5, 2020
Dear SnowyywonS, Thank you for taking the time to share a wonderful review about your memorable experience! We are glad to read that you had an awesome time during your stay! We appreciate your kind words and have taken notes of your few concerns and suggestions and will share them with our Management team so that they can take them into consideration! It was our pleasure to take care of you and we look forward to welcoming you back very soon in one of our worldwide hotels! King regards, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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Writing this review as we wait for our transfer back home, I thought it would be good to leave an honest review!
We stayed in 6022 room for 7 nights and were generally very happy with the stay apart from the mosquitos which I mention later.
Welcomed at check in welcome drink, suitcases and bags taken to our room, “no stress” as they say here the rooms were more then adequate for our needs.They were cleaned every day, beds made with clean towels.
The hotel grounds is groomed brilliantly with its gardeners who seem to be out every day working hard to keep the hotel presentable.
I can’t stress enough Every single member of staff we came across were very friendly helpful staff, a real credit to RIU.
We was spoilt for choice at the buffets, the Chinese buffet restaurant and the “Kulinarium” restaurant were excellent. Sadly improvement is needed at its third grill restaurant - it was just buffet food? and lacked any special experience.
Excellent kids area, two pools with plenty of shade our 7 month baby loved it.
The beach was great, with a bar near by and plenty of life guards which is needed with the Waves at times, not for faint hearted when it’s windy!
Although we didn’t take full advantage of the entertainment on offer, what we saw was good.
Areas required for improvement
The walk to the beach is too much for a child in a pram, it really could do with wooden slats at the top of beach to assist family’s with prams.
The mosquitos on day 6/7 were unbelievable, our balcony area was a no go area with At least 60-70 on the walls! Maybe a complimentary mosquito spray in the room would help.
Grill restaurant, a menu service like Kulinarium restaurant would enhance the experience.
Despite the comments above, me and my family had a great time and hopefully will return in the future!
Thanks RIU Funana
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Feb 14, 2020
Dear X1883VIjasons, Thank you for sharing your experience with us! We are delighted to learn that you had a wonderful stay at our Hotel Riu Funana! It was a pleasure to provide the holiday you were looking for! We hope to host you again in one of our worldwide hotels in the future! Greetings, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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We have just got back after 10 days of relaxation at the Riu Funana . There were a couple of minor negative issues, in the main restaurant they seemed a little slow on replenishing some food dishes and in the entertainment area the music tended to be too loud. Overall we had a great holiday, despite the minor negative points we will definitely be going back. The food in general was good, the breakfast was better than some hotels we had stayed in. The staff were very friendly, the bar staff worked hard so you never had to wait long to be served, the animation team would walk around the pool every morning saying good morning to everyone and put on some good shows on the evening. The rooms were as good as most large holiday hotels, cleaned daily with bottled water left by the cleaners. All guest areas were kept clean. More than once we helped direct new guests to there accommodation blocks as at night the signing was poorly lit.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
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Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Jan 30, 2020
Dear Brian, Thank you so much for your rating and review. We really appreciate your kind words about the service you received as it was our pleasure to assist you during your stay. It is wonderful to know we were able to provide you with a friendly and positive environment during your visit and we hope to do so again should your travels return you to our area. Kind regards Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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I stayed here for a week in January. My very first visit to Cape Verde and also my first solo holiday!!
Firstly, the RIU Funana is big, it can take you a while to find your room once you have checked in! I would say the accommodation is 4 star rather than 5 but very spacious, clean and comfortable. My room had an "open bathroom", not all at the RIU Funana are like this. My first experience of this type of holiday accommodation also. As I was here solo, this did not affect me but I can imagine friends staying together in this type of room may have a minor "privacy" problem 🤭 or maybe not!!!
The food is good, something for everyone!! Meals are buffet-style in the big main Espargos dining room and there are also three themed restaurants that you need to book in advance which I did not try. This is a 24 hour all inclusive hotel so the Sports Bar is open all night! The hotel entertainment is pretty good for a family all inclusive, again something for most tastes!!
The swimming pool area is lovely (there is a separate children's pool and play area and also a babies pool) but as mentioned in other reviews, is small compared to the size of the hotel and unfortunately the sun loungers are for the most part, covered in towels by 6:30am every day. Please, please do head down to the beach (10 mins walk from the hotel), it is spectacular!! lots of loungers, tons of room for everyone, there is a basic bar there too with lager, water and soft drinks. The Atlantic Ocean is amazing here with lots of kite surfers taking advantage of the wind and waves. There are Life guards on duty all the time here and you see the red flags quite often because of the often powerful waves.
There is not really that much to do on Sal but a trip around the island is good, the local guys all do it for around €25 plus extra for lunch, water shoes hire when paddling with the lemon sharks and entrance to the salt lake. Santa Maria is nice to walk around, some decent shops for souvenirs, good bars and places to eat, public beach is brilliant - good for swimmimg (45 mins approx to walk. from the hotel or €3 in a taxi). Some of the local guys may try a little bit of hard sell or may wish to "show you the market" but just give them a polite "no thanks" and they absolutely do not push it. The local Cape Verde people are really nice and for the most part very friendly.
The staff at the Funana are without exception, fantastic!!! It is a big, friendly place with beautiful gardens. Definitely a 4 star hotel with the staff - 6 star!!!! Would stay here again!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled solo
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Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Feb 19, 2020
Dear Bazzerbird, Many thanks for sharing your review with us. We appreciate your kind words about the All Inclusive 24h basis, the spectacular beach and the fantastic staff. We will forward your comments to our Management Team for further improvements and we look forward to welcoming you once again. With our best wishes we remain, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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Ok this is a beach holiday don’t expect to see much on this island as it’s virtually man made ,there is sand and rubble, that’s it basically. They do trips but personally I wouldn’t bother except diving could be worthwhile. We went to karamboa in Boa Vista last year and had a great time ,except if you walk out the front door there is nowhere to go on foot so that’s the reason we went here ,you can walk to San Maria a small village with shops and beach restaurants, if you don’t want to walk you can get one of many taxis at €3 one way into town from the hotel. The beaches are very sandy and soft, great for walking along, the sea can be a bit rough and normally a yellow flag flying, if you’re careful it’s ok , if you go in on a red flag and you get injured your holiday insurance won’t always cover you, so take care as it’s a £25000 helicopter ride to main land hospital. So back to the resort , on arrival a welcome drink at reception and your quickly given your room, this hotel doesn’t have any ocean views that I saw but it didn’t bother us as we are hardly in the room ,only to sleep and get changed. The food is plentiful and almost on tap, you can eat when you want, with only short gaps when they change over to evening meals. The first thing everyone does before breakfast is put your towels out on your loungers and then have breakfast, if you don’t there’s plenty of room at the beach on the loungers . At this hotel there is a 250 meter walk to the beach , the toilets are shared with the palace hotel next door and the same for the beach bar. There are lifeguards and they blow their whistle quite often to make people are as safe as possible, the waves can be quite rough not for the faint hearted but we did go in ,it was good fun. Now I don’t drink much at home as I drive a taxi so when I go on holiday I like a drink, well I had three Irish coffees and two Malibu and lemonades and didn’t know I’d had an alcoholic drink, I’m not sure of the strength but you don’t see any drunk people haha, which is good really you don’t want your holiday ruined by drunks. I loved my time there and we are booked in next year but next door at the palace for a change.
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Date of stay: January 2020
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Room Tip:If you have a mobility disability make sure your room is close to the pool. Block 8 we had and...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Feb 3, 2020
Dear Aquqkidd123, Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your five-star rating! We are thrilled to hear that you had such a nice time with us at Hotel Riu Funana! It was our pleasure to take care of you and we do hope to have the opportunity to host you again someday soon! Kind regards, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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Great holiday in brilliant surroundings. I would definitely recommend and go to another Riu hotel. The atmosphere was lovely and the service was great. The hotel was clean and friendly and the food was out of this world. There was so much choice in the main restaurant that there was no need to book into the 3 other restaurants, although they looked just as nice we liked to be able to serve ourselves as that meant we could have as much or little as we felt like. A nice touch was the way the cover on the bed was folded differently each night. I also noticed that staff using the residents toilets washed their hands really well, I think that is very important and was good to see.
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Review collected in partnership with riu.com
Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Feb 26, 2020
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for taking the time to share with us and fellow travelers on Tripadvisor about your experience while staying at the Hotel Riu Funana. We are delighted you had a lovely stay and it is our pleasure to know you were impressed with the exceptional service provided by our dedicated staff. Once again, thank you for the outstanding review, and we look forward to having you with us again and again. With our best wishes we remain, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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Booked the hotel on my daughters reccomendation. We thought the hotel was very good, not 5 star but definitely 4 star. Food was very good and we ate out of the main restaurant "espargos" great choice with plenty of fish (swordfish,tilapia,cod,panga,hake)and vegetables (peas,carrots,aubergine,courgette,asparagus,cauliflower and many more) to help keep the weight down when opting for all inclusive. Wine was fine although we were not taken by the rose wine but it's all down to personal taste, the local beer (strella is very good, but beware it is 5.6%) Breakfast time also has a fantastic selection bacon,beans,porridge,yoghurts,lovely fresh bread and lots of fruit and even waffles freshly made if your not concerned with gaining a few pounds. Your also directly on the beach which has awesome sands and a equally clean and crystal clear sea, nice little beach bar too as it can get rather hot and you do need to keep rehydrayted. There is also an added bonus of the beach lifeguards who are very good and attentive and will blow the whistle to warn you of venturing out too far, the waves are VERY strong, even saw the lifeguards warning families with kids building sand castles ect not to build too close to the sea due to strong pull of receding waves, a fantastic beach. The staff need a big big mention as I have never met such happy smiling people who are so attentive and polite they are the 5 star without a doubt. Make sure you see the shows put on by the local staff they are really very good, especially when they start dancing they could show Patrick swayze how to really dance.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Mar 5, 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you for sharing your experience at the Hotel Riu Funana. We are so happy to hear you had a wonderful stay and we appreciate the positive rating! It is our hope to see you again soon! Kind Regards, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Just about to return home after a 2 week stay at Riu Funnana Cape Verde. I’ve always Given Honest reviews were ever I’ve been on holiday and this is our 4 visit to Cape Verde always staying at Riu’s. so here goes Funnana ‘ All management and staff work hard to make your holiday as pleasant as possible Reception and Restaurants area’s are kept clean to a good standard garden’s are kept nice Food is repetitive and of reasonable quality. But when you get into the hotel itself the rooms need attention we stayed here when it was called the Guropa and the standard was very good this time we found tiles cracked Toilet seat broken no shower head bracket. no soap dispenser in our room. Having spoken to other guests some found similar problems the pool area needs to be kept cleaner and mattresses need to be provided on sun lounges management rectified all issues as soon as we brought to there attention. With our room appreciate a lot of guests come and go but cracked toilet seats etc shouldn’t go unnoticed “ we love the Cape Verde islands and will definitely return but The Funnana needs improvement once again staff and management really work hard so thank you for a pleasant holiday.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RiuHotelsandResorts, Online Reputation Manager at Hotel Riu Funana
Responded Jan 20, 2020
Dear davegw2014, Thank you for your review and for staying with us for the 4th time. It is great to hear that you liked the general cleanliness and the well-kept gardens and that our staff promptly addressed your concerns. However, we would like to apologize if your stay with us did not match your expectations in some regards and would like to assure you that our staff is constantly working to keep our facilities clean and well-maintained. Please be assured that we will forward your comments to our Management Team for a proper follow-up. We hope you can give us an opportunity to change your perception into a positive one. With our best wishes we remain, Hotel Riu Funana Online Reputation Manager
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The Netherlands3,797 contributions39 helpful votes
There were plenty of options suitable for babies whilst I was there. Fruits, yogurts, icecream, eggs (boiled, fried, scrambled, omlettes), pancakes etc. There were always lots of vegetables and mashed potatoes. Plenty of cereals, bread and crackers. Unless your baby has special requirements you should be fine.
There are more places to choose from in the Santa Maria area.
PRICE RANGE
$208 - $267 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
riu garopa santa maria
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
ClubHotel Riu Garopa
LOCATION
Cape VerdeIlha do SalSanta Maria
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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