Hotel Riu Touareg

This is the second riu hotel I have stayed at this year and yet again they don't give a shot about their customers me and my wife have just returned from 2 weeks atrium touareg in cape Verde my wife slipped on the stairs on the way down from our room she hurt her back bottom and her finger there was no wet signs so we had a meeting with the manager who bluntly said not my problem and if you want to see the doctor it's 60 euros just for consultation and medication is extra I will never stay in a riu hotel again food is the same each day there is very little to do during the day and the evening shows are below average and far too late this is a 2 star hotel at best

THE ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT Cape Verdean People and RIU Touareg staff (A1+++) Accommodation - we had a recently refurbished top floor room with a spectacular full sea view and a massive HD TV Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner WiFi connection (free) - strong and reliable signal pretty much everywhere onsite Highly manicured and spectacular gardens General levels of cleanliness throughout a busy and packed resort THE GOOD The All Inc. Beer Towel Bar service The Entertainment Team Variety of payable Excursions Despite other reviews, more than ample sunbeds The highly knowledgeable TUI Representatives THE BAD The long 6 hour TUI flight is cramped, no entertainment and limited toilet facilities 6 of the 7 pools are Saltwater - the pool bar pool is the only Freshwater pool (the small Children's pool might be..) Official breakfast start is not until 7.30am - this too late for some and those on early excursions/departures Only one of the 'non-adult only' restaurants (Italian) is 'properly' air conditioned During the two days that our primary (and excellent) room maid was off, two small value items were stolen from our bedside cabinets Apart from Soda Water, the 'only' diet/slimline soft drinks (mixers) available are two varieties of Coca Cola Even as an adult, if you attempt to merely 'view' the adult only area (perhaps for a subsequent trip) you're treated like an outcast by the security man THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY 24/7 Mosquitoes (possibly seasonal) Sea too dangerous to swim in (red flag always flying in the two weeks we were there). I injured my elbow trying! The main paths in the resort are absolutely deadly when wet (rarely as it happens) The All Inc. Red Wine (totally awful!) TIPS If you're going to take hard cash (for Tipping mainly), take Euros Take gallons of insect repellent and antihistamine tablets Eat in the fantastic Italian Restaurant for temporary relief from heat, humidity and mossies when dining Take a taxi from and to the airport to avoid queuing Go Quad Biking, plus see the Turtles lay their eggs (seasonal)

We booked through Tui in Redditch and Sara was real star for making sure everything went smoothly with the accessible room and taxi transfers. The airport on Boa Vista is really small and as such the bigger planes cant land there, an impact of this is the smaller planes used for the 6 hour flight don’t have entertainment nor were the toilets on board designed for such a long flight. Hardly surprising all 3 toilets filled up on the way out and at one stage were put of out use. Anyway, the journey to the hotel was part road, part off-road. At times it felt like we were on safari with the dirt tracks, rivers flowing over the road and the scrub landscape. The hotel itself looked great and it was. The reception, the rooms, the pool areas, the landscape gardens and the paths were kept immaculate and pristine by an army of happy cheerful workers. The food was really good. There are two main buffet restaurants and 5 themed restaurants that need to be booked in advance. The food was better than most other AI hotels we’ve been to (Mexico excluded). This is based on variety, quality, quantity and presentation. Our room in Block 8 was spacious and the bed was comfy and large. The shower was a roll-in shower and very accessible and the toilet had a handrail. Air conditioning was a welcome relief from the relentless heat of the midday sun. The pool bar and other bar service was fast and efficient. There are loads of sunbeds and always plenty to go around. The hotel towel service was also very welcome. As a wheelchair user, the pool staff reserved some sunbeds in a good location for us. VERY HELPFUL. The entire site is wheelchair friendly and even the pools have long gentle slopes to in and out of We heard of people having room issues but had no problems or qualms ourselves. Advice for travellers: Take entertainment for the plane journey Take loads of high factor suntan lotion Take mosquito protection Take your own beaker for the pool Don’t both with any money Overall we had a great holiday in a good hotel with good service with good food with ‘no stress’. We wouldn’t go back only because it was a little too hot for us. Nothing to do with the hotel though Advice for the hotel Offer sunbed waiter service, people tip the waiters and make it worth their while Snacks available near the pool would be a good idea