Sundy Praia – Principe Collection

We only stayed here for one night, but that was enough. The complex is beautifully located in the jungle by the beach and the tent villa was very large and luxurious, but unfortunately there are also various shortcomings that such an expensive luxury accommodation should not have. Quite a few families with children stay there, so it's not really quiet. The ways within the complex are relatively long. For example, we had to walk about 10 minutes from our tent villa to the restaurant. If you're not very mobile, this complex is not suitable. The food was nothing special. At the other HBD resorts, such as Bom Bom Island or Roca Sundy, there were always two dishes to choose from for dinner. This was the case for the starter, main course and dessert. Here, there was only one menu. Drinks are included in the price of the accommodation, but only the cheap ones. For example, a cocktail at the bar costs extra. The worst thing we noticed was that other people had bed bugs. We saw the bites ourselves. The management told people not to tell anyone else. People were then moved to Roca Sundy and Bom Bom Island Resort due to lack of space. In other words, the management wants to cover up such things. All in all, the resort is overpriced and does not offer good value for money. Therefore, we will not be staying there again in the future.

We do thorough research and work closely with properties we choose to visit. Almost a year before our trip we asked two questions which would determine if we chose this property: 1) Do you have secluded and quiet villas? and 2) can you cater for a dietary restriction? We were assured YES for both and we given a map of the property and shown the secluded villa that we would get. Fast forward 10 months later and neither came true. We did not get the villa we weee promised, we were given the villa BESIDE the pool/bar and in front of a property that had two small children in it. Absolute disaster. It was so loud we couldn’t be outside and resented we went all that way for an experience we were promised and not delivered. We were dismissed and even when we escalated and offered the property to rectify the issue, we were dismissed. Terrible customer service and deliberate lies to secure our payment upfront and then not deliver. I would not recommend the property and HBD as a whole. Highly deceptive and not customer focused at all. We will not recommend and will not return.

We stayed at Sandy Praia over Christmas 2024. On the plus side the location and environment around Sunday is lovely. They have all the makings of an excellent secluded resort. Unfortunately the execution of the experience is far below par for this price and the difficulty encountered to get to this resort. I would suggest going to Belo Monte if you are going to Principle island. - We had confirmed prior to booking and arrival that we would have a quiet room. But we were allocated a room that was directly beside the pool and bar (Room 3). As it was Christmas there were no other rooms available and too bad for us. We couldn't really enjoy our space as we had people walking past our beach space every 5 minutes, could hear children screaming in the pool and the music from the bar into the evening. It completely ruined our hopes of a relaxing secluded holiday. This is totally unacceptable and not what you would expect from a properly managed property. - The staff are friendly and trying their best. However, what I can only assume is a lack of proper training, they fail to give you the service you would expect for a resort of this nature. English is an issue and simple requests go unanswered. Service is slow for all meals. You are made to wait for breakfast to start, tour guides are late and you are constantly in search of water. Very poor at this price point. - We booked massages and on the day they had disappeared from the diary so we were made to wait. When we did get massages they had screwed up someone else's booking who was knocking on the door throughout. Not very relaxing or professional. - As it was Christmas we paid a large supplement for our dinner on Christmas Eve. This was early our worst meal of the trip with dry steak, long wait times and limited drink options. Not what I expected for an extra 120 euros per person. So int he end, unfortunately our hopes of a relaxing holiday were dashed by poor communication by the manager Paolo, unmet expectations and lack of execution for even the simplest of tasks. We wouldn't go back.

This is a fantastically relaxing hotel, set on the waters edge of a pristine rain forest. The rooms are just gorgeous - large and luxurious. They are in fact tents but luxurious ones not unlike the sort of thing you get in an upmarket safari. The double bed is huge and they all have a large shower, separate toilet, 2 handbasins and a comfortable bath right by the window looking out into the rain forest. There's plenty of wardrobe space, a sitting area and a small fridge. The food is very good and the ingredients are mainly local, and organic where possible. The hotel can organise excursions, on the island and by small boat. But make no mistake, you are not going to a Maldives or Caribbean type resort. The island is a poor one, and the infrastructure is still quite basic outside of the Praia Sundy resort. But set against that, you will be visiting an island before it is overtaken by mass tourism. The one downside I found had nothing to do with the hotel. The rainy season started earlier that I expected and with rain, come mosquitos.

A luxury jungle camp. They gave us room nr. l which means direct view and access to the beach. Friendly and attentive staff. We felt like in another, peaceful, world. The dinners were fine with even Absolut or Gin and Tonic included. Less the dinner at the beach which up to more than only my opinion was of the basic ones. Like in the Pestana São Tomé... That yes, with good staff and afro entertainment. The guides, kind and informative, they bring you to many places you will see in very few other places of the world. The one from five stars I can't give in because of the food in the beach dinner and especially our car to the airfield departed 20 minutes late. We feared to loose the flight: 9:10 flight, 7:30 should the car leave but it left at 7:50 to through the jungle pathes. Thanks to Paulo, Head of booking dept., we didn't loose it at all because STP Airways departs earlier on Saturdays than in our tickets. Be aware: lava pavimento pathes and steps make it handicap unfriendly