Hotel Riu Karamboa - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Arrived for a relaxing week away with my sister - no plans to party, so the concerns raised in other posts about not having anything to do did not bother us. Got a taxi from the airport which cost us 10 euro and took less than ten minutes. Cigarettes were available at the airport for around €20-€25 a sleeve and in the hotel for €5.50 a pack of 20. You can pick up souvenirs from the hotel shop as well as small food and drink items but they seemed expensive such as large packs of crisps for €7. Hotel was well presented and clean in all areas, from reception to the room to the pool area - pool toilets are the cleanest I have ever come across, with staff working there throughout the day to ensure the high standards are maintained! Room was cleaned well each day, fresh pool towels swapped each day and staff could always be seen in and around the complex cleaning and tidying different parts. Never had to wait more than a couple of minutes for a drink regardless of which bar we used and the team were happy to make drinks that were not on the menu. Given how many cocktails I was able to drink there is a question mark as to how much alcohol is in the pre-mixed ones, but as there are optics in the room, there is always more available and can’t say this impacted the holiday at all. Food was good, did start to feel a little ‘samey’ towards the end of the week, but that was more us than what was available as there was more than enough choice in the restaurants - would say the main restaurant was more organised and offered more options at lunchtime than the smaller one. Took some pics of the huge variety of food available on one evening - as well as this there was also a carvery with two different meats, Yorkshire puddings and veg. In terms of speciality restaurants, it’s annoying that new bookings for the day only become available at midnight as some people don’t stay up that late each day - we managed to secure bookings at the Italian, which we didn’t rate and would not return to as well as the Asian, which was really good and if we had been able to, would have booked to eat here again. Didn’t manage to book the other restaurant. Outside the resort we walked right along the beach and went to a couple of beach bars before reaching the town where we visited a couple of shops and had a snack before getting a taxi back. The walk was a couple of miles but with the breeze and stops for cocktails was easy enough. We paid ten euro for a taxi back from town. There is free snorkelling, body boarding and other beach activities however the sea is VERY rough. Had red flags a couple of days were were there, and even on the days we were able to go in the sea you had to get out past the waves before you could enjoy it. There are lifeguards at the beach directly outside the resort. Snorkelling trips were not available whilst we were here due to how rough the sea was. Loads of activities in the hotel though including bingo, painting, yoga, aqua-fit, water f

After reading so many mixed reviews of the Riu Karamboa hotel, I was not sure of what to expect. To very be honest, I am not sure what people were going on about because the service and hospitality was exceptional, and I have never seen staff all work efficiently from the cleaning team to the restaurant staff. Yes the hotel can be overwhelming with the 2000 guests staying there but the property is vast and large and spacious so does not feel like you are living on top of each other. The lobby and foyer of the reception area is incredibly beautiful and quaint filled with African décor it is truly magnificent and you can sit there and watch the world go by with a drink in your hand. We were allocated room 3095 and the views were truly magnificent, towels were changed daily and the mini bar stocked every other day. We had the same cleaning lady for the duration of our stay called Clarice. She was a beautiful and kind lady and always had our room looking immaculate and spending time to chat with us. Thank you Clarice. There is so much choice for food, the breakfast was always busy, but the choice is overwhelming, there is continental as well as all types of cooked breakfast and different types of pastries, breads, cheeses, American breakfast to cater to everyone’s needs. You name it you have a thousand choice even drinks. Breakfast was served in Mogambo restaurant. It was very well laid out; the staff were always on hand to clear the tables and refill coffee and teas. They all worked very hard the kitchen staff, the waiters and waitresses must all be commended for their efficient and first-class service. There are ample choices during the day if you are hungry, this is a place where drinks and food are constantly on tap. There is Pepe’s Grill by the poolside if you require a snack and also Las Dunas serving everything from salads, pizza and cooked food. Lots of choices. The only thing I would say that is annoying was trying to book the restaurants in the evening, you need to book 3 days in advance by 12 midnight. I was fortunate to experience all 3 restaurants but felt sometimes when we went there some tables were empty which is a shame as if people can’t make it, others cannot book so the booking system needs to change so more people can have the chance to have dinner. We particularly liked Kulinarium restaurant as you have a set menu. Kazumi is an Asian style restaurant so that was pretty good. Toscana restaurant which is Italian cuisine was decent. The hotel is very beautiful and peaceful and the surroundings, staff are always cleaning, and the garden areas are always attended to, it is truly stunning. There is a shop in the hotel where you can buy clothing, toiletries and also pay a deposit to borrow an iron which I found a bit strange. You pay a deposit of 35 Euros to have an iron with no ironing board in the room. I think this needs to be changed as it is the first time that I have stayed in a hotel that you pay to use the iron; this shoul

Came back for another 2 week holiday in February. Did not disappoint. Hotel still spotless. Had a sea view room which was lovely but all rooms look out over either the sea or gardens. The staff were the usual friendly happy team we remembered. Everyone has a smile and hello. Entertainment was better than last year and different shows over the 2 weeks. Just perfect for stepping off the world and chilling Definitely no stress !

Back after they have totally redecorated. Lovely light rooms public areas much improved. All areas kept spotless by the cleaning and garden staff. All staff very friendly and helpful. Plenty of sun beds etc. even the toilets are made to be specially especially by the young lady.

Beautiful hotel with so much to offer. We have visited previous Riu hotels however this one has been the best for us (so far!). The food, although sometimes busy in the restaurant, is so varied and for someone like myself (a picky eater!), I found that I was able to eat plenty every night. The drinks were local drinks whoever we enjoyed these and definitely got our monies worth! The beach that is at the back of the hotel is absolutely beautiful, so many sun loungers available and lovely to sit on. Plenty of pools to pick from, never struggled to get a sun lounger. The animation team were absolutely fabulous, the nightly entertainment was great. Big shout out to Emmanuel, one of the dancers - he was absolutely fabulous, so friendly and funny, often joined us for a game of UNO before his show! He really made the evenings for us. The wind is really high for most parts of the day; however, this should be expected considering it’s a coastal hotel on a island that isn’t built up - unsure as to why other reviewers complain about this, plus it’s not something the hotel can rectify! Weather was fabulous for the most part. Would absolutely love to return to this hotel next year; the only issue I have is how much more money they wanted to be there over Christmas week. We travelled 17-24th, I looked at a quote for the 21-28th however they wanted so much extra money for this. I understand it is Christmas time, but it seems greedy to me as it isn’t the hotel workers that benefit from such a price increase. However; that being said, I am aware that this is not the hotel’s doing however more so is a bigger issue with TUI. Overall, we had an absolutely amazing holiday, completed some excursions, ate and drank until we could no more, and will definitely return!

My husband and I are just coming to the end of our second stay, we visited in December last year and decided to return for some winter sun. We’ve had a lovely week, the weather hasn’t been great this week but still warmer than at home. The hotel still looks great, we didn’t ask for a specific room number but asked for a high floor room in a quiet area and that’s exactly what we got. The room was cleaned to a high standard, we asked for some extra pillows and water via the app and they arrived straight away. We managed to book all three restaurants via the app, our favourite this year was the Asian. We got a taxi into town, had a couple of drinks in a couple of bars near the harbour. We then walked to the beach bar and then got a taxi back to the hotel as it was dark. We didn’t go on the water slides this year as the weather wasn’t that great but we did go In the sea a couple of times when it wasn’t red flag. Entertainment at night isn’t great in our opinion, I would recommend bringing some card games for the evening. Lots of lovely staff, toilets and food areas always kept clean. We will probably return one day but will try some where new next winter

Fantastic hotel , friendly helpful staff. Loved the decor , rooms recently renovated and well equipped for the perfect beach/poolside holiday. Loved the restaurants particularly the gourmet . We chilled out from the moment we arrived and wanted longer at this fabulous hotel . Thanks to the team for a memorable 10 days in the sun .

Hotel/room - the hotel was really nice, decent ground, on the beach, clean and welcoming. Our room was decent enough (standard double), clean, bit compact and the balcony was small with no real view, we were not wowed but we weren't disappointed either. Pools - they had several nice pools all very close to each other which I loved because they were a decent size to do lengths in (when not too busy) but Clem only liked as she prefers more designed/stylish pools. They had nice beds within them and at each end the last pools had swim up bars for drinks etc. They had stairs to enter them or a slope which would be handy for those less mobile. They also had a pool and waterslide park free to use, which was good fun and not sure what it would be like on school holidays but we could go up with no queue and go down them as often as we wanted with no waiting. Restaurants/food - The buffet was excellent at both breakfast and dinner. Excellent food and plenty to choose from. The main restaurant and lunch restaurant were also very good for lunch, plenty of choice and all very good. We liked also that the restaurant had self service beer taps and soft drink/fizzy drink dispensers too so there was no real waiting around if you wanted to serve yourself and go up to the buffet in a hurry. Themed restaurants, we only really got to eat in the steak one which was really tasty but generally the themed restaurants would get booked up super early and were quite difficult to get bookings for but with the buffet being so good it wasn't the end of the world for us. Staff - as we mainly used the buffet and self service beer etc, we didn't have that much interaction with restaurant staff but they were friendly and polite enough. The entertainment staff were brilliant and you could tell they really cared about their customers having a good time. This was evident in both the day and evening. Entertainment - they have a white night or neon night weekly and this is their extravaganza. It was great fun and a good party where the staff dressed up in various outfits and made a fuss of all the guests. We did find the entertainment a little samey the other nights however, it was usually the entertainment team miming to songs or similar and although fun to begin with, it kind of loses it's appeal after a few nights. Beach - beach was very nice. We love a beach walk and right outside the hotel, it is very high waves and treacherous. However, if you take a 10 minute walk along the beach, you can find much calmer water where we were able to have a swim and enjoy a much calmer sea but then there's no lifeguards at that part but we swim quite well and found it a lot safer for us personally All in all, we had a very enjoyable holiday. We loved that Cape Verde is winter sun but with a lesser flight for us in London than most other winter sun destinations so we will definitely consider it as a destination in future and we would almost certainly pick this hotel again if w

The hotel, staff, food and facilities where exactly as we expected for a 5 star hotel in a lovely location. They all meet our expectations and more.