Riu Palace Boavista - All Inclusive

We booked this as a last minute deal after our other holiday was cancelled The hotel and rooms are spacious , staff are friendly and its kept clean and tidy . The food is plentiful and there are also 3 speciality restaurants that we also tried ,with our favourite being "Krystal" The service in the main restaurant could be hit and miss for drinks depending on timings but on the whole still good with a decent selection of fish, meats pastas salads etc that was constantly replenished . There is hand sanitizer bottles at each entrance but not all guests seem to participate ( not the hotels fault ). I think the hotel would benefit in enforcement as people enter. The alcohol selection was good and it never took long to be served at the bar . The pools looked clean and tidy but it was quite windy whilst we were there so we didn't venture in The tui reps were very visible at the hotel and all salads, veg and ice are done with filtered water so we enjoyed all aspects with no issues Our room whilst having no sea view benefitted from afternoon sunshine on the balcony and I found it well equipped with complimentary safe , optics , complimentary mini bar , decent wardrobe and drawer space My only negative observations were , bathroom whilst clean and tidy needed some mould cleaner in areas , the beds are on wheels so could slide about on the floor , room hairdryer and magnifying mirror could do with being more powerful . The gym is small but functioning. Given the size of the place I think the hotel would benefit from a larger gym and more toilets near the evening entertainment area as the queue could develop in the evening at the ladies loos . The breakfast bread station could benefit from coverings as this was one area I saw a few flies , but other than that no issues at all with any food areas , food presentation On the whole a very pleasant trip and ideal for a completely relaxing break as there is very little to do . That said I enjoyed the break and would return to the hotel as it was refreshing to not need to reserve sunbeds anywhere in the hotel . Despite the hotel being full it never felt overcrowded anywhere

First impressions count, which at a hotel is check in. They know how many people to expect off a package holiday flight, are they suitably manned on reception? No. Wait 15/20 minutes if you are back of the queue, Brits waiting correctly. In come Russians queue jumping by go-ing to Customer Service not Reception where we were turned away from, is the queue man-aged correctly, no, a new queue for just Russians. BAD Later back at reception, your app won't work due to poor WiFi at our building the furthest away from reception, we can't try reserving a specialty restaurant for my birthday. BAD A very helpful chap books us in as an exception. GOOD. Our room has a terrible view, can we change it, no we are full, we'll make a note, maybe in a few days. BAD. Actually three days later they do contact us the change the room. GOOD. The pool and beach beds start being blocked by towel bagging at 07.30. The hotel says is it managed by removing towels from unused beds a couple of hours later. Do they apply this rule? No. BAD. The buffet selection of food at breakfast and particularly dinner is comprehensive and good quality. GOOD. The attentiveness of the staff replenishing drinks and removing used dishes is generally excellent, although one evening I did have to serve myself with wine due to missing staff. Two worth a mention were Adilson, Siviane GOOD. The specialty restaurant Krystal was excellent, service and food. GOOD. MISAKYI, ok but not great service or food. The entertainment is karaoke, quizzes, poor quality music that involves little participation dancing to reasonable shows. POOR. And later drunks taking over the stage and music system with absolutely abysmal singing. MORE BAD. What they need is some quiet adults bar with a cocktails, maybe quiet piano player, the saxophone we had at the pool bar during the day again in the evening. No, it's people packed in a main room waiting for slow service, although wandering waiters do their best, while listening to a third rate litany of tunes no one has ever heard before. Seating is for 4 around a table, the vast majority of people are couples. So tables are quite correctly taken by two people and unless you really like making friends spaces quickly run out. BAD. The main Muscat bar is immediately adjacent to the main room, no getting away from the incessant noise. BAD. Five cocktails listed, poor choice, no making of a named cocktail. BAD I want to book another specialty restaurant. There's a high demand. The app booking starts at midnight three days in advance. Yes, guests are set up to compete against each other by being awake at 00.01 to compete on an app for the few spaces. ABSOLUTELY DEMEAING, BAD. The beach is nice, good walks, clean. GOOD. Overall, we are used to far better, not for us, more like 1980's holiday camps I've seen on TV programmes now All Inclusive with noisy not quality shows. Which is a pity, the staff and quality of food mass produced for up to 1000 people a day are great

Stayed at the palace from 7th November to 18th November for my mums birthday. Was worried before arriving after seeing so many bad reviews, but wow was we pleasantly surprised. The hotel was beautiful and clean. Welcome drink on arrival at reception was a lovely touch. Food: The food was delicious lots of variety of meats, fish, pasta dishes etc to choose from, we spent most of the time in the Africa restaurant. Had a meal at the Japanese restaurant which was ok, but preferred the food in the main restaurant. Special mentions to Delly and Freddy at the Africa restaurant, always friendly and attentive. One point to mention definitely purchase a fly fan to use at breakfast and lunch, dinner did not see any flies. Entertainment: Shout out to the lovely evening entertainment team, always working hard to provide good entertainment. Had a dance with them a few nights, and they were all lovely and friendly. Junior the day time entertainment again friendly and got everyone going and enjoying themselves. Pool: Lovely swimming pools, would say some people tend to sit round the swim up bar most of the morning/afternoon drinking a lot of alcohol. Preferred the other pool without the swim up bar, less cramped. Lovely pool bars, staff always friendly, dancing and enjoying themselves. Some afternoons there was live music around the pool which was lovely. Only grumble would be maybe some new updated sun beds as they were a little out dated and uncomfortable, also maybe some new parasols as they do not protect you from the sun. Room: We were in room 0187, ground floor not too far from the restaurant. Clean, spacious rooms. Mini bar restocked every 2 days, but if you required more you can order on the app or speak with reception. You can also ask in the restaurant for more bottled water. Bars: The bar in the evening was lovely, sometimes was busy but the staff were all working really hard. Special mention to Kevin at the Muscat bar, friendly, attentive and gave good measures for the drinks, especially the mint liqueur . Good selection of drinks, staff always friendly and cleaning the tables. There was table service for the drinks, but we preferred to go to the bar and chat to the staff. Days Out: We came with Tui but did not use there trips as it was pricey. Spoke to people who have visited the hotel many times, who gave us Andrew Worthingtons tour details. Myself and my mum paid €40 each for a half day tour, and explored different parts of the island, tasting the local grogue, visited a local school and also did sand boarding. Would definitely recommend booking with them. Also booked a taxi from the hotel which was €10, which took us to Sal Rei and picked us back up. Definitely recommend doing things and paying for things locally. The white party at the sister hotel was amazing. We had our face painted at our hotel by the staff before we left. There was a shuttle bus but we walked with other guests, which took about 10 minutes. Definitely would recommend go

This is our third visit. The food is varied and beautifully prepared. We dined most evenings in the ( Africa) buffet restaurant- in the air conditioned inside section where you are served drinks. Melany- the resraurant supervisor stands out- a loveky fruendly lady. Friday & Saturdayfeatures more seafood. The staff are polite and cheerful . The entertainment good with shows and bands providing entertainment to around 10.45pm. The large pool is excellent for swimming. We avoid the beach because of sandflies which produce very itchy bites but the view is amazing. The entertainment team by the pool- JJ & colleagues provide much fun. November and April are our preferred visit times. So far we've visited Cape Verde some 5 times in November or December. Boa Visra being less windy. The very close location to the main airport is a plus. We also attended the White Party at the neighbouring hotel- it was like a 1980s rave. Better for those younger maybe. Relaxing by the pool and unwinding is our preference here.

Filthy hotel. Horrendous food. Poor cocktails. Absolutely filthy bedding with pictures to prove complaint. Mattress replaced in room and pillows and bedding. Rooms old and poor quality need updating.

We visited end of October beginning of November. I was really worried about our holiday after all the poor reviews and if I could have cancelled I would have done, however we had no issues at all. We found the hotel an excellent all inclusive hotel, the beach and pools and swim up bar are all gorgeous. We didn’t enter the sea and normally we prefer the beach to poolside. However, the sea is quite dangerous here with strong currents and rocks under the water, this wasn’t an issue as we used the beach and then went to the swim-up pool to cool down. The bars at the pool are lovely. There are absolutely no issues with getting a sun bed or a seat in the bars. The hotel is quite spread out so it never feels especially busy or crowded or full of children. The food, we mainly ate at the main buffet restaurant Africa and found this good. There’s a massive choice of food but I mainly stuck to the food under heat lamps as I was concerned about stomach problems from previous reviews. We didn’t have any issues with sickness or stomach problems (although we took lots of wet wipes and cleaned our hands after selecting food, just because lots of people all use the same food tongs). We went to the Japanese restaurant twice which was nice, I found the food ok, but my husband loved it. We didn’t really do the evening entertainment, mainly because it felt quite uncomfortable from other guests smoking, we sat inside but the fans seem to drag the smoke in. We went to the white party next door and that was such a good night, would highly recommend. My husband loved the sports bar next to the evening entertainment (there was no smoke in there) and lots of football on so he was happy. All the staff from restaurants, bars, cleaning, spa, reception all excellent. We did have couples massage and then went into the jacuzzi which was lovely. The only negatives about the hotel, I did not like the room, it was at the side/back of the hotel and felt damp and musty to start off with. It was ok after a couple of days and did not spoil our holiday. Also we went for my 50th and asked for some special requests which were not referred to at all by the hotel, again didn’t spoil our stay. All in all an excellent hotel but probably not 5 star, not really the attention to detail and is getting ready for a refurb in the rooms. Still thoroughly enjoyed and probably would return.

Not a 5* hotel We stayed at Riu Palace Boavista for 10 nights and unfortunately had a disappointing experience overall. On arrival, after traveling all night, we were told to wait three hours for our room, with no drinks, snacks, or assistance with luggage offered. Our first room was filthy: blood on the curtains, a sofa covered in stains, dirty bedding, shower tiles falling out, and an empty mini-bar. After complaining, we were moved to a cleaner room, which was much better, but still had issues: a loose shower door hinge, a crack in the balcony glass, and no sea view. The food was nice with lots of variety, but the cocktail menu was poor, and there was no dedicated gluten-free or dairy-free section, which could be limiting for other guests. Many sunbeds were grubby, with holes, stains, and peeling paint, and the mini-bar was often not replenished, requiring us to request water most days. There were lots of flies, understandable given the climate, and the walk from room 2035 to the beach/lift was long. We were told by other guests and family staying there that standards at the hotel have dropped compared to previous years. On a positive note, the staff were fantastic. The animation team (JJ, Junior, William, Nadine, Riccardo, Stacey and Stefanie), bartenders (Bruno, Djorge, Hermany, Fredy), and restaurant staff (especially Jose) were attentive, friendly, and professional. The entertainment shows were brilliant, and the beach is stunning. Neon party and White party were very good , we also booked quad biking and a boat trip and was great fun. Overall, while the natural beauty and staff are excellent, the poor room standards, maintenance issues, lack of guest care on arrival, and general drop in hotel quality made the stay difficult to enjoy fully. That said, we would consider returning to the hotel if standards improved and we were offered a better price, as the location, staff, and beach are truly excellent.

We came for 2 wks at Easter this is one of the best places we've visited , all of us have had so much fun from start to finish. The staff at this hotel are what make the difference they are so kind and always greet you with a smile. The cleaning staff are honestly the hardest working people I've seen they are none stop and this is reflected by the cleanliness here. There are sanitising stations at all bars and restaurants. The food here was amazing I normally live on pizza when on holiday, but I never had to eat it here as there was so much choice the meat was outstanding ( I don't eat fish so can't say about the fish) we did the Asian & steakhouse , steakhouse for us served the best steak we've had in any all inclusive hotel, Asian wasn't for us but that's only personal choice. Drinks were also great and plenty of choice. Evening entertainment for us was a bit of a let down yesterday they do shows but being there 2 wks we saw them both twice and most of the time the backing music was so loud you couldn't hear what the singers were singing. Beds were also great and we slept very well. Again thank you to all the staff that made our holiday so amazing until the next time.

Fantastic holiday from start to finish. Yes there is not much to do. I went for the Easter holidays with the intention of resting. The staff are all lovely, from the waiters, maids and bar staff etc. The hotel is immaculately clean, yes there are flies but I found eating inside helped. When I first arrived, I worried about my health as I am expecting. I noticed the food hall was swamped with flies but this only happens if it is ridiculously warm and Thank God it didn’t occur again. I did purchase fly fans. Wash hands thoroughly and regularly and use hand sanitiser and you should not be sick. Please do not let the media put you off a fab holiday as it almost did me!