Hotel Riu Karamboa - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Arrived to Riu Karamboa on 25th November, my second visit to Cape Verde (previously stayed at the palace next door and had a great experience)! Upon arrival and collecting my luggage I got a taxi to the hotel costing €10 and around 10 minute drive (worth it in my opinion to miss the queues at check in for the hotel. I checked into the hotel online a few days before my departure to make things as smooth as possible. Once I arrived to the hotel and got my key I was passed a map and basically just told ‘that way’ with no other direction or help. I asked is their stairs/a lift as my case was heavy, at which point I was then offered assistance with my luggage and it would follow me. Support only offered if asked and no offer of an arrival drink or even a glass of water! Arrived to my room which was on the other side of the hotel to open my door and find a member of the maintenance staff fixing a leak and a maid lay on the bed scrolling her phone (everyone deserves a break but I find this extremely inappropriate)! When I asked what was going on I got a curt ‘you cannot stay in this room’ and a point to the leak. I headed back to reception, carrying an extremely heavy hand luggage and feeling exhausted with the heat and feeling quite dehydrated. Got back to reception and waited for 5 minutes for a member of staff to even acknowledge me (note it wasn’t busy as coach from airport not yet arrived), when they did they said they are changing my room and apologies for the inconvenience and they will arrange for luggage to come to my new room, I explained I understood however for me to walk into my room to find a maid lay on the bed and maintenance in there was unacceptable and rather uncomfortable. My new room was assigned and I was told this was a ‘much better room’ and someone would walk me over there. A gentleman walked me over to the block and said ‘floor 3’ so I headed up the stairs and turned around to see he had disappeared without word. Got to my new room and after 2 minutes the electricity totally cut out! By this point I was extremely frustrated. I waited 5 minutes to see if it would come back on and it didn’t so headed back to reception. Reception was empty by this point and members of staff were chatting behind the desk and I waited 10 minutes to be acknowledged again! Once acknowledged and explained the problem the man behind the desk went to speak to someone, I was told there was a power outage and would be sorted soon. I explained ‘soon’ wasn’t good enough considering this was my second room within 30 minutes of checking in and 2 issues now and needs to be rectified immediately. After lots of back and forth I reluctantly accepted the room and another member of staff walked me back over, this gentleman was extremely helpful and offered to carry my heavy bag and waited with me whilst maintenance attended to fix the problem. Maintenance man was in and out of the room for around 45 minutes as once electricity came on, the air con wasn’t working bu

We caught a very severe stomach virus at the hotel’s restaurant on the last day of our stay. We’ve been recovering at home for four days now, and barely managed to fly back. We had a fever of 40°C, vomiting, and diarrhea. We felt extremely sick, and the overall impression of the trip was completely ruined. It will take at least a month to restore proper stomach function. Here is my feedback on the hotel: Room: The rooms are basic, and I don’t have major complaints — everything functioned properly. However, the level of cleanliness was very low. There were someone else’s hairs in the bed, visible smudges and dirt everywhere, and the sofa was stained with someone’s lipstick. Throughout the entire stay, the bed linens were changed only once — and only because I specifically requested it. The room did not include even the most essential hygiene items. No dental kit, no shaving kit, no hair conditioner, no body lotion, no cotton buds, no slippers, no bathrobe. Nothing at all except a bar of soap, which ran out and was never refilled. I have long hair and have stayed in hotels in 41 countries — there is always hair conditioner. Here, I wasn’t able to properly brush my hair for the entire trip. It was awful. What made it even worse is that the hotel shop didn’t sell conditioner either, so it wasn’t even possible to buy it. I called reception several times but always received a refusal, no matter what I asked. There is simply no service. Restaurant: There is a lot of food, but it’s the same dishes repeated everywhere. The food is not tasty. Very few vegetarian options. A very limited selection of fruits. The menu never changes — it’s exactly the same every day. And getting food poisoning on the last day was a complete nightmare. Also, many of the waitresses appeared to be around 8–9 months pregnant. We felt genuinely sorry for these poor women, and honestly, it completely killed our appetite. Beach: The beach is beautiful, with palm trees used instead of umbrellas. However, the waves in the ocean are extremely strong, around 2–3 meters high. I went in for a swim, was knocked down several times, and ended up losing my Apple Watch. Swimming in this ocean is practically impossible. There is also constant wind. If you want to spend a month recovering your health after a one-week vacation — then this is the hotel for you.

Excellent hotel, very clean and the staff are very friendly, the food and entertainment was excellent, lots of sun beds and natural shade on the beach, just de aware at this time of year you need a wrap or something to keep the wind off! We had a swim up room and used the app if we wanted anything, very efficient 👍🕶️

Loved every second! As soon as we landed it was incredible, one of my favourite holidays ever and a gorgeous place. The staff really do make this place, all so lovely and happy! The hotel itself was spotless and the room was great. The food was also very nice for a buffet with lots of options. If you did want a break from the main buffet you can book into the other restaurants, again buffets but nice! There are 2 beach bars both a walk along with beach one to the left and one to the right, about 20 min and 40 min walk but worth it. The entertainment staff were amazing, always something going on, special shout out to Darlene, Samuel, Pedro and Kevin! Thank you to Cape Verde and Karamboa, we will definitely be back ＜3

Just returned from our first stay here and it definitely won’t be our last. Stayed here for a week and had the most wonderful stay. Ground floor room in block 7 was great. Despite its proximity to entertainment and restaurants it was silent at night. Beds were the most comfortable ever and a good shower. Room (as with the rest of the hotel) was spotlessly cleaned and maintained. Great addition of the mini bar and optics. Spent most of our time on the beach and always seemed to be sunbeds available somewhere (either around the pool or on the beach) if you were flexible. Despite being a very active person I managed to completely relax and did very little. Was full of good intentions of using the gym/ classes/going on trips, we did almost nothing ! Some nice beach walks were had. Food was delicious- something for everyone. I was nervous over the tummy issues that were constantly mentioned in the run up but no problems at all. Used hand sanitizer religiously and washed hands a lot and exercised caution over food choices and placement (ie taking food from buffet that had been recently refilled or from the bottom of piles and definitely not leaving plates of food outside on tables to be tasted by flies while going off to get drinks to go with the fly ridden meal -saw this worryingly often!) Entertainment was pretty good although we preferred to sit in the lovely lobby bar. Drinks were pretty good quality and bar staff were happy to try to accommodate most requests. I drank my body weight in tequila based cocktails! Soft drink selection was ok and Diet Coke and Sprite Zero tasted good. If I really had to give any negatives I’d be scraping the barrel but :- coffee wasn’t good No fizzy wine Wine on tap not great Footprint of the hotel was pretty large and you may struggle if you have mobility issues But, thats being really picky! Will definitely be booking to go again