I stayed last week at the hotel, for 6 days.
When arriving they gave us a small room without terrace, and there was a wall facing the window.
As it was late at night, we slept there, but next morning we went to reception to complain, as those were not the hotel pictures I had seen on booking.com.
After talking with diferent people at reception during the whole day, they told us that that was the room we had booked.
On the booking that room appeared as superior, and the rooms that faced the sea, they told us that were the ones described as standard with views.
They agreed that maybe the descriptions on booking were not enough accurate , but that we paid for a room facing a wall. And if we wanted to channge we had to pay 14€ per night.
We finally paid, because Superior rooms were like being on a coffin.
On the other hand, they use the hotel as the public pool of Mindelo. They allow people from the town, yo use the pool and bar premises, paying 7€ fee, what means that the pools get crowded with famiilies that spend the whole day there, and there are everyday more than 100 people (most of them kids) bathing , shoouting, diving...
We could not rest by the pool a single day
That wasn't our idea of a relaxing holiday on a resort, and I had never faced anything like that before in any resort all over the world.
I complained at reception, and they told me that that they never had complaints... You can find another one on this trip advisor page from the previous week...
Also the dive club complains as for them is very hard to give PADI courses on the pool with 50 kids jumping all over the divers...
I also placed a claim on their web page and I did not get an answer yet.
Another bad experience was when my husband felt sick one night. He had diarrea and I went to the restaurant to order some rice for him and some dinner for me, in order to take it to our room. They told me that no problem, but when it was ready, they prepared a tour Eiffel with all the plates, put them on a tray, and gave it to me. they told me that there was no room service, and that I had to carry it on my own, and it weighted more than 6 kg!! No one helped me to bring our dinner to the room which was pretty far from the restaurant.
On the room terrace, there are no hammocks hanging, as you can see on the pictures... only a table and two chairs. So if you wanna lay without pools noise... you have to lay inside.Needless to say that there was only internet around the top pool... so we could only connect late at night, when all the people was gone-
It's a pity becauuse the hotel is clean and beautiful, and the beach in front amazing... though a bit dangerous because of big waves and currents.
Fod at the restaurant was good, but they have a big ventilation problem, even there are fans an AC, it's not enough. It looks like the heating and the AC were working at the same time.
Also when leaving, they wanted to charge us some room fees that we had already payed in advance.. So as you can see, our stay day was not very satisfactory.
And as a last note, there is a bus that takes you to Mindelo almost every our The bus driver that drove during the morning was the most disgusting person I ever met. . I probably hates his job, and you really notice it. Not even a hello when getting in, even I spooke portuguese with him...
So, this is what you will face, at least during Augost, when local people are on hoolidays and invade the resort ( I imagne that during the weekends they do so also)
There is no other resort on the island, except Goa hotel, which is located in Calhao, though is located on a remote area, about 20 min by car from Mindelo.
It's a pity, because the island has amazing beaches, Bahia das Gatas is astonishing. We went there and it was completly empty we did not a see a single person for hours, but you need to rent a car. .