By Peter Faulkner FOR the past two years my wife has been dreaming of a holiday in Cape Verde, but various medical problems like a new hip for me and a new knee for her meant that this trip in particular had to be put on the back burner. During that time we continued to digest endless reviews on Trip Advisor and were becoming more and more pessimistic about the resort, about the staff and about the facilities. We were also getting concerned that many of you complained about sickness and undercooked food at the Sol Dunas Resort. Before I begin the serious part of my review, I would like to point out a few instances where the public rather than the hotel should have the finger of blame firmly pointed at them. Firstly we watched a woman take a spoonful of jam, lick the spoon then put it back in the same jam dish for everyone to use. Secondly a young girl dropped a piece of lettuce or green vegetable on the floor and instead of throwing it away the mother picked it up and put it back with the other vegetables for another innocent person to pick up. Finally, staff either stand at the dining room entrance offering you hand sanitiser before you dine or it is there for you to apply yourself. Most people were ignoring this so if you were one of these people don’t go on Trip Advisor blaming the hotel for illness when your own bad habits are to blame. Generally Sol Dunas is a lovely place with five pools,brilliant kids entertainment every day, great shows (Lion King was the best I have ever seen abroad) and a jolly, friendly atmosphere that started the minute Embrima took our cases to our room. He typified the staff attitude, friendly, helpful, and chatty and we fell in love with the people and the facilities. And to be honest every single staff member from Saila
to Naiva, from Hamilton to Jaoa, from Caprice to Gabriel and the many others doing their jobs with a smile, they made our holiday. Whoever criticised them on Trip Advisor must have been a miserable bugger because our experience was totally the opposite. There have been bad reviews about food, but you have to understand this is all inclusive and hotels have to cater for all nationalities not just the British. It will never be Gordon Ramsey cuisine unless you are paying an absolute fortune for your holiday. But any all inclusive, whether you to go Cape Verde, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt or Greece, will be very similar (Egypt surpasses them all for choice). Sol Dunas may be 4 Star for facilities, but it is only on par with other all inclusive destinations in Europe for its food - good, adequate portions and choice but nothing you wouldn’t get elsewhere in Europe. Spices restaurant had sufficient choice for everyone and even the fussiest of eaters like me while I wasn’t over impressed with The Grill or Terrazo the Italian. I ate twice at The Grill.and on both occasions the food was barely warm while Terrazo is little more than a pizza restaurant because there were only two meat dishes meat lasagne and pork escalopes. The rest is pizza.
My only other criticism of Sol Dunas is the Tui Guest Experience Team who I asked for certain support when I arrived so I could write this newsletter for the 197,000 online members of London Community Watch. They promised a lot but did nothing and could only apologise when I spoke to them the day before I went home. My idea of Guest Experience Teams or guest relations, is that in the resorts I have visited, they mingle with guests asking if they have any complaints or any suggestions for improvements. It is the only way to discover whether guests are enjoying their holiday rather than primarily concentrating on selling trips (which can be bought far cheaper elsewhere anyway - see places to visit).
Kids facilities were incredible and there was something going on every day either in the pool or at the kids club. The beach was not only one of the best I have seen with miles of endless white sand, but it was also one of the quietest with loungers and shades always available. Overall Sol Dunas a great place to stay although I think the area will eventually benefit when the infrastructure at Santa Maria is complete. It has taken seven months so far to try and build a road so the town is like a building site.
island tour, which lasted almost eight hours, was brilliantly hosted by Vania and included several stops for diving and swimming, wading with lemon sharks, a stop for lunch which you order in between stops (this is a worthwhile extra), a trip to a fishing village, bathing in the sea salt lake and a visit to a slum site where we gave out pens, pads and erasers to some of the poor kids. Contact Gus or Vania at Paradise Adventures -+238 995 91 31 or +238 99767 35 or go to his Facebook page Gooseguscaboverdesal HIT SANTA MARIA BEACH Sal is home to some of the best beaches in Cape Verde, and Santa Maria is where you’ll find clean white sands stretching off to the horizon in either direction. There are good snorkelling opportunities offshore and a turtle hatchery near the Riu Funana hotel, where you can see the impossibly cute hatchlings make for the waves in the evenings during NovemberDecember. Despite its increasing popularity with holidaymakers, the 8km beach IS relatively unspoiled.
Vania Andrade, our tour guide round the island and on the turtle watching experience. She was one of the gems in our package booked with Gus at Paradise Adventures. TURTLE WATCHING & ISLAND TOUR This was one of the most amazing experiences we endured, watching Loggerhead turtles come out of the sea, lay their eggs then disappear into the sea again. They usually return after a week or so to lay more eggs and, surprisingly, always return to the same beach no matter how long they have been away. You can book this trip and a round the island tour with one of the many agents on the beach or with your tour rep, but we booked our’s through Gus at Paradise Adventures who was cheaper and offered more. The
BATHING IN SEA SALT LAKE The town of Pedra Lume’s main claim to fame is a volcanic crater filled with what’s known as the ‘salt sea’. Sal means ‘salt’ in Portuguese, and the island was an important source of this precious mineral during colonial times. Nowadays, the salt sea is the perfect spot for a relaxing float – the warm pools are saltier than the Dead Sea, so it’s practically impossible to sink. Opening Hours: Daily 9am-6pm. Tickets: Entrance is around €5. Address: Pedra Lume, Ilha do Sal, Cape Verde VISIT THE BOTANICAL GARDENS Considering that the interior of Sal is mostly desert, it’s quite a surprise to run across the oasis of green that is the Viveiro Botanical Garden. A pleasant stroll among the palms, surrounded by bright yellow hibis-
cus and fragrant oleander flowers, makes for a very different experience from careening across the desert on a quad bike – and they’ve even got a tiny zoo complete with donkeys, goats, rabbits, ducks and peacocks. Tickets: 5 Euros. Address: Zona da Fátima, Santa Maria, Ilha do Sal 4111, Cape Verde TAKE A LUXURY BOAT TRIP Always Sailing offers the chance to cap off your Cape Verde holiday with a trip across the Atlantic, in a beautiful white racing yacht no less. A full 8-hour day costs €99 and includes lunch and snorkelling stops. Pick up is from Palmeira, and full-day excursions are available on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. If your idea of heaven is more like floating along on a catamaran, flanked by wild whales and dolphins, then Sal has that option too – enquire down at the pier in Santa Maria. GO SCUBA DIVING The best views in Cape Verde are from below and while you won’t find the kind of coral damage that plagues more famous diving destinations, you’ll still have the chance to come eyeball-to-eyeball with mantas, turtles and even sharks! Scuba Team Cabo Verde offer diving trips into the cave that forms the Blue Eye (Buracona), as well as excursions to 19 different dive sites along the coast and even into an old shipwreck
Excellent pools, amazing beach
Staff went above and beyond
We think the place is amazing. For us, priorities are pool ,beach and kids having an outstanding holiday. This hotel ticks all the boxes for us. Definitely one of the best beaches we have been too. Thanks to Junior and Sofia from the Grill who the kid's really liked. Room - in 1365, close to kid's pirate pool and slide. Farthest from Spices and beach. Disappointed with balcony as not a good view, and it is not cleaned. Improvements hotel could make: As a non drinker am really missing fresh juices. Stuff out of machine is too sugary. Spices could do with large written menu's at the buffet, everyone has to walk up and down to work out what the dishes are and the signs are tiny so it makes it congested. Ice lollies... Kids are really missing these. One hotel we went to had fresh watermelon juice and jelly lollies and these went down a treat! Went with Sodade tours from beach for island tour and was really happy with the tour.
Enjoyable holiday - staff went above and beyond Stayed in this hotel in April 2018. Had two apartments, one with myself, my partner and two kids and the other with my parents. Both apartments were clean and well maintained. The resort was clean and well maintained. There were lots of pools and different areas to keep kids entertained. The apartments were clean and well maintained. The showers in our room went cold after 2 showers so this wasn’t ideal. My mums shower was fine. We had a two bedroom apartment which was ideal giving us and the kids privacy and was large enough in size. There were plenty of sun beds and not everyone was leaving towels in loungers which was a bonus. The main restaurant had plenty of food options and was good enough. We upgraded to Melia side for last few days which was well worth it. The restaurants there were of a much better class, Rancho restaurant in particular was nice. Staff at one of the al carte restaurants in sol Dunas were rude we arrived 5 mins before it opened and kids feet were sore and they wouldn’t let us sit for five mins until they were ready. The staff generally went over and above to ensure we had everything we needed. One porter walked us to the other side of the resort to find something. When we have him a tip he was so grateful and tried to refuse saying it was his job. The kids really enjoyedthe KIds Club. It was well advertised and they were made feel welcome. Entertainment was reasonable enough. It was outside in ambitheatre and because of breeze was cold. If you feel the cold take long dresses/trousers and cardigan for night time at that time of year. The bar service was good enough. Plenty of options.
Simply the best We have just come back after a amazing 10 days stay in sol dunes. As most people we read the reviews but we were pleasently surprised. The reception team (kenny) was fantastic very happy with anything we asked for and even a room change. The food was exceptional as plenty to choose from and fresh. The 5 different pools were always clean with plenty of sun beds. We booked a sal island tour by Steven Steven on the beach and what fun we had. The kids enjoyed kids club and entertainment was brilliant. We can not thank the team from Sal dunes for making our holiday simply the best.
You couldn’t hear any noise etc in our apartment. The beds were comfortable. There was T.V. with English channels available. The WiFi was good enough. Overall an enjoyable stay. Would definitely go back. Potentially to Melia side as restaurants here were nicer.
Definitely going back We were looking for the next Egypt for us for shorter breaks and we have found it. Apart from being as far from the sea as you could get we loved this break. It took about 15 mins to reach the sea as you have to walk through the Meila Dunas to get there and we were at the far end of the hotel. The food in the main restaurant wasn't bad at all for a buffet service and the "al a carte" restaurants weren't bad either. Drinks were good from the coffee to the cocktails. I particularly liked the mojito's. The room was pretty large if a bit sparse with furniture. The beds were comfortable and we had a good pool view. Everything here is laid back and you have to get used to the customer service that comes with that. Pretty good value overall and nice and quiet.
Really lovely family resort Like a lot of people I read the negative criticism of this hotel with concern but I needn’t have worried. The hotel is wonderful. There is so much for kids to do and the numerous pools mean you can spend a few hours on water slides, then chill out somewhere else then move on to the kids splash pool. There’s an excellent playground too plus good WiFi if you want it too. We are here now and our room is spotless, the towels plentiful, the food really good and varied and the staff full of smiles. You’ll have a lovely, lovely time!