Hotel Riu Funana - All Inclusive

How this gets away with calling itself 5 star is beyond me. An outrageous claim made by TUI. F54, F44 & M18 year old. Upon arrival given room 80 & ** in block 11. Furthest away from all facilities even though advised months prior of reduced mobility. Room was dark, dingy & smelt of mould. Exposed electrics, continuously running toilet and shower room ceiling leaking water and ready to collapse! Reception staff reluctant to help and only reallocated rooms when I really put my foot down and then they behaved as if they were doing me a favour! Moved to block 7 which was better but still not what you would expect from a 5star. Only two plug sockets in main room and over the other side from the kettle?! drinks tray with everything apart from milk so unable to have a cuppa. Very basic shower area, shower head not staying up properly, cracked tiles, grubby, but as already complained about first room didn’t want to again. No private space to change as toilet and shower open out to sink area then straight on to main room. Was cleaned when requested. Food was repetitive but ok, separate restaurants not much better disappointingly. We didn’t get ill so that was a bonus. Awful wine but ok cocktails. Lovely pool area and plenty of beds but tightly packed and people do reserve beds regardless of rules. 10 min walk to the beach along the gauntlet of lookie lookies . Beach is beautiful and the sea when safe to go in was lovely. Beach bar only serving beer and soft drinks. Neon party was fun and effort put in to and most staff generally friendly and hard working. 5€ taxi into Santa Maria for bars, restaurants and shops. Worth a visit but you will be repeatedly hassled. I really feel cheated out of 5K after looking forward for six months. TUI has received my formal complaint as that room was a health and safety hazard and no paying guests should have been staying in there. We would return to Cape Verde but definitely not to this hotel.

Once again I stayed at Riu Funana. This hotel always provides a great experience. From the bar to the restaurants, to the pool, to the staff, to the animation team. To repeat when possible! Strongly recommend.

Confused with the mixed reviews especially the bad reviews of this hotel, in my honest opinion this hotel by far is the nicest I’ve stayed in, not only is the hotel itself so clean the rooms cleaned daily to a high standard, the staff are friendly and they really go that extra mile, the food is outstanding with a great choice each day, there was nothing I could fault within the restaurants, we was able to book the other restaurants via the Rui app whilst these restaurants were also very good with excellent service. The hotel grounds are very big and for the first 2 days we did get a little lost but once we got our bearings it was all good, the pool was clean and the swim up bar lovely with again great service and atmosphere. We stayed for 7 nights and myself and my partner wished we had booked longer we will definitely be returning. Sal itself is a beautiful place the beaches by far the best I’ve seen. all in all the laid back atmosphere of Cape Verde was infectious and I’d recommend visiting this hotel and resort. If I could give one bit of advice take some good mosquito repellent.

Out first time in Cabo Verde and I'd hear some good/some bad. So...whats it all about? Firstly the hotel. Reception was always manned and the staff were always helpful and polite. The rooms are spaced out in a number of blocks (it is quite a large site!). Our room (8009) was on the ground floor at the end of the block. We had no issues with the room at all - we came prepared with mosquito plug ins (always take them abroad - who doesnt??). Cleaned every day, free safe, comfy bed, good shower, fridge in room. Ticked my boxes. The food in the restaurant was always plentiful, good selection and hot. We tried the two 'special' restaurants - the Kulinarium, where we had a menu and ordered the fillet steak, which was absolutely lush. Worth a visit. We tried the Asiatico but left after 15 minutes - not the fault of the restaurant per se, but whilst we found the choice of starters was fantastic, there was very limited main courses (although also to be fair, I'm not a big Chinese foodie - I was expecting maybe a little more Thai cuisine) There are multiple bars (and a 24 hour sports bar), where the you can pretty much get what you want - after all its all inclusive. I had several gins and the Caipirinhas are brill! Cannot comment on the local beer as don't drink it! The pool was lovely and plenty of sun beds - we went after lunch one day and still got sunbeds. If I have a gripe about the swim up bar, it isn't the hotels fault, but large groups would basically come and take all the places and stay there , so no one else can get near! The beach was about 3 minutes walk away and there are plenty of sunbeds both shaded under palm trees or direct on the beach. the sea can be a tad rough but its worth it. We travelled into Santa Maria a couple of times - 5 minutes by taxi (5 euro). There's a smattering of bars and restaurants and its worth a visit and enjoy the beach and jetty there. Overall, we were impressed and would recommend.

Absolutely loved our visit to riu funana. The food was amazing. We didn't go to the speciality restaurants as the food was so good at the buffet restaurant we didn't feel the need. Can't understand how they do so many different choices with such quality. Loved the freshly cooked pizza especially the blue cheese. The entertainment team worked so hard and were so professional . A special mention for Kevin who arrived on our 2nd week. His aquarobics were such fun. He had 60 people all laughing and engaging in his class. Also loved the twice daily dancing by the pool. Thanks for such an amazing fortnight. Can't wait to return.

Great Staff service with a smile all the time, some all inclusives slow up the alcohol service but not RIU. Food is very good for an all inclusive and extensive range to choose from also the separate restaurants gave extra variation. Main areas of the hotel are well maintained however the accommodation blocks while clean do need al little TLC bits of paint and plaster coming away from the walls. Overall good value

Stayed here for 2 weeks. Excellent hotel from start to finish. Staff very friendly and always positive. Hotel provides great entertainment throughout your whole stay. Rooms really nice and room attendants really attentive with cleaning. Do a terrific job. Never a fight for sun loungers, always a fair few available. Plenty of shaded areas and non shaded areas. Pool really close to snack bar and regular bar. Hotel states that it is close to the beach. It is close but it’s not directly on the beach. It’s around a 4 minute walk from the rear hotel gate. The adjoining hotel next door is closer and is more directly on the beach. However, the walk there is scenic and is nice to do. Beach area has plenty of shade if worried about the sun. Also has a beach bar (all inclusive of course). Has hoses and showers to wash off sand before you go back into hotel if you wish. Plenty of choice for food. As a picky eater, I personally struggled some days but there was always at least something for me to have. Always options available like pizza/pasta. Hotel store pretty pricey for imported food/snacks. If I came again I would probably bring my own. Souvenirs are lovely, cheap and handmade though. Definitely worth purchasing. Overall stay very pleasant and would definitely stay here again!

What can I say? You wouldn’t put your worst enemy in the room me and my fiancé were given. Upon entering the room I was greeted by a minimum of 20 mosquitos on the rusty air con vent, walls and curtains. I paid extra for the superior room to have a little more room space but was presented with a dirty, damp mosquito ridden room with holes in the walls, doors and the toilet didn’t even flush (see pics) I complained and was greeted with at the hotel door by a porter with a huge can of fly killer. I refused to sleep in that room so was given another room that was smaller in another block which had the same mosquito problem. I had no choice but to sleep there. Between those 2 rooms I was bitten over 200 times by mosquitos. No exaggeration. On day 3 of the holiday I paid to move to the hotel Cabo Verde next door. The room was better but on the first night there I woke at 4am to find my bites were getting infected and being diabetic went to the hotel nurse who immediately sent me the clinic where I was prescribed intravenous hydro cortisone (3 bottles in the clinic, 2 at 11am and 2 more at 5pm) plus creams, antibiotics and antihistamines and told to stay out of the sun!! In Cape Verde!! I spent days in my room and was a sideshow when I left due to the severity of the bites! It completely ruined the holiday. Don’t go! See pictures I’m not over exaggerating