Hotel Riu Karamboa 5*

Not 5 star. Stayed for 14 nights and air con wasn’t working for the first 12 nights making to room unbearable. This had affected 1/3 of the hotel. Hotel said they couldn’t move us as were fully booked (but still selling rooms on Booking) Felt ill. Restaurants are all buffet style and have flies on the food (and the occasional sparrow) except Culinarium which was virtually impossible to book and I later found out you can only visit once during your holiday. There are always sun loungers available but these were cheap, uncomfortable, frequently broken and often without shade. No basics - like waiter service to sun loungers, tables for sun bathers to use, swim up pool bars were overcrowded. Quality of drinks available was poor. Optics in the room were particularly bad. During a 1/2 day trip to Sal Rei, one of our group was hit hard across the face by a local for no reason, who then calmly walked away. Our tour rep did nothing to try and apprehend him and it transpired that the perpetrator was known to locals. We were left to care for the lady and didn’t explore the town as we felt unsafe. We were told not to explore the beach in either direction, as there had been incidents. The sea by our hotel was inaccessible as the red flag was flown permanently (not the hotels fault) Positives - we didn’t have cockroaches, which were an issue for some other guests, room was cleaned thoroughly on a daily basis and massages at the onsite facility were lovely.

My Wife and I have just arrived home after 1 week at the Karamboa, we holiday a lot and 4 weeks ago were in Crete paying over 3 times the amount ! ..... The Karamboa was much better, also as I have mobility issues I emailed the Hotel prior to arrival and they were superb with a room near facilities...so thank you. The staff are so happy and very nice, our room was lovely, and before we went I read about people getting things stolen...in our opinion as long as one uses the safe ..... It's rubbish, leave tips. As usual it's a typical All Inclusive (is what it is) but one will never go hungry. WE COULD NOT FIND ANY BUTTER ONLY MARGARINE.....CAN I SUGGEST BUTTER IS CLEARLY MARKED. As often the entertainment is NOT fantastic, although we don't know about the day time.......Three Pax NO DISRESPECT are awful and are detrimental to what is a superb hotel.....Also the entertainment Manager sometimes doesn't know what act is coming on next.......he should be more Professional. Thank you overall, we understand The Tourag has been refitted so will be back soon to you, Tourag or Palace next door.