Hotel Riu Cabo Verde 5*

Definitely not a 5 star hotel , more a 4 , food is good although used tables are not cleared quick enough, never enough bar staff so expect a wait for a drink. Good onsite coffee bar. There is a swim up pool bar where people drink and stay all day , so by mid afternoon the pool is cloudy and smells, on one day it had to be evacuated as some had a poo in there . The other pool is also used as a toilet they should ban drinks from this pool . Paid for a larger room which is not worth the charge . Overall I would not recommend this hotel

Arrived around 8.45pm after a pleasant flight and private transfer. We were given a room in block 1 and sent off into the dark to try and find it. We had paid for an upgrade and be honest, it was dated and absolutely grim! The air-conditioning, WiFi, fridge and safe didnt work. The fridge had no soft drinks, just two cans of beer and a build up of ice larger than a football!! There were broken tiles on the floor along with tape all around the bottom of the door. The sofa was stained with holes in it and there was no soap at all in the shower or bathroom. Not the greatest first impression and definitely not up to 5 star standard. We were tired and just wanted to unpack, a bite to eat, and a shower before a good sleep ready to start our holiday. Off we went back to reception. Maintainence were sent but were unable to fix any of the problems so we requested a room change. The lady on reception seemed completely put out, no apology for the inconvenience, you'd have thought id asked for her kidney! We were told we would have to go back at 1pm the next day, so i asked to speak to a manager. No manager or anyone that could sort out the problem, which is pretty disgraceful for a resort of this size. I had no intention of unpacking to move everything the next day and we didnt want to leave our valuables without a safe so we went to bed. Not the best night without air con when it was 27 degrees in the room. Hung around next day until 1pm, to be given another room in block 3 which wasn't ready until 3pm... nicer, but again air conditioning not working. Went back to reception to be told there were no other rooms. We stood our ground and got into a bit of an argument but we're eventually offered a third room in block 4. By this time we were so fed up having lost a day that we took it even though it was a standard room and we had paid the upgrade. We were told our cases would be collected and brought over....1 hour later, no cases 🤷🏻‍♀️ Tried to call reception, phone didn't work!!!......and neither did air-conditioning (again) back to reception again, maintainence were sent and did fix it, but we had to drag our luggage across the resort ourselves 😂 5 star this isn't! One TV chanel, not that that bothered me, shower didnt drain so if you went in second you were up to your ankles 😆 On the plus side the pool is large with plenty of loungers, yes they are a bit grubby but do the job. The main pool seemed clean, wouldn't use the swim up pool or (p*ss pool) as we called it as it appeared to be full of drinkers who dont get out of it all day...you figure it out! Plenty of pool entertainment of you like to get involved. Towels are clean, but not always available...again not 5* standard. Grounds are well kept and the beach is beautiful. White sand with turquoise sea and a lovely temperature. Turtle hatchery is wonderful on the beach behind hotel, excellent conservation work is being done here... 4.30pm daily .dont miss it, where are you lucky enough to see day old turtles? ❤️ Food at buffet was plentiful and delicious. My husband is picky and I'm vegetarian but there was lots of choice daily. Breakfast has absolutely everything you could want. Coffee shop is nice too, delicious hot chocolate. No dicky tums, everywhere seemed clean and plenty of hand sanitiser. The entertainment is ok, some evenings better than others, a matter of taste of course. Biggest gripe is the smoking. There are no designated smoking areas so it is absolutely awful for on smokers as almost everyone is puffing away...with children around too. Really think this should be restricted as it is very unfair to non smokers. Overall we really enjoyed ourselves. Would we return, yes but not to this hotel. The staff work very hard but most (not all) of them seem miserable. If they are valued as little as the guests I'm not at all suprised. Tui rep Cassie was very helpful and did get us £150 compensation for the day that we lost. With updating and fine tuning this could be a 5 star hotel. At present i would say 3.5 to 4* at best and importantly the management need to "manage" when there are problems with guests! Long story short,