Hotel Riu Karamboa - All Inclusive - Adults Only

We were so looking forward to coming to this hotel. Sadly it was not the best holiday we’ve had. Upon arrival we had hoped to be greeted with a nice cool drink as we had seen this at the hotel next door where we dropped off first. Unfortunately this was not the case here. No warm welcome or drink whilst you waited to check in. We had booked in online through their app the week before we arrived so that we could check in quickly, again this was not the case. One desk opened for those that had checked in and 3 for those (no ones that queue!) that had not checked in. After a good 30 mins queuing we go to our room. By this point we are very hot and just need a drink. We open the mini bar to find 1 beer, 1 tonic water and 1 Coke Zero. No water for us to drink. Back we go to reception to ask for the minibar to be replenished and are told that it is done every other day! I asked should it not be filled for guest just arriving and was told to order on the app! What a lovely warm welcome!! The room was not the cleanest and we had paid for a swim up room. Sadly the patio area had lots of bird poo and the pool had bits floating in it. Due to this issue we didn’t feel comfortable using it and throughout the whole week this was not cleaned. The beds were made each day but changed once. Expected more considering the cost of the holiday. To top off the holiday my husband was ill for 5/7 days and I was 3/7 days. This is probably due to the amount of flies that are around the food. They really need to address this as very off putting. Now to the plus points Ample pools Fantastic weather A lovely beach bar about 15 minutes walk along the beach where you get to have a drink in an actual glass rather than a plastic cup. We will definitely not be returning to this pls hotel again which is a shame as the island and weather was amazing

What can I say, as standards go for a riu hotel. This was shocking after having stayed at a number of other Riu hotels around the world, the standard was not there at all. To begin with when we got to our room which was on the first floor in the furthest block from the centre to find there were no lifts to help getting our cases up to our room was not great, the room was dirty with a massive clump of hair up the wall that looked like it had been pulled out of the drains. There was then also a dirty mark that was very suspicious on the wall between the toilet and shower. On looking at the mini bar that's supposed to be re-stocked every other day, this did not happen throughout our 10day trip. One of the bottles of alcohol was empty with the measure/dispenser broken on it and so couldn't be used. We had to report these problems twice at the reception and once on the app for them to be rectified, which at no point was an apology issued to us for these problems. After asking to speak to a manager only then was an apology given to us and a bottle of fiz as an apology. The holiday it's self, we'll I booked this hotel for the fact it was adult only and also it was a riu hotel so expected a high standard to the food and activities and general facilities. This was not the case the food was bland and in the main restaurant the meats that were cooked and presented for you to help yourself too were extremely salty and not edible. It was near enough the same food every night in the restaurant, and sadly nothing to showcase the local food. Booking the 3 restaurants was a nightmare, having to be done through the app for the hotel which didn't always work and the 1 and only A La Carte restaurant was showing as fully booked for our whole trip and only showed availability for 5 days time, but this had to be booked at reception as the app didn't work. The wait staff showed little to any initiative to come round and ask if you wanted refreshments during meal times and you had to help yourself, again very disapointed. The food was covered in flies at the restaurant down by the pools and as such we dis not eat here if we could help it. The shows in the evenings were okay but again we're nothing like shows put on in other riu locations, which was disappointing. The best evening was the white party while we were there but again there was a couple of dance acts during this that did not make sense for the party and looked like they had just been used to fill a gap. The state of the hotel for one that has been refreshed only a couple of years ago is shockingly bad. With black mould and water dripping from ceilings on corridors to rusty showers and plug sockets not fully attached to the wall. If I was to be asked by anyone, I would advise them not to stay at this hotel and find an alternative. This is by no means a 5 star hotel and is more like a 3 star plus. One last thing as per someone else review, the flies are really really bad and I would suggest a fly spray is t

Hotel very clean, staff work so hard, always have a smile in their face, can not do enough for you, hotel is very large and spaced out, which we liked, food is amazing, and fridge filled up every day. Could always get a sun bed and towels provide. Please not book any trips with the TUI reps, we booked 2 and the cost was £350 for 2 people, look for the locals as this is much cheaper and will collect from hotel. Or look at other peoples comments and see if they can provide you with websites. Sports bar, couldn’t watch the football as would freeze and not come back on, so husband not to happy with this. Used spa, had toes nails painted. Would go back maybe for some winter sun.

Whilst my partner and I did have a good holiday, this hotel is definitely not 5 stars. We have previously stayed at the Riu Palace next door to Riu Karamboa the year before, and had an amazing time there. When we arrived at around 11:30am, we were told our room was not ready and we had to wait and would receive an email when it’s ready. We hadn’t experienced this before but didn’t think too much of it. A couple of hours had passed by and we noticed that people were getting told their rooms were ready and we still hadn’t received anything. Around 2:30pm I asked reception if there was any update(I just wanted an ETA really) and was immediately told our room was ready and given the keys. So I wonder how long we would’ve been waiting had I not asked. So by the time we had gotten to the room and got sorted we had missed half of our first day, which disappointed us as the whole reason for getting such an early flight (6am!) was to get a full first day. One of the things that pushed us to Karamboa was that they had “Italian” and an Asian restaurant that you could book. We were very disappointed when we got to the Italian. It was the same pasta and pizza that they serve at the regular buffet, actually I think there were more options at the buffet. The Asian restaurant however was very nice and had a lovely atmosphere. The buffet was what you’d expect at an all inclusive, but we feel it could’ve been better taken care of. There were often bugs and flies around the food inside, and tongues used for meat and fish products would be used for vegetable products too. The food needs to be labeled better, a lot of it was a guessing game on what we were putting on our plates, luckily we had no allergies, however my partner is vegetarian and there were many times she was eating something that had a veggie label and then contained meat. We were also surprised to learn that there was no iron in the room. You have to pay €5 to hire it for 24 hours plus a €35 deposit. Other than that the room was clean and spacious and the bed was comfortable. The pool areas and the beach were lovely and we never had any trouble getting a sun lounger. It’s clear that other guests do not care that it is not just their holiday. There are clearly marked areas for smokers but often we had people on loungers next to us/behind us smoking. Neither of us smoke so it wasn’t pleasant. And the pool with the swim up bar would quickly become packed like sardines. But it is still well maintained and the grounds are beautiful. We had a nice time but we wouldn’t return.

We enjoyed a great trip to Cape Verde, staying at Karamboa. The food was the best we’ve ever had abroad and the hotel and grounds were spectacular. The beach and the seas were just like we were in the Caribbean and we were even thinking about book a trip for the same hotel whilst we were out there. Can’t recommend highly enough!

Overall fantastic holiday, staff are extremely friendly and very helpful, nothing is any trouble. The hotel was very accommodating for my father walking difficulties and allocated us a room close to reception/bars/restaurants etc, he hired a mobility scooter which helped him get around the resort which was fantastic. The only disappointment is the quality of the drinks and no waiter service, the wine is not good and no sparkling wine only Sunday morning at breakfast. This I don’t understand because the sister hotel next door have waiter service and include sparkling wine as part of all inclusive, both hotels are 5star platinum properties so the services should be the same.