Odjo D Agua Hotel

The Odjo d’Agua is situated in Santa Maria on the island of Sal, Cape Verde.
Cape Verde is less than 6 hours flying time from the UK and so is a good destination for those wanting to get to the sun quickly. The island of Sal is virtually a desert and Santa Maria is full of building projects.
In March the weather was sunny but windy, but providing you had some shelter from the direct wind, the climate was rather pleasant. The temperatures were in the mid to upper seventies without the high humidity found in other sunny parts of the world.
The beaches of Santa Maria are wonderful but the sea may be a little too rough for timid swimmers. However, the wind and the sea make it an ideal location for water sports enthusiasts.
The hotel is in a great position right on the beach and only 5 minutes stroll from the main square in Santa Maria. We had a large room (no. 104) with a lovely view out across the bay towards the town jetty from the Bougainvillea covered balcony. The room was rather sparsely furnished but clean and comfortable.
The hotel restaurant which overlooks the sea provided good quality and well prepared food, mainly fish, but the service in the evening was incredibly slow. The restaurant appears to be too large for the number of staff available.
It was not helped by the restaurant filling up by 7:00 pm and many of the staff not arriving until 7:15 or later. Eating was far better outside the hotel and there are a number of good restaurants a short walking distance from the hotel.
Leonardos and Chez Pastis are especially good but it is usually necessary to book.
In fact the attitude of the majority of the staff was a major problem throughout the hotel. Reception was generally manned by unfriendly, unhelpful people. This is strange because the majority of local people we met on Cape Verde were keen to exchange pleasantries despite the obvious language problems.
It may be that the lack of “friendliness” originates from the management. I don’t think I have ever stayed in a hotel where the management has adopted such a low profile.
In two weeks I never found out even the name of the manager/owner and we, together with other guests, found it impossible to see him regarding the noise problem (see below) that was affecting so many people’s holidays.
The hotel has a pub/night club that provides music until the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately the beat of the music reverberates around the main hotel building.
Thursday is the worst night when the clients from the pub (who are not hotel guests) leave the pub and congregate in the hotel grounds for another two hours, finally leaving at around 5:00 a.m.
Until such a time that the hotel sorts out this noise problem, I would strongly recommend people to take alternative accommodation in Cape Verde if they wish to have a restful holiday.