Oasis Belorizonte Hotel

We've just spent a week at the Belorizonte.First impressions were not good.On arrival we were given a map to find our room,when we found it(the numbering system is confusing)the room hadn't been touched from the previous occupant so hot n bothered we returned to reception to be given a second room which is a wooden 'bungalow'.The decor and furniture is lacking in TLC,.rubbish bins overflowing outside a very tatty area of the complex.Finally we got a 'bungalow on the front,it was tatty but clean.Maid came every day and the shower was really good,plenty of hot water,this was also true of our previous room,credit where it's due.The pillows are very small and not very nice.Security is good,to be honest I thought the whole complex was wide open to anyone to wander in at will yet the security guys are always around so that was a good comfort. The entertainment at night is good most nights.The animation team work very hard and are talented.They are up at the beach doing aerobics,football,volleyball every day and anyone can join in.At night we used the bar/resturant which was good,went off for a walk then returned for the night entertainment provided by the animation team/.The breakfast buffet isn't up to much. Reception staff got better as the week went by,they can speak English ,they must do as most of their clients are Danish/Swedes and I'm sure they don't do anything Scandinavian!but they can play dumb when it suits,we were ostresised after two room changes but we were well within our rights,those rooms were bad.I have to say we only got our room changed the second time after I got the Thomson rep to inspect my room,even then it took a further 24 hours to sort out.Staff in the bars are no problem,menu a bit limited.Finally,and this is true of the whole island,you probably won't get a mobile phone signal,this made our problems seem all the greater as we could n't contact anyone.

Having read the reviews just prior to going to Sal (there wasn't any when I booked last Feb) I really wasn't sure I wanted to go at all. We normally go to the Gambia so thought we could cope with most things. I was somewhat relieved. It is a desert. The airport was small but clean and functional (I think it has the longest runway in Africa) the Thomson little buses and trailer transport where great. The island was much cooler than I expected. In town the temp was reading between 17 - 23 add to that the incessant wind. The suggestion to take cardis/fleece was a great help. The wind was obviously great for the wind and kite surfers but a sunbed on the beach was not a pleasure. That is after you manage to tear the sunbed away from the next person who's using it as a wind break. They are free..and there are umbrellas and shelters. The food service doesn't start until 12pm that usually means don't expect anything before 1, they are slow getting started. Almost everywhere you go expect pizzas & pasta. Funny thing was I love fish and for an island whose main fish is supposed to be Tuna, they had none the week we were there. However the Wahoo steaks are very pleasant. Watch out for the cover charge. As with some places in Europe they put bread on your table, if you eat it you get charged for it, very occasionally it is free/gratis. (we are not talking big bucks). When paying, the exchange rate for local esceudos is normaly rounded down from 110 - the euro to 100. Only one restaurant gave the correct money in change from esceudos. I Think it was called the barraccuda, nice fish meal there too. (On the beach front, town side of the pier) The walk into town is along a lit walkway with ramps, it only took 5 mins walk, not bad at all. When in the Gambia you get lots and lots of hassle from people wanting you to visit there juice bar etc. here they were a lot less persistent and fewer in numbers, they sell carvings and sand pictures. Whilst the town area has a very unfinished look to most of it There is obviously some wealth here even if you just consider the number of Toyota vehicles in general use. We didn't feel unsafe at any time but tried to be sensible anyway. Water can be purchased in town 5ltrs for 250esc and 1ltr 100esc. I do like my G & T s we took the gin with us but really struggled to find tonic. (we did eventually in 1 shop only) Most other soft drinks seemed to readily available. Anyway back to the hotel, we were in one of the bungalows, they were clean, maids came in every day. It wasn't 4 star as we would expect at home, but everything worked. The air con was very loud but it wasn't on much. We did have a minifridge with bar. The TV was bit hopeless, only CNN in English and that was an awful picture, but truthfully I don't want to know whats going on in the world when I'm on my jollies. The balcony had a plastic chair and table, I asked several times for an extra chair, apparently they just don't have enough to go around, we did as others were doing and used the inside chair for outside, which is why they do look a bit jaded. What I thought was a great idea was the free beach towels. You collect and return for a clean one as required. Around the pools people do lay claim so sunbeds before they need them, no surprises there then? To conclude we had a good break. I wouldn't go back, there is nothing to go back for and with all the cranes and building work it will soon look like Lanzarote. It was nice not to need malaria tablets .

Spent one night here on way home from Boavista Island. we thought Boavista was bad until we arrived here. Said to be 4* and next door to the Novorizonte. One two storey block of rooms looking onto the pool area plus lots of cabins in the gorunds towards the sea. The room was basic, twin beds tables and lamps, dressing table, 2 chairs, a/c, mini bar, TV, wardrobe and broken safe, french windows onto patio. Small bathroom with shower over tub, w.c., bidet, basin, hairdryer. Broken tiles, airvent blowing cold air onto bath. No privacy in ground floor room as everyone around the pool could see directly into the room unless the heavy curtains were drawn. the Salinas restuarant was like a wild west bar with the wind blowing through and the self service restaurant was packed with familes and the table and food was covered in flies. people staying in a cabin at the Novorizonte said it was a "tin shack" and their food was worse than ours.

Just returned from a week at the Oasis Belorizonte, paid extra for a superior room overlooking the pool, 2 large excellent mattresses pushed together, room not plush but all we needed for a week always plenty of hot water. ---Rec staff spoke very little English & was unable to change sterling into Euro or Cape Verde Escudos (CVE)------ NOTE-----Take plenty of Euro's the bank in town will only change sterling into CVE & all Thomson trips have to be paid in Euro, CVE or visa (high charges). The hotel is scruffy in need of some TLC, we only ate breakfast the usual 3* buffet, food ran low or out most days they seemed unable to keep up with demand as did the dishes and cutlery, I ate yogurt & cereal from a tea cup. Hotels bottles of water cost 250cve (£1-75) buy much cheaper in town 5ltr 280cve (£1-95). ------ Look at the photo see the BLUE Parasol these cost 1000cve (£7-00) per day, you pay if you want shade from the sun.---- We flew to Fogo the vocanic island it was expensive, but we thought it was worth it, we had lunch in the vocano. We were lucky enough to have the banana lady as our guide, she hands out bananas to the kids in the outlying villages as we pass on our way up the mountain, a lovely idea.----- Overall, Cape verde did not reach my expectations, Sal has nothing but sand, strong sea & sun with very few parasols with an awful lot of building work, we will not be going back. (Unfortunately only one photo would print but you can see the blue parasol)

There are different classes of rooms don't be taken in by the term bungalow. We were fortunate to have only used it for one night as a stopover arranged by Cape Verde Experience. After spending 13 great nights at the Foya Branca in Soa Vincente we were dumpted in this hell hole the concerns included: Broken sagging sun beds, dirty room, mould in the shower, broken toilet seat, shower head with a broken support bracket, dirty, smelly yellow pillows, damaged light shade, TV continental channels only, dirty worn outdoor furniture, bucket no bin, stained chair, very worn sunbeds, footpath hazards, reception unable to change 50 Euro note and that’s without the décor but that is a matter of personal taste. If you are planing a tour with Cape Verde Experience check your itinery make sure you don't stay at the Belorizonte

Nice location. Bad management, although they try always to kindly satisfy the costumer... We arrived at 1 AM, and we had to wait for an hour to get to our room. When we arrived there, THE ROOM HAD ANOTHER CUSTOMER INSIDE!!! That says much about security. But the staff kindly gave us another bungalow just IN FRONT of the sea. (100 m) After that bad first experience, all the rest was ok. Kind staff, nice breakfast, and confortable room. It was as clean as possible, as we were on the beach (dust everywhere), and we didn't had any problems related to the other customer's comments on roaches and other insects. The bathroom was very poor, in fact, and nothing to do with iberic standards. But all those problems are related to the fact that we are in a poor country, making a GREAT effort to become a better place to live. And they are almost there!!!!

Guess it may be ok when it's finished! However when we stayed the place was more like a building site. None of the pool view rooms were finished, they had shut off the small pool and the games room / bar to work on the new reception. We had constant noise from the builders working in the unfinished rooms, and constant noise (drills, saws, hammers etc) from the guys still building part of the hotel. The large pool that we were able to use was cold and it was a salt water pool - not very inviting. And the pool bar was not open either. Of the 2 restaurants and 4 bars advertised, only 1 bar was open and only 1 restaurant was open. Food was plenty, but cold - even though it was in heated cabinets, the food was never covered so it was always cold. We never witnessed any acitvity that was advertiesed (ie. dance classes, football, quizzes etc). We found the reception staff struggling to understand English (when it suited!) and the waiting staff grumpy! Although the hotel is well placed for the town - but don't advise visiting it! Very dirty and dusty, and you get pestered to "come and look at my shop" constantly. Oh, and Cape Verde is very windy too - take jumpers to wear for the evening time (that's if you still want to go after reading this!).

I've just got back from a week at this hotel staying with a friend and my 14 month old. We were in a bungalow in the grounds which was clean and tidy, generally comfortable and more space than we expected. The reception were ok when we arrived but didn't speak much english. We had no problems with towels as mentioned before and saw our cleaner everyday. Also we had no problems with noise from any of our neighbours. I had emailed prior to going to ensure they would have a cot available and they emailed back promptly and in english to say that one would be available and in the room. When we arrived it was indeed in the room and was a decent quality travel cot. The hotel breakfast was good with lots to choose from and plenty of it. They also had highchairs which we didn't see in any other restaurant we went to. We only had 2 evening meals at the hotel as were were B & B there and both were good and only marginally more expensive. A Gin and Tonic seemed to be more expensive there but not when compared to UK prices. The snack menu was a bit confusing as they didn't seem to do anything other than pizza in the late afternoon early evening which wasn't any good for my toddler, but I did ask them to do him a spag bol one afternoon which they did. We found the bar staff to be more helpful and friendly than the reception staff. We enjoyed our stay and found it a good location with fab beach.

We just returned and found the hotel not too bad, but definitly not great. We were in the main complex ( as opposed to one of the bungalows) and found the sound insulation so poor we could here every word the people in the room next to us were saying (or the TV for that matter). Since many people arrive in the middle of the night from the airport and walk noisily down the main corridor, this makes for bad sleep. However we were pleased with most other things: They kept the rooms clean, food was good (we had the all inclusive and went mainly for seafood). Staff was curteous enough, although sometimes a bit too relaxed and definitely not going out of their way to help you. You have to find things out for yourself, they dont offer basic infos like which restaurant can be used for the all inclusive, what times are the meals etc etc. The pools are nice, there is one big pool with pool bar and one which is more of a lap pool. In winter the water in the pool is quite cold, but refreshing. The location for us was the most important thing: Very close to a nice part of Santa Maria beach (other parts can be rocky) and close to Club Mistral which is the main windsurfing station. When we were there the water was quite calm, ok for just going for a swim or playing in the waves, without dangerous currents etc. Strangely a lot of people just hang by the pool and dont go to the beach. You can also easily walk to Santa Maria town in just a few minutes to check it out and get an impressions how the locals live. Once rented bycicles to ride around the town. You couldnt do this if you were staying in the RIU, its too far away. You will get hassled by sellers from Senegal and also local guys and sometimes its really hard to shake them. If you follow them in one of their "shops" you are done: They won't let you go till you buy something. They always try to first guess where you are from to establish contact, we quite enjoyed it because they never guess Australians so we leave them standing there guessing. There is not much else to do in Sal except maybe a 1 day trip around the island. You will see natural pool and a few other things which are mildly interesting, but in one day you have seen it all. Dont try this on your own, you will never find the sights. Go with a tour. We only did this because one day it was not windy and we couldnt go surfing. For windsurfing: You can surf from right next to the hotel with wind always coming side shore, slightly off shore. If you are advanceed you can surf upwind a few kilometers to the headland of santa maria beach where there are some bigger waves. The shore break by the beach can be a little scary for beginners, but not for intermediates/advanced. The surf rental guys also provide a service to "bring" the board out to you past the shore break, because it is in their interest also that you dont trash their gear. On request the surf rental company will provide you with a walkie talkie in case of emergency (if you sail a few km out they cannot see you anymore). They provide lessons for beginners. In conclusion: Sal is nice if people want to just relax by the pool or by the beach, sunbake, eat and drink a lot. Sal is also geat for windsurfers, kitesurfers, divers. Sal is NOT good for people that love exploring, nature, greenery and seeing new things every day.