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Reviewed 27 January 2013

The Royal Decameron was everything we had read on previous reviews so there was no great surprise. Thomson flight lasting 6 hours was quite cramped with no entertainment so take reading matter or download TV programmes or films to pass the time. Luckily hotel is only about 15 minutes from the airport but Tarmac roads don't go that far. Check in was a bit of a shambles taking about 1 hour until we were allotted our room. Our room was the furthest away from reception that you could get and not the easiest to find with little help from staff. Room was quite basic but had a spectacular view over to the beach. The bed was super king and very comfortable and room was cleaned every day. The restaurant was large and there was a great variety of food with something to suit everyone providing you do not expect haute cuisine. The hotel was full but never seemed over crowded as it has a lot of outside space. The pool is large and very cold and unfortunately there was still the problem of people reserving the sun beds first thing in the morning and not necessarily using them until lunchtime. The sun beds also could do with some upgrading as all the mattresses were ripped and most of the beds on the beach were broken. The beach is large and the sea too rough to swim. Most of the time the yellow flag was flying which meant it was good for jumping the waves. We took a 4x4 trip which covered seeing the north and south of the island and was quite interesting but if you are not a good traveller beware as most of the trip is off road along undeveloped areas. The beach cafe was nice for a change at lunch time and served fresh pancakes at 4.30 in the afternoon.
Overall the Royal Decameron was a nice hotel but 1week was long enough as the weather was very windy although dry and sunny. Quite chilly in the mornings and evenings. Plenty of entertainment if that is what you want and a nice lounge area if you want a quiet drink.

Room tip: If you have walking difficulties avoid rooms that are to the right of the reception area as there are a lot of steps and the walking area is made up of small square paving slabs but the views are quite spectacular overlooking the resort and beach.
Date of stay: January 2013
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
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    • Sleep Quality
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1  Thank pata723
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 26 January 2013

Couple Stayed from 15/01/through to 25th Jan 13 accommodation clean but basic, one word of warning we found the door had been left open on 3 separate occasions after the cleaner had been.
Animation team as mad as hatters, very friendly bunch who work extremely hard.
Food was faultless we both felt fine and there was plenty of choice, one criticism would be they need to add another toaster station, as big queues every morning, all staff in the eating areas are clean and hygiene is top notch.
Beaches are beautiful but not swimmer friendly as huge waves lovely to see and sit and watch.
Swimming pool area fine for our visit BUT we think during busy periods there would be an issue with the towels on the loungers brigade, you have to be as ignorant as the foreigners who think it's ok to leave towels to reserve chairs for the whole day.

For the budget we payed I believe we got value for money but it's not the RITZ, but it's worth a visit.
Four hour quad excursion was fun but very little instruction and chaos with language barriers.

NEGATIVES
Hot water was red rusty colour and we reported it at reception, come home to find all taps running, but still a very rusty red this continued for the whole stay. So cold showers were the order of the stay.
Reported a wasp nest in the wall of room 601 by the steps after being stung on the ear nothing was done.

Date of stay: January 2013
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
1  Thank andyw120
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 26 January 2013

How unfortunate that TUI (Thomson) seem to have the monopoly of flights to Boa Vista from the UK. The planes are very cramped and are geared up to sell drinks & snacks at inflated prices. Thomson do not even supply passengers with a complimentary hot drink with the in-flight meal despite a spoon & sugar being included with the cutlery!

We flew from Gatwick and also encountered problems with a couple of passengers who had drunk too much alcohol. The couple next to me had ordered a bottle of champagne and got progressively noisier as the bottle was drained. To my surprise, the flight attendant let them purchase another bottle. To her credit though recognised that there was a problem (although I had not complained) and fortunately as the plane was not quite full she moved us to other seats. Like the previous reviewer I was delighted to find that this couple were not staying at the Royal Decameron.

The hotel is exceptionally clean and ideally situated. The area around the main swimming pool is used for activities arranged by the entertainment staff and can be noisy at times. However there is a smaller pool away from this, which is ideal if you like peace & quiet. Rooms in this area are quiet at night. A guest that we spoke to had a problem with cockroaches coming into their ground-floor room. Like us, ask for an upstairs room and ensure that you place a towel along the bottom of the door just in case.

Food here is first class. There is a wide choice of hot & cold food served at every meal in the buffet restaurant as well as local wine and beer on tap. During the 7 nights that we were there was a different hot roast (freshly carved) for each lunch and dinner. There was also a good selection of cooked dishes, pizzas, fish, vegetables & salads. The deep fried cheese is an absolute must! Tables are cleared immediately, sprayed with antibacterial fluid and wiped down with a clean sheet of paper towel (not a filthy cloth). Baby chairs waiting to be used even had their tables covered with cling film to keep clean.

Kerry, the cheerful Thomson representative, was always available at published times. She kept her informative welcome talk brief and did not push excursions.

This was an inexpensive late deal and the hotel far exceeded our expectations. We would certainly consider returning in the future.

Date of stay: January 2013
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
1  Thank Heather M
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 26 January 2013

We had a very enjoyable stay at the Royal Decameron hotel, Boa Vista. They hotel is a good size and the food was excellent. However, the very inviting pool was very cold (although this is January) and it included a jacuzzi .We would have liked the pool towels to be big enough to cover the sun beds. The hotel is right on a very impressive beach, upon which you can walk for miles on soft, white, warm sand. The pathways around the hotel are a little uneven but very well lit at night and there are plenty of steps to keep you fit. There is a very relaxing atmosphere at the hotel and the animation team are young and energetic but not too annoying and put on good entertainment in the evenings. A jacket is needed in the evenings. We had a relaxing massage, although it was good, we felt it a little expensive at 50 euros. We went on a Jeep tour of the island, which was very good. It gave us a good overall impression on the island that we would not have experienced on our own and saw some naturally beautiful locations. This is an isolated hotel with not much to do and very little to spend your money on; just perfect. Heard about some bad things that happened but I hope they can sort it out with extra security. We paid extra for a sea view room and it was worth it to wake each morning to a fantastic view. The room was very big (included a lounge and kitchenette area) and was cleaned to a good standard. Overall the holiday was fantastic and we would definitely go back again.

Room tip: Ask for a room nearer the reception area, not on the edge of the resort (problems with robberies)
Date of stay: January 2013
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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Thank ankh2
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 23 January 2013

We always wanted to see Cape Verde, or at least some of it so seeing this available, at a very good price, and reading the reveiws of the islands other hotels we booked.

First alarm bells rang at Manchester Airport when I noticed a bunch of tipsy women, (this is 9.30am), hovering around the departure gate and various other "dubious" looking characters waiting to board the flight. I double checked tickets was I in the Benidorm/Magaluf/San Antonio zone? No Boa Vista it was.

Boarding commenced and the afore mentioned tipsy, but now more tipsy womem got on and started to disrupt any peace or quiet, we were in for a noisy and stressful time. Then roughly half way through the journey there was actual fisticuffs, a fight. OK not a big or long fight but a fight none the less, alarming. Then you suddenly have to forget any thoughts of relaxation and get into a ready to something mode. Tipsy women continued to cause mayhem.

On landing I was praying that these noisy, rude, disruptive types were not destined for Royal Decameron, thankfully they were not.

On arrival it looked good, check in a breeze and bags taken to our room, which was a long way from reception, but in a very quiet area with a sea, or a bit of sea, view, so far so good.

Changed and checked things out and everything met expectations, especially the Animation, who are Look Voyage, a company I have encountered previously and been well satisfied.

Had dinner and found food first rate, so was breakfast and lunch, every day, no complaints on the catering front at all, and worth noting the hygeine employed in restaurant area, all staff serving food have head covering and beard snoods, impressive. Cleanliness is very high in all other areas also.

There is a gym which is perfectly adequate, and a spa which is insanely expensive.

I did pick up on previous comments regardin having to €2 for a bottle of water, yes not good when you on a supposed all inclusive deal. Thompson/First Choice should address this, although I suppose they would load the holiday price to do so.

So did the usual things, sat around, played French Bowle, did some archery etc, until it got boring. Then decided to explore a bit and took a taxi to island capital of Sal Rei, a tiny little town with hardly any shops or anything else except a pretty little church, but it is not Notre Dame, so nothing of any architecteral interest.
Took a trip south the following day to the much praised Santa Monica beach, which is a totally unspoiled stretch of sand, much like the beach at the hotel, but obviously with no hotels hence unspoiled. Yes it is an area of outstanding natural beauty and well worth a trip.

So all well, nice and relaxing with a good clientle, as previously mentioned on Trip, mainly French a quadruple bonus for me, and Belgians, Norwegians, Swedes, Swiss, Germans, Italians, and English, but not many, and not too disruptive/noisy as we all know they can be, a good cosmopolitan bunch.

However after 5/6 days it does get a tad boring so a week is enough, I would have gone "stir crazy" if there any longer.

On arrival at airport yesterday same tipsy women were there this time creating havoc in departure area, I fail to understand why they were allowed to board as I understood it was illegal to fly when half cut? So again not a relaxing flight back as there was always the expectation of an incident of some kind which means being always on your guard. I find it all vey intimidating.

Will I go again, no, I can do better than this.

One further point there was a "mugging" on the beach involving an elderly couple who were attacked by four bandits wielding a machette, and on hotel room was burgled and cleaned out. Leaving the occupants, who were at dinner at the time, with just the clothes they stood up in. Now before we overreact this would be normal in London/New York/Thailand etc, so upsetting though it is, it obviously happens, so care is needed.

Date of stay: January 2013
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
8  Thank Clive E
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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