Hotel Riu Touareg - All Inclusive

I have just returned from staying at the Riu Touareg for a week with my boyfriend and I can honestly say that it is one of the best hotels that I have stayed in. The staff are very welcoming and accommodating. Our room was fairly standard but extremely clean with a large and comfortable bed and air conditioning. Our room was cleaned every single day and the cleaners even arranged cute figurines with the blankets on our bed. The hotel offers a wide selection of different foods to try and the food is always served fresh. The main buffet serves a variety of delicious foods and there are 5 restaurants that you can eat at which you have to make reservations for. I recommend booking a table for all of the restaurants on your arrival as they tend to get fully booked very quickly, especially the Italian and Asian. Me and my boyfriend particularly enjoyed breakfast every morning as there are so many different foods you can choose from, including waffles, pancakes, omelettes, croissants, fry-ups, fresh fruit, cereals and yogurts and many more delicious options. There are many drinks to choose from and a nice selection of cocktails. Although I would advise you not to drink the wine as it is not a pleasant taste. However my boyfriend seemed to enjoy drinking a glass of red wine with every meal. The man pools in the hotel have a busy atmosphere and people tend to reserve sun-beds fairly early but me and my boyfriend still managed to find free sun-beds on our way down to breakfast around 9am every morning. There are a couple of quieter pools to lay by if you prefer a quieter environment. There are also sun-beds on the beach that you are able to lay on and relax. The entertainment staff are amazing at what they do, they are full of energy and motivation and offer a variety of activities throughout the day. There is also a show hosted every night that is organised by the entertainment staff that starts at 9pm every evening. After the show there is a karaoke bar and also a discotheque bar which me and my boyfriend went in but it was fairly empty and seemed to not be a popular choice in the evening. The island is very isolated and you get the feeling that you are in the middle of nowhere when staying at the Touareg but we liked the feel of that and simply enjoyed just relaxing in the sunshine. If you are wanting an active holiday with lots to see and explore then I would not recommend choosing Boa Vista as your holiday destination. The weather was beautiful during our stay with temperatures reaching highs of 30 degrees. The island can be fairly windy during the day but this is needed as it keeps you pleasantly cool. Overall, I deeply recommend staying at the Riu Touareg. It was recommended to me by friends who have stayed there and I promise you that it will not disappoint. You are given exactly what you paid for and much much more.

I struggled on settling at a score for this place because aspects of the hotel were excellent and other parts were disappointing. In the end I settled with a 4 because I felt that almost all the negatives had reason for them which placated the downsides. This is a location for minimal effort and relaxation, not exploration. There are a number of excursions available if you feel restless but little opportunity for spontaneously walking off site. Because it is such a large site, I think one has to forgive some of the niggling problems with it because the maintenance of such a site is necessarily reactive. On arrival the light in our toilet was not working. We called reception and someone came to fix it within 10 minutes. Later in the week we had a problem with the plumbing because the toilet would not stop flushing. Again, a rapid response time. Really impressive. It is also really impressive how they manage to keep the place clean despite the volume of people coming through. There are a number of sun loungers available but not all of them in great areas, however the locations are matters of personal preference. They are all around the main pool. 85% of them have a branch umbrella for shade. There is also a section where they are covered by canvassed roofs that you can open and close as you please. There are also a lot of available sun loungers by the beach, although they do not collapse to be fully flat. One of the pool bars is at the entrance to the beach so it is not too long a walk to go back and forth. As for the beach, the duration of our time the red flag was up, technically meaning it was too dangerous to swim. There is a lifeguard monitoring people; he seemed to think you could swim in it. You may be able to but I do caution; this is a beach for people with experience of rough waves, those who are strong surfers or basically people who understand the surf. Slight changes can mean that you are dumped by the waves which can put your limbs (and neck) at risk. It is not for children. However there are swimming pools aplenty. There are a few broken tiles but the pool is comprises of the small mosaic tiles so actually the absence of some are only noticeable if you look for them, and it appeared that they were being tended to. As I said this is a massive site with a large turnover of people. It is a little inevitable. Do take towel clips or plastic clothes pegs work just as well. There is a wide variety of food available, with fresh salads, stews, grilled meats and fish, pizza, pasta and fast food available most meal times. If you eat all the options every day then it will feel samey, but we felt the offerings gave you options per meal. It was not the best all inclusive food we have had but it was still good and in the context where Cape Verde as a country has to import 80% of its food, they have done really well to make sure it all tastes fresh and wholesome. The staff are really attentive and helpful which improves the experience. We found we preferred the main restaurant to the poolside restaurant because the size meant it seemed to have more options and the layout was more efficient. We found it strange that not all options and sauces etc were labelled which can leave to confusion even when sometimes it seemed like the product was obvious (such as ice cream!). We found that the white and rose wines were not particularly cold so we had to add ice to them. We liked the system of speciality restaurants and we tried them all. The grill and italian were also just buffet style but at the boa vistan restaurant you ordered your main meal, which was a nice touch for diversity. We were really impressed on my partner's birthday when they had decorated our table at the asian restaurant to make it special for his day when we had not formally informed them that it was his birthday. They had also left a card in our room along with a small present, which was a very conscientious touch. The hotel runs a number of activities through the day and the animation team are enthusiastic and positive. We enjoyed our game of petanque along with our winner's certificate afterwards! The gym is small. There are limited machines and during peak times (about 8:00 am and 5:30pm) it can get really busy. One of the treadmills worked intermittently and one of the cross trainers worked but could not display information. It was a let down given that it appeared to be a regularly tapped resource. The spa is calming and there is a separate jacuzzi in the spa section but it is not in the sun. The steam rooms are also separated by gender. I enjoyed a massage, which was pleasant but not as firm as I would usually like. That is a matter of preference but treatments are segmented (generally) into 50 minutes here which means that actually some of the treatments are quite expensive. The evening entertainment varied in quality massively. Some nights the entertainment was a little unusual for our liking, perhaps it was too slapstick, but we felt that it might also be a little adult when there were children around. Other nights were really great fun, particularly the dance and live music evenings. The karaoke bar is often busy and seats are taken up quite quickly after the evening show. It has the potential to be a good laugh. Finally the club pacha is small, quite warm, and very blue. On the nights we saw it, it was not heavily populated but the DJ played all the right dance floor current hits. One of the bars is open 24 hours. You will not go without here. The repeated motto of this place is "no stress" and we found that the hotel embodied that motto.

The hotel is very big, and clean. Rooms are cleaned daily and very nice. The staff can not do enough for you and are friendly and polite. The beach is beautiful, all though you can't really go in the water it is lovely to walk on or just chill on a sun bed, as there are plenty on the beach and by the pools. Evening entertainment not that great, but you can't have it all. Food is very good and spoilt for choice. Will definitely return.

Stayed in June 17 and whilst it was a relaxing holiday, I felt it was below usual Riu standards (previously stayed in Riu's across Europe and Mexico). Room - Nice new modern room with little faults. Only complaint (besides the toilet smell) is that the beds are 2 singles pushed together rather than a double! Pool & Beach - The main pool was in a poor state with many tiles missing. No problems with infinity pool. Worth noting the the pools are salt water. Beach was great. Staff - Friendly and happy to help. Beware staff delivering water unannounced in the evening though. Food - Poor selection and quality with little variety across nights. Main restaurant could be chaotic in evening due to size. The themed restaurants are buffet as opposed to A la carte. Visited the Italian which was okay. Dress code at restaurants not enforced. Entertainment - Usual standard of day/night entertainment. Wifi was okay. Alcoholic drinks were local but of reasonable standard. Area is very remote. Other - Didn't get bit by Mosquito's or other insects for once. Take a decent factor suncream. Bring towel pegs. Not sure I would return due to better alternatives but worth experiencing once.

We have recently come back from a lovely stay here where the weather was great the hotel nice and the staff very attentive. The food was okay and the kitchen team certainly work very hard. A special mention must go to crazy carlos who is a great member of the team and made everyone's holiday all the more enjoyable with his great enthusiasm and passion for his job, he really is an asset to this company and hotel.

This is not a 5* hotel and do not be misled into thinking it is. The hotel is very tired in places and the main area needs repairing especially the pools. The staff are very friendly but the food is not great and the wine is disgusting. There is no choice of wine you get the same wherever you go. However at 20€ you can buy a bottle from the local supermarket. There is an extensive cocktail list though. We were infested with cockroaches in our first room (likes loads) they were in all our clothes, suitcases and even shoes, the kids were freaking out, and the smell of sewerage is incredibly disgusting wherever you are. Even when eating in the restaurants. Read on if you want to know why it's not 5*. We arrived about 3pm at the hotel, no family rooms for 5 so were given a family suite and a twin room. These were located in the same block but not next door to one another. However this was the best they could offer and the kids were starving and desperate for a swim. We went to our rooms quickly unpacked and went for a late lunch. First impressions I wanted to cry. The main evening area is similar to something you would expect to see at Butlins. Rows and Rows of plastic chairs. The snack bar where we had our lunch was ok, very tired looking and the salad is just about acceptable. If you like burgers and chips you are ok. There is lots of fresh fish but cucumbers are mouldy, carrot is wet slop. We then went to the main pool area. Again I wanted to burst into tears. Grotty, broken tiles and cloudy water. The swim up bar had floating dirty ash trays and I feared what the kids might catch. The jacuzzi was so green and cloudy and smelt horrendous. It had a rally strong stench rising from it. We then had a wander further across to the beach and the infinity pool. This was much nicer, Lovely clean sea water pool, lovely sunbed area and a nice view to the beautiful beach. Kids had a paddle in the sea which is so clear and amazing blue and the sand is pure white. Too rough too swim but fine to paddle. Husband did some Body Surfing but he is a strong swimmer. Quick change and out for dinner at the main restaurant. OMG - cafeteria - it was terrible and the wine red/white/rose is disgusting. Again I wanted to burst into tears. We went back to our room to be met with the most horrendous thing yet. Our room was completely infested with cockroaches, not one or two - loads and loads, crawling in our suitcases, in all our clothes, shoes EVERYWHERE. It was horrendous. They came to move us but we then got moved to another two rooms where the smell of the sewage was so stifling the kids were gagging. No more rooms were available and we were stuck for the night. The next morning we went to see the Reps and after lots of discussions with the hotel ourselves we were moved to block 9. We had two twin rooms next door to each other. These are far nicer and next to the infinity pool. We remained this side of the hotel for the duration of the holiday, we ate only in the bookable restaurants at night which were a nicer experience. All the restaurants which were bookabke were nice, the Asian did sushi, the Boa Vista had lovely fish and the Grill did a nice selection of fish and meat. The weather however was wonderful, not a day of clouds. Just pure sunshine, we went for 11 nights over the May half term. This hotel should be advertised as 3*.

Had a fabulous stay here, staff friendly, clean hotel, eclectic mix of guests and great weather! Lots of food choices, drinks plentiful, bar staff inventive( no baileys but they created a delicious alternative) The rooms could do with a few tweaks, a kettle ( available to hire only) and a few beers/soft drinks in fridge for lazy evenings on the balcony, but otherwise great. Didn't do the upgrade to adults only section as all great in the main part with variety on bars/pools and not overcrowded with kids. Will definitely return ☀️🌴🍹

We have just come back from here and I absolutely loved it,, we were in block 9 which is all new bit of a walk to main pool and the square but near the Infiniti pool,, loved the spa and the treatments were very reasonable, food was nice in main dining hall but we didn't like the African but that's just us wouldn't complain as it was ok , shame our air con didn't work very well al thou we were told someone coming ,,,, I just wish parents with small children put on swimming nappies as someone had a poo and closed the pool of ,which is not fair to everyone else ,the hotel acted very quick once they new so again can't complain bout the hotel just the parents,, would def go back,

As you will see from my other reviews I don't look for problems but I know what a 5 star hotel is and this is not one. Let me start with the positives:- the hotel is situated on a nice beach, if you are male the staff at the bar are good but my girlfriend had to wait many times and felt she was ignored. Food was ok and always found something to eat. Good entertainment area and main square. Good spa facilities and treatments. Tea and coffee facilities in the room but not restocked each day. Negatives:- the main pool was disgusting at best, the only time I saw them clean it is when they found feces in it according to the activity guy on our last day. They moved the water polo to the other pool but left people with kids swimming in the contaminated one for at least and hour (Don't ignor this, SORT this out before you make someone very ill). I saw at least 3 people cut them selves on the sides of the pool which when you combine with my previous comment is very bad. Everyone I spoke to had issues with their rooms some examples are aircon not working and never fixed despite complaining, safe not working, toilet flush falling into the wall, my plumbing fell off the sink one evening when I was having a wash and my tv remote didn't work, I phoned reception twice but nothing was done. The drinks are cheap and nasty. Lots of people I spoke to had stomach problems while at the hotel which they didn't have before they arrived. Mini bar had nothing in it, then a bottle of water arrived one evening. I have always rated Rui hotels and stayed in many but this has put me off. Try one of the other hotels on the island as this is an accident waiting to happen if they don't clean up their act. Shame on you RUI. I know this hotel seems good value but you can't put a price on your health.