Hotel Riu Palace Boavista — Hotel in Boa Vista

We stayed here from 11/06/2025 - 25/06/2025||This hotel is stated to be a 5* resort. I have stayed at numerous 5* resorts and this is more of a 4* resort.||We booked a swim-up room - 4302||Upon check in, we were given 0 information regarding the hotel, just a key card and a wifi password. No information for restaurant bookings, restaurant opening times, pool towel locations. Something as simple as a map would have sufficed - but for the first day we just walked round aimlessly trying to find everything. ||On first inspections the room was clean & presentable, minibar stocked & more than enough towels, but on further inspection, the floors were very dirty (used a towel to dry the floor and it came up brown) & we had mould on the curtains (we didn’t see this until the last day) but other than that the room was good, bed comfy & an extra blanket in the wardrobe. Aircon worked & a fan was also provided. ||It wasn’t until the we went to sleep that night that we realised the entertainment was so loud, you could hear everything - from the loud music, person on a microphone to the other guests chanting and cheering. This goes on to around 23:30-00:00 and kept me & my partner awake most nights - nothing you can do about this so I suggest bringing earplugs for those who sleep light. (This may not be an issue for all swim-up rooms - or normal rooms, but our room was opposite the entertainment) the worst is the karaoke night, it is bad enough trying to sleep with loud music, but even worse when the person singing sounds like a drowning cat.||In the mornings the cleaners are up bright and early from around 07:00 banging & clanging outside the rooms so you may struggle to get a lie-in.||The breakfast/buffet at the African restaurant is really good. Lots of choice, plenty of vegetarian options. It isn’t stated anywhere if the meat is halal & I saw numerous people using the same utensils to pick up different types of meats (beef, pork, chicken) so may be something to be wary of. The staff are great, greeting you upon entry, supplying a variety of drinks from soft drinks to alcoholic drinks & are ready and waiting to fill your glass up once it is empty. The only thing that lets the buffet down is the people. It is supposedly a 5* resort but the guests did not have 5* behaviour. It was a complete free-for all, people pushing in to get what they want, no consideration for other guests and just out right rude. ||Despite having a swim up room - we used the pool quite often in the morning as a change of scenery, 2 of the pools have bars which were advertised as adult only, but this is definitely not the case. These pools had more children than the kids pools, staff did nothing about this.||There are plenty of sun loungers at this resort, we never struggled to get a lounger at any of the 3 pools, but reserving beds at silly o’clock is still a thing at this hotel, again staff do nothing to combat this. The sun loungers are uncomfortable, from the photos it looks like they’ve not been updated or replaced since the hotel opened. The umbrellas are useless - they are a netted material & do not block the sun at all - then there are awning type covers, which cover 4 beds & depending on where you are sat, you may not be able to use it as the other people sat text to you may not want the shade. ||The bars at the pools have a swim up or sit down option - service is good at these but staff are often not interested in a queuing system & just serve whoever is nearest & due to the rudeness of people, you could be waiting 10 minutes for a drink (happened to me on several occasions) the cocktails are all pre made so nothing special there but they do have premium spirits.||The beach is beautiful - plenty of loungers to choose from using palm trees as natural shade but you are constantly harassed by beach salesmen selling cheap tat - there is an army of them and they are relentless. The security in the hotel does nothing to stop this, and it can become quite annoying. I counted 18 times I was approached by them after constantly saying not interested. You can walk along the beach to the next hotel & beyond - but there are huts where the salesmen set up shop (either end of the beach -) about 5 shops in a row and you are constantly harassed when walking past - this is outside the hotel grounds so absolutely nothing you can do. ||The pool in the room was great - clean and private, the only downside to these rooms are the neighbours you get. We had visibility of the swim up rooms opposite ours & one couple decided to be completely naked the entire time - not something we wanted to see every time we looked up. Also we had a couple playing loud music, so any peace and quiet we wanted went out of the window. This is something out of your control so any issues you just have to deal with best you can. ||The Al a carte restaurants are booking only - we struggled to get a table and in the 2 weeks we were here we only managed to get booked in once to the Japanese. The food was great and the service was good but I cannot comment on the others. ||We paid roughly £2500 per person for this trip, and I would definitely not pay this again. The hotel is good, but for that price you can go somewhere much nicer. The biggest thing that lets this hotel down is the other guests, loud, rude, obnoxious with no consideration for other guests, but this is something you cannot control & may not be the case for other trips. ||In short the pool areas were clean, the beach was clean & the restaurants were clean, the staff were friendly & service was good - but very overpriced for what it is. Go to the...

We stayed at the Riu Palace May 2025 just before the May half term and it was lovely. We stayed all inclusive via First Choice and couldn't fault it. I can see why many of the patrons we spoke to have visited multiple times. As a parent of young children it was perfect.||HOTEL - The hotel is situated only 5 minutes from the airport so getting the transfer coach isn't a problem as there are no other drop offs. You could also opt for a taxi which was 10 euros. The architecture of the hotel is beautiful with a large atrium/reception featuring 2 of the á la carte restaurants and a coffee bar. The rooms branch off to the left and right and has multiple floors with a lift. It's not large or overbearing which is nice. There is main avenue that runs down the centre straight to the beach and pools - lanes branch off to the main buffet restaurant, spa, entertainment bars etc. The resort feels small and intimate but never cramped. The paths were all smooth and level which was great when travelling with a pram and mobility scooter. It was refreshing to see all different disabilities enjoying the resort - it says a lot. We had a ground floor room with a balcony. The room is spacious with a sofa bed converted for our 2 children. The bathroom is huge and the rainfall shower was amazing. If we were to return we would take a 1st floor room as we had a slight ant issue, and neighbouring room (which had the rest of our party in) had a few cockroaches. This is to be expected in a wild environment, but maybe a 1st floor room would put the wildlife off a bit. We even had a crab wander into the balcony. :)||POOL & BEACH - There is one large pool (with half submerged sun beds) and two swim-up bar pools either side. The great thing about the pools if you have children is that the pool is all one depth so my eldest could stand confidently and work on her swimming skills with ease. The raised platform by the sun beds was great for my toddler to paddle too. There are plenty of beds around the pool, though I would recommend ones under the retractable canopies for shade if you have little ones. There are umbrellas and trees if you are more of a sun worshipper. I think the reason why families love Cape Verde so much is because of the consistent weather. The wind from the sea turns the 40+ degree African sun into a comfortable high 20s. So, you never feel hot and uncomfortable - but you must use factor 50 because it is very deceptive. The beach is beautiful, with soft sand and palm trees. The water was permanently a yellow or red flag due to the wind and strong currents. You can dip your feet but not swim. Be careful of the undertow with little ones. If you get up early you can see the sea turtles swimming about.||DINING - There are 2 buffet restaurants (a main one and mini one by the pool), plus 3 á la carte, bookable restaurants - of which we tried the Japanese and Gourmet. All the food was delicious and varied. Yes there was allocated stations within the buffet but there was always plenty of choice, so you never felt like you were eating the same thing every day. For example, breakfast stations included: fruit, cereals, egg based, pastries, continental, hot breakfast, fish, smoothies... Lunch and dinner stations included: salads and cold dishes, fish, meat, soups, themed (Spanish, Chinese, roast etc), chips and meat, speciality dishes, fruits, deserts, ice cream station etc... Yes there are flies when you eat but it's not as bad as some say. I've had worse at an English BBQ. Tip: Find a location you like and sit in the same place if you can. The staff wait the same zones and are lovely and friendly. They will save you a table all set up for your high chair and drinks order. Couldn't fault them.||BARS & ENTERTAINMENT - At 6pm on the main stage there was a little 30 minute kids show before dinner. The entertainers dance with the kids and everyone loved Calú the Riu turtle mascot. Definitely take your little ones there if you can. There is also a kids zone with a paddle pool - but we didn't use it as they were content with us. There are lots of bars serving a wide variety. If you like coffee, then you are best visiting the Coffee stand or Sports bar.||All in all we had a fantastic 10 days and would love to visit again (maybe in November when it is turtle season). We didn't leave the resort so we can't comment on any of the excursions. We also visited the Water Park a few times which is great. Our children were too small for the larger flumes but the children's area had lots of to keep them entertained. Note, if you are visiting the water park there is no bar or food available there so you must take whatever you need for the time you are there.||We recommend visiting outside of school holidays as the last few days of our trip fell in the half term and the pool became very busy and full of splashing tweens with inflatables. ||Thank you Riu Palace, we miss...

Travelling as a family of four with a 5 year old and a 2 year old this was our first all-inclusive break. What a fantastic week. The resort is truly deserving of 5 stars. The experience exceeded our expectations.

Flight and transfer: Booking with TUI meant our transfer was arranged. However there was a long queue in the hot sun and our little one was not up for it so we paid €10 for a taxi transfer which took about 5 mins, but worth it! At the hotel reception we were greeted with champagne and orange juice for the kids. Check in itself was efficient and fuss-free. We were given wristbands which have to be kept on all the time during the stay.

Swimming pools: Three outdoor pools: two identical swim up pools which were supposedly adult only and one main pool. Plenty of kids in all the pools, so there was no difference. We swam in all the pools which were salt water pools but were only mildly salty (nothing compared to the sea). There was no shortage of sun loungers.

Restaurants: There are three themed restaurants which need booking - one sitting is at 7pm and the other at 9pm. 7pm is booked up very quickly so we attended a couple of 9pm sitting, which was challenging with small kids, but enjoyable as the food was good with excellent service. Mistuki (Japanese theme) was particularly good, as was Krystal (fusion). Steakhouse was a little disappointing - I noticed beef here in general seems to be very different to British beef and not to my liking!

The main buffet restaurant, Africa, was fantastic! Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served here, and exceeded expectations. Really good for families, with a wide selection of food for all. Seafood was varied and particularly good - one night there was unlimited lobster! We always sat in the air-conditioned part of the restaurant which was more pleasant than the terrace.

Sal Rei is another buffet restaurant that serves continental breakfast and buffet lunch which the same food available at Africa, at a poolside location. We ate here twice, but usually preferred Africa due to the air-conditioned seating.

Room: We stayed in a standard double room with sofa bed. The room size was adequate. There was a minibar with "Optics": self-dispensing spirits. We did not use this at all as we enjoyed our drinks at the bar! I thought the room was good enough for 4 of us, although I regretted not paying for a family room. It is possible to upgrade at the resort, however the family rooms were fully booked when I enquired, and it is much more expensive to upgrade at the resort than to book it in advance.

Kid's activities: There is a kids club called RiuLand, with regular activities including arts and crafts, beach walks, competitions etc. You can leave children over 4 yrs old, although activities were appropriate for our 2.5 year old. A small 30cm pool is popular, which sunloungers. We found this provided excellent downtime! There is a sandy playground but given the was barely ever used. The evening entertainment was varied - from 6pm-6:30pm every day there is a RiuLand singing and dancing where Calu the turtle comes out - our kids loved this every evening. Later on various music and quiz activities are more aimed at adults, but kids are welcome.

A water splash park is shared with Riu Karamboa, just a couple of minutes' walk from the pools. This is separated into a kids park and an adults only park, with much larger water slides. The adult slides are accessible to those over 1.2m tall. The kids water park was great, again with ample sunloungers. Note that you're not able to take drinks into these areas.

Beach: what a fantastic private sandy beach, perfect for a stroll/play followed by a shower and a dip in one of the pools.

Special mention to Capuchino - a little coffee/cake bar near the hotel reception which makes excellent espresso machiatto.

Negatives: a couple of minor points for improvement in order to provide balance to this review: There were a couple of cockroaches in my room, which I got rid of myself. We found a couple in the corridor too, which I would rather...