Omali São Tomé — Hotel in São Tomé

We stayed at the Omali at the beginning and the end of our Trip to Sao Tome & Principe for 2 nights each time.|We booked throuhg a travel-agency, so transport and all was taken care of and worked without a hitch.||As part of the "honeymoon-package", we got a free room-upgrade and were greeted with a bottle of Champagne once we got to our room. All in all we were quite happy with our stay, our introduction to the islands and the way we were treated at Omali.||Arrival:|We got picked up at the airport by a driver clearly identifiable by his wooden sign - though even "rival" taxi-drivers were directing us to him once we explained we had an arranged transfer.|Check-in was quick and painless, baggage was taken to our room, which was bigger than we expected and everything worked as it should.||Room (we had the Twin Room with Balcony):| AC in both segments of the room| Beach-towels and a bag to carry them to the pool or beach| Shower with adequate water-pressure| Mini-fridge, potable water, lemongrass to make tea and ground coffee to make in a french-press. (Though on our second visit, sadly the lemongrass was moldy)|The rooms felt like they were being kept up, small things like slightly visible mold in bathroom seals, balcony doors having some gaps (which will make AC a bit less ecological) were noticed but nothing out of the ordinary for such a humid place.||Food:|The selection of warm foods for lunch or dinner is good, as is the quality! We felt prices were fair (compared to the CH, maybe not difficult...) - keeping in mind, that on an island, stuff just is more expensive, if you have to import it even more so.|The much hyped chocolate-mousse didn't quite meet our expectation, though maybe thats not fair coming from foodies that love desserts and make them all the time. The cookie with peanut ice-cream on the other hand was delicious!|Breakfast exceeded our expectations - it is of course not a standard european breakfast, so some things are "missing", but fresh fruits, baked goods (banana-cake, french toast) more than made up for that.||Staff: |We were always treated very friendly and felt welcomed from start to finish! From pick-up to check-in and being served at mealtime, staff was always accomodating, tried their best communicating in english with us and we always felt seen. Which we later learned, isn't a given even in a more expensive hotel on Principe...||Location:|Given that Omali was our "warming up" and "saying goodbye" to the two islands, we didn't much use the hotels amenities - gym, pool, tennis court went unused. It is nice though to just step outside the hotel and be greated by the view of the ocean.|On our first day, we went on a trip walking alongside the beach to the capital Sao Tome, which was quite an experience. We were a bit taken aback by how quickly we entered what we identified as a slum-like district, but even though we felt like we didn't belong, there wasn't a moment were we felt unsafe.||All and all, we enjoyed our time at Omali Sao Tome and would chose it again for a similar trip. From the welcoming staff, choice-rich breakfast all the way to the uncomplicated way we could stay on the hotel premises for hours after check-out, to wait for our airport-shuttle, we were happy...

What an experience, I don't know which was worse, the ants or the GM. Returning to my room following dinner, I noticed several huge ants, over the next hour, I killed many more. Several hours later, I was awoken with an ant crawling on my face-I did not sleep well that night getting up periodically to kill more- I must have killed 20+ in total. I approached the GM and he explained that this was a problem with Sao Tome- wrong response. He should have apologized and expressed serious concern, but his response was very casual. I told him that I did not want to return to the same building upon return. I reported the incident to my tour company and they stated that he apologized as his was response was not meant to be taken in that manner. I returned to the property 4 days later to find that I was placed in the same room type, no upgrade, no nothing. I saw him on the property-did not recognize me-and told him that I was disappointed that I had not been upgraded or been given something to make up for a miserable night. He said he would take care of it-I should not be schooling the GM on hospitality. He then went on to say that people who travel to Africa have a certain level expectation of how things will be-really, so an infestation of ants should be expected. The comment was incredible, I told him that I have traveled extensively through Asia and Africa and have never experienced anything of this nature, and it was unacceptable etc.... Upon return after a city tour, I found a bottle of sparkling wine and some chocolate-which I appreciated-but found more ants in the new room. They finally upgraded me to a new ant-free room. With the second room, I could clearly see the ants entering below the door- all they needed to do was put stripping on the bottom of the doors- I never found the access point for the first room, as I believe there were several.. Also, my final room had not been made up by 4 PM on the last day. Bad...

After two weeks of traveling on Príncipe and São Tomé, we ended our trip at Omali as we really craved some relaxation and comfort. We were not disappointed. Since we traveled with our son, we were assigned the (pretty expensive) family suite, which is huge and beautiful, with truly amazingly comfortable beds. Five stars for the hotel - but the self-proclaimed enclosed “best restaurant on São Tomé” was somewhat disappointing.

I’m not usually one to complain on destinations such as STP, but with prices like Omali’s and the pretentious image they aim to project, I would expect top quality all around. Here’s what happened: from the menu I ordered “pan-fried steak with Omali mustard sauce.” The waiter asked me if I wanted it rare, medium, or well done. I chose medium-rare, but the steak I was served was thoroughly cooked. When I pointed this out, the waiter looked confused, took the steak away, and came back with an even more cooked one. At that point, I gave up, as he clearly did not understand (we don’t speak Portuguese).

I did, however, ask about the missing “mustard sauce.” Again I got a confused look, and was asked to show what I meant on the menu. I pointed out the Portuguese description, and the waiter eventually returned… with a bowl of the same gravy the steak had been cooked in.

Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but at these prices - and given the high standards the hotel wants to convey - this shouldn’t happen. If the waiter doesn’t understand, he should check with a co-worker rather than making the wrong...