Hotel Pontao

“Good facilities, good location, lacking staff, lacking organisation.”

The location is good and the facilities are good. We spent most of our time on the roof terrace more than the pool as it was quieter. The pool was a pleasant place to be but the terrace was our personal preference. Unfortunately I cannot give a review on the rooms as we had to sleep elsewhere. We... more

The location is good and the facilities are good. We spent most of our time on the roof terrace more than the pool as it was quieter. The pool was a pleasant place to be but the terrace was our personal preference. Unfortunately I cannot give a review on the rooms as we had to sleep elsewhere. We arrived at the hotel, shattered from our flight, and we were told we had to sleep in another hotel as they had "electrical issues" in our room. The receptionist at the other hotel (Ouril Julia) told us that they'd overbooked. Whatever the truth of it is, it meant a bit of back and forth on our holiday. Fortunately Ouril Julia is about a 5/10 minute walk down the other end of Pedestrian Street so it wasn't terrible but there was a lot of carrying towels and swimwear back and forth. Pontao is actually in a really good location, close to the beach and close to the town but slightly round a corner so the nightlife doesn't disturb the hotel too much. Ouril Julia was right on the high street so it was loud at night, but the actual room was very very big - it had an upstairs and a downstairs. If you're a light sleeper, a decent pair of earplugs should do the trick. In my opinion, Pontao and Morabeza are the best two hotels in Santa Maria, in terms of location. We decided to go full board as we'd never been to Cape Verde before and didn't know what to expect. So we thought it would be less stressful to buy all our food ahead of time. The only thing to bear in mind is that full board doesn't include ANY drinks, not even water, after breakfast. This caught us off guard a bit, but there are supermarkets nearby which they let you bring in if you want to save a bit on drinks. I found that the food service was quite slow, not because of the attitude of the staff but for the lack of the number of them. The staff they employ are pleasant and friendly, and speak enough English to get by. There were 12 tables all wanting dinner at the alloted dinner time, and only one waiter and one chef. It was disappointingly slow at times and made the bedtime very late for the children. Also, be aware of the tourist tax, which is about 2 euros 50c per night, per person. This was an unpleasant surprise upon checking out. But if you allow 30 to 50 euros for this then you won't be caught off guard. Also bear in mind the airport tax. This has nothing to do with Pontao but just a general warning as we're on the subject of tax.

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“Its basically a decent value hotel with great staff and a fab location-shame it could be so much better”

Have stayed before and gave in 4* Was bit disappointed this time Paid extra for pool view as last time was kept awake by Pirate disco. Were initially shown to top floor room directly opposite disco. We asked to be moved and were given a room by the pool. This smelt of damp and there was a large p... more

Have stayed before and gave in 4* Was bit disappointed this time Paid extra for pool view as last time was kept awake by Pirate disco. Were initially shown to top floor room directly opposite disco. We asked to be moved and were given a room by the pool. This smelt of damp and there was a large patch of mould on the wall. The toilet leaked water from the back. There was not hot water for the full week. The sunbeds were all reserved by 8am-luckily few guests knew about the upstairs terrace which was great. Breakfast was very good but chaotic constantly running out of everything. The evening meal was ok but service was terribly slow-the poor water was rushed off his feet doing everything. We ate out the other nights and there are loads of good restaurants in 2 mins walk Its basically a decent value hotel with great staff and a fab location 3mins from pier and beach--would I go again ?? --probably. If you want 5* you can probably get in an AI out of town --but you will miss so much.

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“Great value, but needs a little love”

I had a mixed experience staying at this hotel. Let me just start with saying that this is very cheap, so you will get great value for money by choosing this. The bad things: - Shower was dripping for the entire week. Nobody had a hurry fixing this. A wet shower is not a problem, but the sound ... more

I had a mixed experience staying at this hotel. Let me just start with saying that this is very cheap, so you will get great value for money by choosing this. The bad things: - Shower was dripping for the entire week. Nobody had a hurry fixing this. A wet shower is not a problem, but the sound of it is something. - Cold water in the shower. - The room needs renovation. It have seen better days. The same for the sun beds. They are old and looks kind of dirty. - No wifi in the rooms, and bad connection some times. - Coffe is not good, and the bed is hard. The good things: - Good breakfast! The hotel offers fresh slices of melon, you can ask the chef for omelet, they got homemade pancakes, bacon, sausage, stired vegetables, several types of bread, cheese and so on. For the price of this hotel, you get a pretty good breakfast! - Great service in the lobby. I asked for hangers, and I got some later that day. I also needed help with some other stuff, and they were great! - Nice location in Santa Maria. I loved staying in the city. Would reccoment that over an all inclusive resort. Or do as we did: stay here first, and take some days with luxury on a resort before you leave the island. It is so worth it to live by the locals, and explore the colorful streets of Santa Maria. - The rooftop was great for tanning. Will I stay here again? I can absolut consider it.

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