Hotel reviews: Crioula Club Resort

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The hotel is open all year round.

The hotel has an entertainment team that organises a number of sporting activities for guests, including tournaments and other games. In the evening, shows are performed at the panoramic bar (near the beach) and once a week, a Cape Verdean theme night is organised.

The clientele come from all over the world.

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

Although the Crioula opened back in 2000, it is a very well-maintained hotel and enjoys regular renovations. For example, the reception was restored in 2008 and is now a pleasant, well-aired space, generously proportioned and open on all sides. There is an African influence in the decor in the large, bright lobby, and the furniture is stylish with an ethnic twist. The reception looks out to a sort of patio where the bar's tables and chairs are laid out. Most of the hotel's services are also located here: a clothes shop, hair dresser, fitness centre with a gym and an adjoining spa more akin to a beauty salon, offering massages, thalassotherapy treatments, facial and body care, manicures and pedicures. It is a bright and pleasant area, but it is a shame there are only three booths for the whole hotel (which can take up to 650 guests). Moreover, the prices are not very attractive... A rudimentary snack bar by the main bar serves food from 11:00am to 1:00pm. There is a second bar in the middle of the nearby pool, on a small pier leading to the road to the beach. A reasonable number of deckchairs are set on sand (rather than the usual concrete floor) around the large seawater pool. Maybe this is intended as a foretaste of the actual beach a few hundred feet away, but probably not, as the real beach, lapped by the ocean, is much more beautiful!

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The Crioula houses 244 rooms including 60 spread through bungalows, and four suites which have the advantage of being much more spacious than the standard rooms. As a result, they are more pleasant places to stay, and the level of comfort is top notch. They have a large fitted balcony, nice decor and are perfectly equipped with wicker furniture, satellite television, a safe, a refrigerator (with a bottle of water offered on arrival) and a direct international telephone line. A lounge area separates the bedroom with its large double bed from the fully tiled bathroom, which has a bathtub, towels and hospitality products. The standard rooms are reasonably sized and comfortable, and very brightly lit. The decoration and amenities are more or less the same as in the suites. Finally, the bathrooms of all the rooms are fitted either with a shower or a bathtub. As for the view, 40 of the rooms look out to sea, the others face the garden and 10 of the 60 bungalows have sea views.

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The hotel's only restaurant is not far from the beach. The dining room is a very spacious hall that can seat up to 650 guests. The all-inclusive meal option gives you the chance to try everything, which is a real plus point because the buffet is well presented, the food varied, the fruit and vegetables seem fresh and the dishes are prepared to a high standard. The three daily meals are served from 7:30am to 10:00am, 12:30pm to 2:30pm and 7:30pm and 9:30pm. As an example of what is on offer, lunch is a choice of several starters (salads, stuffed peppers, eggs, etc.), main dishes (meat, fish, vegetables, pasta, pizzas, etc.) and desserts including cakes and fruit. Drinks are self-service. The non-smokers' room is located at the back of the restaurant, where background music makes for a pleasant ambience.

The Crioula's all-inclusive option includes snacks served from 11:00am to 1:00pm near the main bar. The poor variety of dishes on the buffet (a few slices of pizza and club sandwiches) and the way it is stored under cling film between meals could do with being reviewed...

• Z Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The best way to the nearby beach (650 ft from the pool) is probably through the panoramic bar, with the night club (open five nights in the week) to one side and the stage, where shows are performed every evening, to the other. The bar looks over the whole complex and out onto the magnificent white sandy beach where guests can play beach volleyball or beach football. A little further along the beach, several plastic deckchairs are set out for guests, who can bathe in the turquoise water and take part in numerous water sports activities, including kite surfing (at an extra charge).