Meliá Tortuga Beach - All Inclusive

We came for a week at the end of October. Arrival at the airport was fine as we'd done our airport registration with Tui online. Cases came quickly & bus was quick to get to hotel. On arrival we were checked in quickly then passed over to what I think it's their concierge desk where they really try to sell you the vip upgrade €50 per person per night & all you get is premium drinks mini bar, use of other hotels areas, free 25 min massage - all of which we've had included at other 5* resorts on AI. They did not tell us how to book restaurants so we missed a few days being able to do this. The apartment was large, generally clean and serviced every day, the air-conditioning worked in the lounge area but not in bedrooms. Bathrooms ok but main bathroom does not have a shower screen seal so the floor flooded & we had to roll a towel up & wedge it under it to stop bathroom flooding otherwise there could of been a serious accident with all the water! Staff at main restaurant are very good, but at the bars not so friendly. Swim up bar is manned at the top end and they can't be bothered to come down to serve you so you have to shout your order up over the extremely loud music (could hear it over my earbuds at full volume). Sunbeds are not comfortable and lots of broken & filthy ones. Pool water is lovely & generally clean but watch your feet on all the broken tiles! Staff attempt to replace these at night and it looks awful with silicone & tile grout everywhere. We got the free shuttle down to the town but as soon as you step off the bus you are hassled by men trying to get hot to come to 'their family market' they see your wristband and tell you they work at your hotel but are on their day off. As a female I felt very unnerved & was constantly hassled the entire visit to the town so I didn't enjoy it. Found a lovely beach bar though caked Waffles which is worth a visit but got a taxi straight back after. Food is hit & miss but we managed to find something each night, breakfast was nice. I was ill after eating at Pasta Nostra & found staff kept taking wong food out to everyone. I asked about air-conditioning in the reception area as never seems to be on & it's very hot, even the staff were sweating and the manager told me they don't have it on as water drips into the floor and doors are always open which is a poor excuse in my opinion as this is expected in a 5* hotel. In my honest opinion this is not a 5* hotel, and has a long was too go before it reaches that standard. We have been to Sal before and stayed at a Riu which was near to 5* mark but would never come back here again. If it had been advertised as a 3* we wouldn't have minded so much but it's classed incorrectly Eric is disappointing.

If your looking for some great experiences whilst you are here then go and see Antonio 😎 in the reception area of the hotel. We have booked with him and nothing was too much trouble he is the man you need to see. We booked the island tour and Antilon was a fantastic guide and took us places you wouldn't normally see or do. We were going to do the jet skis but had to cancel due to illness 😥.

Praia, comida, simpatia do staf

Excesso de melgas, e falta de palhinhas para saborear as bebidas.

We stayed for a week in the middle of October, weather was fantastic all week. The hotel was a pleasure to stay at, from the initial welcome at reception all the way to our leaving. The room we had was a 2 bedroom suite which was huge and more than enough space for 4 people with a living area, dining table and kitchen area as well as a bathroom and a shower room. It was cleaned daily and beds changed frequently, however the towels were not replaced as often and we had to ask once for more. The towels were quickly sent to the room though when requested. Food was really good throughout the hotel, always plenty to choose from, and always cooked nicely. The spices buffet was good at anytime we went and lots available. We managed to book 3 of the other restaurants la cabana, pasta, and acqua nici. All were good although we found the pasta restaurant a bit limited for choice, la Cabana was my favourite and portions were a good size. The only issue that prevented the 5 star review is the availability of sun beds, there are only really 2 pools on the complex and they have a very limited amount of beds around them and unfortunately they are usually reserved with towels very early (there is no effort by the hotel to stop this). There are more on the beach which I have no problem using as I'm not that desperate to be up at 6 to get a bed by a pool, and the beach bar is close enough to get service from. The only downside is having to keep rejecting the advances of the beach sellers but they do take no for an answer. My concern would be in high season whether there's enough even on the beach. If you go realistically knowing the island motto is "no stress" and accept that the world moves at a slower pace for the Islanders who work there then you will have a great time.

Nous avons été surclassés dans une villa à la place de 2 suites. Le personnel du buffet et des restaurants est très serviable. Petit déjeuner et buffet avec du choix et assez bon compte tenu de ce type d'établissement ( très gros hôtel) La plage avec le lagon idéale avec les enfants et toujours de la place sur les transats ( à l'inverse des piscines où il est impossible d'avoir un transat libre).

Beaucoup de monde et de bruit mais nous n'avons pas l'habitude d'aller dans ce type d'hôtel donc cela doit être normal. Difficile de réserver dans les restaurants autres que le buffet car ils sont complets. Parasols de plage à refaire.

Tudo

Gostei de tudo

We booked a break for a family of 4 (kids 8 and 12) at 4 weeks notice so didn’t have much time to research. I then read a lot of bad reviews and was worried but needn’t have been. Food: I consider our family to be fairly well exposed to the all inclusive across various locations in Europe and Egypt and this was some of the best food we have had. Fresh meat and fish carved and cooked to your liking at the buffet each night plus plenty of other options. In addition to the buffet restaurant (Spices) each night there were 4 additional a la carte restaurants that could be booked as many times as you like at no extra cost. We only tried La pasta Nostra and la Cubana but both were great. At lunch time you have the standard buffet restaurant but also can have a la carte at la Cubana by the beach or just go to the snack bar by the pool for pizza, burgers and chips . We ate all fresh meat, fish , everything all week and not one single tummy upset. Drinks: I like white wine. I could not drink the white wine here. I stuck to cocktails and shorts which were definitely watered down compared to uk standards. My husband enjoyed the beer and the kids enjoyed mocktails and slushies. Accommodation: We stayed in a 3 bedroom villa between the beach and the main pool. We had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms , living area and kitchen plus garden with private plunge pool. The accommodation was basic and dated but cleaned every single day. Some days I feel like we bought half the beach home with us but the next day the villa was immaculate. They also provide you with 3 x 1.5 litre bottled water each day. Set your expectations in advance a 5* Meliá in a European capital is not the same as this. But it was clean and it was comfy. Amenities: We stayed by the main pool most days. The entertainment team did a great job with activities for the kids with water polo and there was water aerobics everything day. We like to snorkel and went out by biking bay a few times and saw lots of different species. Many people we spoke to said they had seen turtles whilst snorkelling that week (late oct) but sadly we did not. My only negative is that the bar staff were typically not very friendly or chatty at all which is different from any where else we have ever been. My recommendations would be: Take clips for beach towels as it can get very windy! Pay the Cape Verde airport security tax online before you go. Take lots of mosquito repellant.

Just got back (20th October) Absolutely fantastic hotel Cant fault food, service or facilities Al a carte.restaurants great Dont understand the negative reviews tbh All staff really friendly but big shout out to Ricardo in the outside bar on the beach Will definately be back