I choosed this hotel because a colleague reccommend it. During my arrival I was gladly surprised about the facilities, namely the nice location and the swimming pool as well. Unfortunately I wasn't able to use the pool because it was too crowded.
In addition I had a very noisy neighbour who didn't let me rest at night time! My reaction was a complain through the front desk but the staff didnt care about that at all, so I had to live with that. The next step was trying to reach the general manager. I failed! The staff at the front desk said " he is not here". Another day when I returned to the hotel after a hard working day, I shared my bad experience with another guest in the lobby. While we had a chat he said "look, this is the manager". I saw a guy wearing short and flip flops. I wasn't wondering anymore that I never got a sunlounger in this hotel. I saw the "manager" with his friends or colleagues, laying next to the pool every single day and having a sun bath!!
Next time for sure, I will stay at the Hotel Praia Mar as I stayed before. Just a hundred meters distance to the Tropico.

Nice oasis to relax after visiting the town or the island.
Large convenient room with large bathroom.
Windows allows to get a natural breeth in the bedroom so we could sleep without AC.
The area is quiet at night and for breakfast you find a buffet which is quite exceptional
for Cabo Verde. Restaurant offers good local food. It's a pity service people hardly do
understand any English or French.

I stayed for over 10 days in the Pestana Tropico. Almost all rooms have views to the pool. The bathroom has a small higher window with sea view (I needed to stand on a bench to see it). Decoration is a bit outdated but ok. I tried to get a room with a double bed or just one single, those did not seem to exist. There is too much furniture for the size of the rooms. Breakfast was tasty.

The pool... was small and shallow but felt more than ok for my morning swim. It also turned out to be a source of major nuisances. Indeed, hotel management has decided to host swimming and aerobics classes for locals at very regular intervals. This means that if you need to work from your room or want to rest at some point of the day this is NOT a recommended hotel. The hotel is built around this pool and it is nearly impossible to get away from the noise.

Staff is very nice and tries, but is often helpless. Further, they forgot to apply the corporate rate to me. They finally reimbursed me in euros, but applied twice an unfavourable conversion rate, which means that I actually lost money because of their mistake. This sums up their attitude towards service well...

There do not seems to be serious competition on the island, so don't expect management's attitude towards their business clients to improve anytime soon.

I spent one night here and was presently surprised by the overall quality and feel of the hotel.
The staff told me it’s recently been renovated and they claim its one of the best 4 star hotels in Cidade da Praia on Santiago Island.
It’s located on a small hilltop overlooking the ocean and several ships were close in at anchor during my stay.
Judging by the adjacent streets this seems to be quite a selective residential area, with a number of foreign embassy’s close by.
This hotel offers 51 rooms, 3 executive rooms and 4 suites all with air conditioning, TV, telephone and minibar. My room was very clean and spacious, with clean fresh bed linen and towels. The bed was comfortable and the air conditioning worked very well and was nice and quiet.
The shower provided copious amounts of hot water at good pressure. Soap, shower gel, shower cap, moisturising cream, shampoo and conditioner were provided.
I enjoyed a very good buffet style breakfast in the ‘Alex’ restaurant consisting of cereal, fresh local fruit, delicious freshly baked bread, cakes and pastry’s. Cooked eggs, toast, fruit juices and excellent coffee.
In the afternoon I ate at the ‘Ilheu’ pool bar where a selection of hot and cold sandwiches were available. I particularly enjoyed their club sandwich and real chips.
The ‘Alex’ restaurant was also open for lunch but time and circumstance did not allow for me to take lunch there. I did however glance at the menu and found it very impressive and offering a wide range of local seafood along with international dishes.
The outdoor heated seawater pool was very welcome, refreshing and clean with a very shallow end gradually sloping off towards the deep end.
The pool opens at 1000hrs but the hotel staff were up at 0700hrs washing down the pool area and sun loungers. Pool towels are available from reception and loungers cushions and shades were provided by the pool.
Other hotel staff were visible tending to the gardens and passageways all around the complex.
Checking in and checking out was a speedy and painless process as the staff spoke excellent English.

Considering the choices available on Praia I would not hesitate to stay here again.
The welcome, service and atmosphere was impressive, rooms are great and the food of high standard. As a result and considering its global location I’d agree that this hotel is worthy of its 4 star status.
Only wish I could have stayed there for another few days!

Lastly there was a 24 hour security guard on the front door.