I Was worried about what we were going to think of this Hotel after reading comments on here, but rest assured....there was nothing to worry about. We have a 6 and 8 year old boys and had a fantastic 17 day relaxing break...had 3 days extra due to the volcano in Iceland. We stayed in one of the Hotel family bungalows which was basic....ours was very spacious some are smaller, traditional and spotlessly clean. We had no drawers, but lots of surface space and 2 wardrobes. Rooms were cleaned every day, including Sunday and that included clean sheets and towells every day. We also had pool towels that we could change as often as we liked. Our Veranda had bananas and limes growing over it....and often you could smell the fresh limes. After our 1st walk down to the beach and our 1st night in the hotel we knew we had made a good choice.
For a couple of days we were a little concerned about the pool, it is salt water and looked so dirty and the sea seemed cleaner....but after enquiring why, we were told they were changing the colour of the water from green to blue and it took 2-3 day to do......2 days later it was brlliant crystal clear blue....Wow. Due to location the kids happy jumping the waves and walking to the pier most mornings, followed by lunch (which they normally ate with the hotel animation team), then they would have a couple of hours sleep to keep out of the hot hot sun, and so they could stay up to see the evening shows...which they loved.
The Beach outside the Hotel was also amazing and it was in a very good location....just 10-15 min walks to the pier and to Santa Maria town...despite what others write...We found Santa Maria totally safe, and the only people who at first approached us are market sellers (normally over from Senegal), and even if you say 'no means no' to them and carry on walking they accept....
If you went out of the Beach entrance of the Hotel, you could either walk along a promanade or in the sand with the waves on your feet. Along the promanade there are a few local trade stalls, and a couple of beach restuarants...our favourite being the Turtle Shack....which is always full of people on their Laptops (as has free Wifi), but also the cheapest internet Cafe, and the cheapest international phonecalls. On the promanade outside the Turtle Shack is the best Tourist Office...we found out about it from a Swiss lady in our Hotel...kept telling us about Scottish Ellen....so we went to see Scottish Elaine to book a trip. Her trips and excusions around the island not only seemed to be very good value compared with others, but she does have a reputation for the best island tour...., this was very good value and we really saw the true island of Sal, as others said the same who had booked with Elaine, but I did hear some other horror stories that were booked else where...think they were taken to the places and left to there own devices. We also did the Pirate ship snorkling and fishing trip. Elaine kept the boys happy as she had a little puppy asleep in her bag, and expressed an interest in holiday home in Santa Maria. We gave Elaine a wish list of what we wanted and within 24 hours she came up trumps!!! She said I will take you to 3, and came and collected us from our Hotel, but the 1st property hit the spot and in our price range.....she knows the area really well and listened to what we really wanted. She has just recently started to do the property thing. If you are interested in finding out about property in Cape Verde drop her an e-mail -------- and let her know what your interests are. She really is very friendly and loves to just share her love of Cape Verde.
So back to the Hotel....the animation team was a team of very enthusiastic local talant that came from various of the Cape Verde Island. They were always around the hotel between 10-12:30 and 1530-1730, they played golf and danced with the kids, sometimes went in for a swim. They played volleyball, football, tabletennis with all the bigger kids, including the adult kids...they kept us all amused...even on occassions found my husband playing draughts with one of them!! They did about 4-5 shows a week and we never got tired of watching them. Once or twice a week they had other groups in for a show. We especially enjoyed watching a Cape Verdian Martial Arts group! The Bar staff were all from Santa Maria, and very friendly. They spoke many different languages as this Hotel had a mixture of Portugese, Italians, French and Swiss. But it was never very busy....so we all became very friendly with all nationalities. Had a wonderful evening out in Santa Maria with a portugese family. We were all inclusive and there was always a lot of variation to choose from....always a couple of dishes of fresh fish. One thing that did make us happy was they did not have chips every day....maybe just once or twice a week, which meant the kids loved it when they did...but equally enjoyed the different pasta and rice dishes that were very good. Lots of fresh salad and fruit always on offer. And the hotel staff made us up a variation of cocktails on the 1st few nights using local drinks.....I became slightly addicted to Kapirinee (probably not spelt correct...but said like that)....made with a local rum!!!
If you are looking for a lush hotel with kids clubs and variety of entertainment and like to spend most of your time at the hotel then this is not the hotel for you....maybe the Riu... But if you want a hotel in a good location, and to feel the real life of the place you are visiting on your holiday then the Djadsal is the place to be.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
