Melia Dunas Resort

this is our 2nd visit to melia dunas. we have loved the food at the restaurants and the service by the staff there in particular Antonio in the rancho, who is always cheerful. we were put initially upstairs (with a 10 week old baby) then moved downstairs when we complained (right outside the nightclub). after a 2nd complaint we were offered a room on the sol side of the hotel which was a distance from the beach and all the facilities we had paid extra for, so we declined and prayed the noise didn't wake our baby....it didn't, but did wake us. the towel service is ridiculous and despite being Thomson premier, if the towels were gone by the pool you had to walk to the beach (10 minute walk) to get them whilst the man sat there in the hut on his phone not attempting to rectify the problem. positives: food excellent and choice of a la carte restaurant excellent. the all inclusive drinks are spot on. entertainment was better 2 years ago, it feels like the effort has shifted to the new hotel next door. it feels like senior management don't have a hold on the hotel anymore. would we be back again? yes but only if tui were offering a good deal. it is still worth 4 out of 5 but only just.

On arrival met by Jose who welcomed us and drove us to our own Level Reception waiting there to check us in with Champayne was a great Level team, excellent start. Jose then took us to our room which was great and made sure we had everything we required. By being a Level guest, or as TUI have on their website Adults Area, you get Al a cart breakfast in your own restaurant, your own pool with waitress service and custioned sun beds, top shelf premium drinks, Al a cart meals in any of the 5 restaurants every night, bath robes slippers and a fridge in the room, all for £18 per person per night. Jose joins you to his WhatsApp group so just message him and he is there within minutes, what a unique and great service. Non Level guests only get one Al a cart meal per week and none of the above. If you wish you can use any buffett restaraunt on site for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To us it made our holiday more relaxing and so much more value for money, I just regrete only going for 1 week - not long enough, 2 weeks probally too long as there is not too much to do on the island, 10 or 11 nights would have been perfect. Cape Verde is a great place to relax and charge your batteries up in our cold winter, with there tempertures in the high 20s. Many Thanks to all staff at this great hotel and especially Jose and his Level Team.

We stayed here for a 2 week holiday. Our room was in a good location overlooking the beach and the room was big. However on 4 occasions bottled water was not left, on 3 occasions we had no towels and on a couple of occasions the towels were very thin and had small tears in them and discoloured. Around the shower area it needed to deep cleaned. The food was average but definitely not 5 star. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. The hotel states that it is the biggest hotel in Africa but it is too big and the staff cannot cope with the demand. When we spoke to the TUI rep she really didn't care and fobbed us off. We were disappointed as we were expecting a 5 star hotel.