ACCOMMODATION

Sal Island

There are a number accommodation types available on Sal, Cape Verde. All Inclusive Hotels, Pensao, Residencies and other hotels. Large and smaller resorts are situated in and around Santa Maria and there are many apartments for rent. If you are looking for other information about Sal Island, you may find it within the menu on the right under 'What's On Sal Island'.

The capital of Santiago will have more hotels and accommodation types than other islands as it is the business centre of Cape Verde and a gateway to the U.S.A.,Brazil and Africa. People traveling to or from another country may need to stay overnight on Santiago before traveling on to another destination via an international flight or an internal flight to one of the other Cape Verde Islands.

On Sal Island, most of the large tourist hotels are situated along Hotel Boulevard in Santa Maria, or further along the west coast such as Sol Melia Dunas, Sensimar, Llana, Tortuga, or another large resort (second line) called Vila Verde. 

Pensao | Pension

These will generally offer accommodation and meals. Mostly family run accommodation. They may have restaurants that are also open to non-residents.

Residence | Residency | Residencies | Residencia

These will vary in size and management. The services offered will also vary. The Porto Antigo Residence in Santa Maria, Sal provides beach front accommodation in a secure complex, although not all villas or apartments will have a sea view,  however, this would be the same in many other front line resorts. Some resorts will have standard facilities such as a swimming pool and restaurant while others will have an additional facilities such as a Gym, sauna, more restaurants, beauty salons etc. Other smaller Residencies may have a reception area but no swimming pool or restaurant on site.

Hotels

There are a number of All Inclusive hotels which you can book as part of a package deal or book seperately. You may want to enquire about booking a two island stay, spending 6 nights on Boavista and the remainder of your two week holiday on Sal Island, or visa versa. You can arrange internal flights with any of the Travel Agencies here or in your home country.

You can also stay at some of the smaller hotels and include breakfast with your accommodation, this may be taken in the hotel or at a nearby restaurant with which they have made arrangements. Some of these hotels will have standard rooms, will be clean and cheaper than some of the larger hotels.

In earlier years some of the hotels catered for one or two nationalities mainly because Tour Operators from different countries will have negotiated deals with a particular hotel or hotel chain on an island. However, with more demand for holidays on Sal, more hotels have been built and are accommodating tour operators from other countries.

Tortuga Sol Melia has 14 hotel rooms and a number of self catering apartments, town houses, villas, a restaurant, pool and beach bars. The same group have since built Dunas Sol Meilia and Melia Llana Beach Resort and Spa. Melia Llana was split into two resorts, one run by Melia International and the other is part of the 'Sensimar' brand, operated by Thomson.

While the Riu hotels have been upgraded and the Riu Garopa has had a name change to the Riu Palace. The Riu Funana still offers good value for money and an all inclusive service, though you will find that some access to the Riu Palace facilities is now restricted.

Some of the more established hotels such as the Morabeza prides itself on being a family run hotel. It's situated on the beach in Santa Maria, next to the pier (pontao). The hotel has extended within the grounds and so there is a mix of older build with new, but you will still feel at home here. A mix of nationalities stay there. It doesn't offer All Inclusive but has a good choice of meals which you can enjoy in the evenings in their restaurant or at the Beach Club during the day. From the Morabeza Beach Club you can just choose to relax and read a book or enjoy a drink and watch the jet ski's and scuba divers come and go, windsurfers falling off their boards into the crystal blue waters, people swimming or diving through the waves or off the pontao, fishing boats bringing in the morning or afternoons catch of fish or just relax and have a drink or meal. The restaurants in the hotel and The Beach Club are open to non-residents of the hotel. It's staff have remained with the hotel for many years.

The Sal Hilton opened in November 2017, it's casino opened earlier. The Hotel Sobrado opened in May 2018 following a 10yr closure and a recent full refurbishment, it also has a new restaurant 'Piri Piri' which is open to the public. The hotel Belorizonte, Criolo, Farol, Pontao hotels have had some upgrades, more work is being done in bringing the Hotel Da Luz and Nha Terra up to standard. A new Radisson Blu and others to be built over the next few years. Work on the new New Horizons Resort has been delayed.

If you also want to try something different, if you aren't staying in an All Inclusive you can book a night or two in one of the hotels during your stay, or you can book dinner or a meal there, you can arrive at a given time to enjoy an all inclusive meal, drinks and watch some evening entertainment.

If you are looking to stay for a longer term to enjoy the winter on Sal or windsurfing or kitesurfing sometimes the smaller hotels, pensions or residencies will do you a better deal than what they generally charge for short stays. Some of the smaller hotels may charge you less per month than if you rented a self catering apartment, it just depends on your needs and budget and, the hotel!