Meliá Dunas Beach Resort & Spa

“Slightly dissapointing not 5-star”

As we're nearing the end of our holiday, I thought I'd share my honest opinion of Melia Dunas Beach Resort. For me, it's a good 3-star hotel that's just about scratching a 4-star, but it definitely isn't the 5-star resort it's advertised as being. The rooms are dated but perfectly functional. Unf… more

As we're nearing the end of our holiday, I thought I'd share my honest opinion of Melia Dunas Beach Resort. For me, it's a good 3-star hotel that's just about scratching a 4-star, but it definitely isn't the 5-star resort it's advertised as being. The rooms are dated but perfectly functional. Unfortunately, housekeeping was hit and miss. We regularly had to ask for basics such as toilet rolls, towels and even bedding for the sofa bed, which should have been provided automatically. A spare toilet roll and a full set of towels for every guest should be standard. The air conditioning in our first room didn't work, and after three days of constant promises that it would be fixed, I finally insisted on being moved. Thankfully, the second room was much better. The fridges also need replacing or refurbishing – ours was rusty inside with all the internal door shelves missing. Only two large bottles of water were provided in the room, with no other complimentary soft drinks, which felt disappointing for a hotel claiming to be 5-star. There are also no drying racks on the balconies, so towels and swimwear either have to be draped over the furniture or risk blowing away in the strong winds. The main buffet restaurant was actually one of the highlights. There was plenty of choice, the food was good quality, it was kept very clean, and finding a table was never a problem. One downside is the lack of a proper poolside snack bar. We only discovered by chance that food is available during the day at Aqua as part of the all-inclusive package, but it's a sit-down restaurant rather than somewhere you can quickly grab a snack between swimming. Sadly, the à la carte restaurants were a real disappointment and not somewhere I'd recommend. Like many people seem to experience here, we all had upset stomachs at some point, although nothing too serious. My husband was the only one who was actually sick. The pool areas are clean and pleasant enough, although the resort is enormous, so expect to do plenty of walking, especially if you're staying near the Waterpark area. The water park is underwhelming, with only around four slides and one of those closed during our stay. The sun loungers are some of the most uncomfortable I've ever used, but the positive is that there isn't a huge rush for beds. If you're by the pool around 8am, you should still find somewhere to sit. The beach is lovely and peaceful, but there are lots of vendors approaching you to sell trips and souvenirs. Because of this, I never felt entirely comfortable leaving our belongings unattended while going for a swim, so I'd recommend just taking your towel and leaving valuables elsewhere. The entertainment team work incredibly hard from morning until night and deserve a special mention—they really do give it their all. The staff at the swim-up pool bar were excellent, and in general all the staff were friendly and welcoming. Reception staff were always pleasant too, although unfortunately they didn't always follow through on the promises they made. Overall, we've had a lovely holiday and made some fantastic family memories. However, if you're booking this resort expecting a true luxury 5-star experience, I think you'll probably be disappointed. Would I come back? Probably not.

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“Questionably average”

We stayed here in September after being recommended to Cape Verde by a family member who had visited in Dec 2024. I have very mixed opinions about this hotel. Pros; Cheap destination for warm weather & high UV during the autumn/winter months (our family member that recommended Cape Verde loved it… more

We stayed here in September after being recommended to Cape Verde by a family member who had visited in Dec 2024. I have very mixed opinions about this hotel. Pros; Cheap destination for warm weather & high UV during the autumn/winter months (our family member that recommended Cape Verde loved it in December!) Great size pool & lovely to be able to walk directly onto the beach from the hotel Good location - not too far from the town (cheap taxi in and out) Lovely sunset DJ & cocktails every night by the beach Themed nights in main buffet - mexican night was lovely Access to next door hotel where theres another pool, kids play area & theatre Generally hotel looks lovely, the broad walk is lovely at night, live music down by the restaurants in the evening which was really good Cons: Nothing to do with the hotel but our experience in September was extremely unbearably hot (no breeze) & i have never been bitten by mosquitos so much in my life - constantly felt itchy (our family member who had visited in December didn't experience either of these so I’d personally avoid September if you’re going to go) CONSTANTLY pestered by locals trying to sell us things - the second we entered the beach area this was constant (at least one ever 5 mins, my boyfriend even had one follow him into the sea) to the extent that we ended up not bothering with the beach at all - considering this beach is attached to the hotel you would think the hotel would try and police this a little more (again, our family member didn't experience this in December, so maybe this is a peak tourist time issue) If you’re looking for a relaxing hotel this isn’t for you. The animation team is constantly by the pool blasting African music non stop at full volume which made it very hard to relax. My boyfriend didn’t mind this at all but it personally drove me crazy after about 2 days when trying to read / relax (which was nearly impossible with all the noise). Generally the hotel was pretty dirty, cocktail glasses never looked overly clean, our room wasn't the cleanest either. Check in was a nightmare. We waited an hour in line (we were only about 4th in the queue) to get checked in to find out our room wasn’t ready (we arrived at around 5pm), were sent to go get a drink and check back later and the room was still not ready. Very frustrating after you've been traveling for the last 10 hours and just want to get changed and have a shower. The food isn't great. The restaurants aren’t the best (i could personally cook way better myself), very very limited options in all of them aside from the Aqua restaurant. The african restaurant had nice food however portion sizes were TINY in all 4 restaurants so we ended up having to go to the buffet after to get more food as we were still very hungry. The buffet was okay, Mexican night was lovely but every other night was very average food, but lots of options here and something for everyone. My biggest issue: food poisoning. We only ate at the hotel so we are 100% sure it came from the food there. My boyfriend was very ill for most of the holiday, he spent at least 3 days mostly in bed and was still ill for a good week after we got back. I got ill on the 2nd to last day and this lasted for a total of 6 WEEKS! Safe to say if I ever find myself back in Cape Verde (which is highly unlikely) I will avoid ice, meat and anything that can easily cause food poisoning because this holiday was not worth how ill I was. I’d also like to add that everyone I know who has been to Cape Verde has had food poisoning while there, although I am sure this is generally a food hygiene issue in the entire country I would say to try and avoid this I would personally try to go to a more expensive, 5 star hotel with a good reputation as I feel like I paid hundreds of pounds for a very average holiday that wasn’t relaxing and to be extremely ill for 6 weeks.

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