Marialva Tropical T2

We stayed in one of the hotel’s huge superior rooms. The regular rooms look fine too, and everything is very modern. The complex feels homely, the staff are great, and it’s excellent value for money. It’s a delightful, unpretentious find. Most of the modern complex is private apartments arranged around two sides of a pool, while the third side is a small hotel. Set back from the main hotel road, it’s peaceful, about five minutes from the beach and a 10-minute walk from town. There’s a large, nice pool with plenty of sunbeds. Sadly, the pool bar isn’t in use, and the restaurant only opens for breakfast. Breakfast is nothing exciting, but perfectly adequate. There are bars and a small shop less than 100m away.

During our pandemic stay, the hotel was nearly empty, with only a few tourists around. The rooms are big, clean, and modern, and the hotel itself is very nice. The major drawback was the pool: the water looked a bit green, as if it wasn’t being filtered. Visibility underwater was about 30 cm. It didn’t smell, but it was off-putting.

The gardens were really well looked after, with gardeners seeming to work on them every day, and the pool was cleaned daily too. It’s very close to the beach and a slow 10 to 15 minute walk into town. I stayed for a week. It was quiet and relaxing. The pool felt cold at first in January, but great once I got in.

Santa Maria has a great atmosphere and some really good places to eat, including inexpensive spots a couple of streets back from the waterfront. The island is developing, though it still has an African feel. The apartment complex is mostly privately owned and has a lovely pool, but there’s no pool bar or other facilities. It’s about a five-minute walk to the beach and 15 minutes on foot to town. There’s also a hotel with an Italian restaurant at the front. It seems to have opened in a hurry: the fire escape hasn’t been built, just doors on the side of the building.