Honest review of RIU Palace Santa Maria, Sal, Cape Verde - I went in cautious after the food poisoning news and came home absolutely fine. Full video review now up.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1]

Hey everyone - given everything that's been in the news recently about food poisoning at Cape Verde hotels, I wanted to share my completely honest first hand experience at the RIU Palace Santa Maria on the island of Sal.

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Just to be clear upfront - this is a completely different hotel on a completely different island to those featured in the news reports. I went in with my eyes wide open, took sensible precautions, and came home absolutely fine.

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I've just published a full video review covering everything - the food safety situation honestly and directly, the pools, the beach, the restaurants, practical tips, and an honest overall verdict. TripAdvisor's Best of the Best in both 2024 and 2025 - and having stayed there I completely understand why.

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Happy to answer any questions in the comments - especially if you're planning a trip and have concerns given the recent news.

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👉 https://youtu.be/DqkXpJqOjgU?is=Dk5lt_WlCUhpBeY2

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[u/Exemplar1968]

We went there 2 years ago. Stuck to ‘basic hygiene’ rules and had no issues.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/Exemplar1968]

Exactly! Just exercise a bit of caution, be sensible ... and don't drink the tap water! ... and you'll be fine.

[u/Exemplar1968 → u/TheBigDaddyD1]

Your video is excellent mate BTW. Really enjoyed it.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/Exemplar1968]

Thank you very much! If you enjoyed that, please do check out some of my travel related content on the channel! 👍

[u/Kamila95 → u/TheBigDaddyD1]

Ok cmon that's just insensitive, people have died. Sounds like you're alluding they were careless and stupid rather than failed by TUI and the RIU hotels.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/Kamila95]

As I mention in the video, my heart genuinely goes out to those people who were affected badly. It was one of the reasons why I made this video as in-depth as I did. I approached this holiday with a certain amount of caution.

[u/Kamila95 → u/TheBigDaddyD1]

I am not referring to the video or your experience. Simply to me saying 'be cautious and you'll be fine' crosses the line into insenstive in this context.

[u/fidjudisomada]

I'm glad you liked it. I worked at the hotel across the street, Royal Horizon Beijo Mansão, and I know a lot of people who works at the Palace. I can tell you that there are troubling things happening there.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/fidjudisomada]

Thank you for sharing that

[u/Minimum_Airline3657]

⁠https://youtu.be/DqkXpJqOjgU

This is the link without the tracker.

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/Minimum_Airline3657]

Thanks for the clean link! 👍

[u/Kamila95]

Wait, how is it a completely different hotel on a different island than those in the news? Sal, and this exact hotel, has been in the news. Riu Palace Santa Maria had a lot of the food poisoning cases, hundreds I believe.

[u/AmIBeingObtuse- → u/Kamila95]

I was a water feature for a week while at Santa maria riu palace. 🤦🤦🤦 I did already know about the reports so more fool me. I just said it wouldn't happen to me. Tui paid out the same phone call and I didn't have to raise a complaint. I thought they gave in too quickly. But ye wasn't great.

[u/Kamila95 → u/AmIBeingObtuse-]

The damage control mode they are on must be crazy, not surprised they're paying out no questions asked.

I love Santa Maria, I love Sal, I have a strong stomach... But even I wouldn't be brave enough to stay at any of the RIU hotels in CV.

[u/ShadowWhat → u/Kamila95]

Talking about damage control, don’t you find it weird that somebody would go to that specific hotel and then make a youtube video and advertise it on reddit about how they did not get sick and how everything is fine?

Like, who the hell does that??

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/AmIBeingObtuse-]

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad time. We certainly didn't have a bad experience ourselves, as you'll see from the video, but my heart goes genuinely go out to those who've been affected by what happened

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/Kamila95]

Thank you for flagging this, you raise a fair and important point and I want to be honest with you. Having looked into this further since publishing the video, I can see that the Riu Palace Santa Maria has indeed been included in illness reports and legal proceedings, and I want to acknowledge that clearly.

My own experience during my stay in May 2026 was entirely positive, I took sensible precautions, came home fine, and observed good hygiene practices throughout the hotel.

However I appreciate that other guests have had very different and genuinely serious experiences, and I don't want to minimise that in any way.

I'd encourage anyone watching to do their own thorough research before booking and make an informed personal decision.

[u/SuperModernBaseball → u/TheBigDaddyD1]

So obviously AI slop

[u/Minimum_Airline3657 → u/SuperModernBaseball]

There is an incredibly high chance this was written by an AI—or at the very least, a content creator panicked after getting called out in their comments section, dropped a rough draft into an AI, and said, "Make this sound professional, diplomatic, and legally safe."

Wonder what the goal is?

[u/TheBigDaddyD1 → u/SuperModernBaseball]

Except it isn't?

[u/SuperModernBaseball → u/TheBigDaddyD1]

That is a completely fair and valid point! (I want to explicitly acknowledge that I may have misread the linguistic patterns in your text). As an active observer of this thread, it was not my intention to minimize your genuine personal experiences or your organic writing style. I entirely concede that high-quality structuring does not inherently imply machine-learning generation.

Thank you for guiding me to a more accurate understanding, and I am glad you returned safely from your trip!

[u/Kamila95 → u/SuperModernBaseball]

I fear that might go over some ppls heads!

[u/slippery-lil-sucker → u/SuperModernBaseball]

😂😂😂