Belo Monte Hotel and Museum

Arriving at Roça Belo Monte is quite an experience! From the airport to the hotel, you'll be driving through rainforest on a bumpy road, which you wont be too annoyed by thanks to the stunning sights and sounds. Once on the premises, we were greeted by the manager (?) and a lovely fruity welcome drink. We received a quick tour of the bar & restaurant and were taken to our room. We were upgraded from a plantation room to one of the suites, which was a nice surprise and we were quite happy with our room - a spacious bathroom with two individual sinks, seperate shower and bathtub. What was missing and we kind of were expecting from a hotel in that price-range: A mini-fridge! The bottles of filtered water were restocked every day, so we had plenty of water, but to keep it refreshing (especially when going on a trip or to the beach), somewhere to keep it cool would have been nice. Room: +spacious and "comfy" room +quiet and private, but still with a feel of "out in nature" +clean and well taken care of -no mini-fridge -bathrobe was taken with other towels, but not restocked Of course, the main star of this accomodation is "Praia Banana" - and having seen other beaches on Principe as well as Sao Tome, this one really is "it"! Clear water, yellow-white sand contrasted with black volcanic rocks and no deck-chair-desert eyesore! The hotel provides shuttle-service to the beach, but we chose to walk the three times we went to spend time there. Maybe for the better, given what we experienced on the service-side during our stay (foreshadowing)... The on location museum was definitely worth a visit...or two (we had to split our visit, there is much to read!). Location: +calm, paradisic ambiance +most beautiful beach in walking distance +museum with interesting facts and information about the islands +different locations to enjoy the view The first dinner was held outside in the courtyard - beautiful ambience and good food! Sadly, this was the first and only time when that would be the case, coming to a first, major "bad point" The food (we had half-board) was good, not exceptional for this class of hotel, but ok. Same goes for breakfast, were in addition to the buffet (which sadly felt a bit neglected from time to time, you never knew if they ran out of stuff, or just didn't get around to refilling it) you could order from a range of things - omletts, eggs and so on. IF your order made it to the kitchen, after a more or less reasonable time, you got your omlett or scrambled eggs on a plate. It happened more than once, that they simply forgot about our order, or for some other reason, took 45 Minutes to make an omlett. Now, had the hotel been fully booked, that (in combination with the island's motto, "leve-leve") could have been understandable, but usually there weren't more than maybe 3-4 more tables to serve, with each 2 people - which should easily be manageable by a hotel that has space for up to 40 people. We were informed, that the owners birthda

The plantation buildings have been sympathetically transformed into a comfortable hotel. A friendly team of staff with someone available at all times to assist us in any way conversing with us in English. We enjoyed three excellent excursions, it’s worth listening to advice and local knowledge to get the best from the trips out. When I was feeling unwell I was shown kindness, understanding and help. The beach is magical, the views from the hotel of sea are beautiful, good food, rooms are clean and the museum interesting. We had a wonderful time; however it is Africa and a small island so expect a lack of seatbelts, breakfast not always ready on time and an element of waiting. Go with the flow, don’t let it bother you and enjoy this special slice of paradise.

Staff was very friendly and courteous and happily answered all questions. I wanted to do a small hike on my first day and instead of trying to sell me one of their guided tours they suggested one I could do without a guide, a very nice change of pace compared to other place where profit drives everything. I did use their guide for a cultural tour around Principe and it was quite good too, the only minor complaint was that the guide struggled a bit with English so information were partly in porteguese and it was difficult to ask follow-up questions. Food was excellent and I had both lunch and dinner and was pleasantly surprised by each meal. Breakfast is sparse with limited choices with some fruit, bread, cereal, eggs and sometimes bacon but that is to be expected when you are on a tiny, tiny island. Since I prefer walking I didn't utilize their beach transport to Banana beach, but that is also a great service and excellent choice after a long day on the beach.

Absolutely stunning view, though in our eyes the whole hotel is overrated due to the very (!) relaxed service and the normal, basic food. Staff, however, is very forthcoming, friendly and lovely. They really make you feel at home. Some of the minor drawbacks: Plates were often dirty and had to be cleaned again. Breakfast and dinner buffet were late most of the time, but then again, you are not in a rush on Príncipe. A laundry rack would be great to have in the rooms, since clothes do not have a chance to get dry in Príncipe's climate without one. What we loved: The lovely garden, the lush pool area (pool enclosure itself will need restoration soon) and the trips to the beach which are quite a treat. The museum is very informative. All in all, if they put a bit more effort into the quality of the food, the cleanliness of the dishes and work a bit on a structured hotel environment, it is the perfect place to forget the world around you for some days. We would always come back.