Hotel LIVVO Budha Beach

Buddha Beach hotel is so beautiful and relaxing. The location is perfect, just a 10-15 minute stroll into Santa Maria. The staff at the hotel were amazing, so friendly, excellent service and amazing food! Our room was massive with beautiful views. Would definitely stay again!

Seafood the best. Chef Mario's seafood dishes have been excellent, full of flavour, quality over quantity but still enough. Great presentation Check photos Service staff, very friendly, efficient & always with a smile 😁 What more could you want.

We stayed at this wonderful hotel from 22nd December to 5th January 2024. It is by far the best hotel in Santa Maria. All of the staff from the security team to the chef were delightful and it would be wrong to single anyone out. We were blessed with room 24, a sea view suite, the best room in the hotel. The attention from the staff was incredible and the food first class. We encountered no service delays in the restaurant to which reference has previously been made and the track leading to the hotel is part of its charm. The hotel is a very short stroll from the town providing a peaceful location. The safe and sandy beaches are close by and we were amazed how warm the sea was. One big criticism which the management needs to address in our opinion. OK, this is 'no stress' Cape Verde but sparrows flying around at breakfast atttacking exposed food is not acceptable and highly unhygienic. I saw one bird poo on exposed cake which I was able to dispose of. This problem could be easily remedied by utilising the simplest of coverings. Apart from that, two magical weeks were enjoyed.

The official rating of this hotel is 4 stars, and with a bit of cosmetic upgrading and better staffing in the kitchen, I could see it reaching that level (it seems like it may have once been a real 4 star). As it was, the room quality itself was more 3 star, and the outside area was 4 stars. We had a 'deluxe sea view' with no terrace. There was lots of rough paintwork and lack of maintenance on the small details in the rooms, but overall it was fine, with a huge comfy bed and a nice shower and a lovely view out the window. Unfortunately the entry was at the street side of the hotel which was our smoking area, and that view was just the dirt road and some houses. Overall we would stay here again as the room was fine, the staff were great, the pool area was amazing, nobody had any screaming kids (very quiet and peaceful, great for couples) and while the beach required stepping over rocks, it also had the best snorkeling area with the most fish. Another sandy beach with less fish and two beach bars is a 3 minute walk away, and the main ***** with the main beach is a 10 minute walk (that one is useless for snorkeling but great for swimming). Besides snorkeling, it's also a preferred spot for wind surfing. We happened to try the hotel restaurant on a really bad night apparently, we waited an hour for our seafood paella which was average quality but double the price of the ***** restaurants. However, according to the other patrons who did all inclusive, the service was usually much faster. and the food usually much better. We did also have burgers for lunch one day, and those were expensive but very nice. Breakfast was included in our stay and it had an extensive and delicious continental selection, plus hot eggs and bacon on order, always very fast. The staff were super attentive and completely on their game, absolutely fantastic service. We got a great deal on a package holiday with LoveHolidays, so for the price we were very happy and would definitely stay again.