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 birthday was coming up, and he was visiting - we didn't yet know why they told us that or why it should matter. When the day came, we did find out: All but one of the tables in the restaurant were moved out to the pool area and an other couple that we had spoken with from time to time informed us, that we "might have to speak with the staff, because they seem to not know about having to serve us this evening" - which confused us even more than the moved out tables. Come dinner time, there still was but one table in the restaurant and a slightly confused barkeeper told us, we could sit in lounge-chairs. All other staff was reportedly at the boss' birthday-party, also including some of the guests, who might have been staff all along...? We didn't figure that out ever.||We wouldn't have had a problem with eating in the lounge - what really started to annoy us was, that noone seemed to care enough, to tell us what was going on. This lounge-dinner was only one of a series of things, that made us feel out of place as guests, like as if we showed up unannounced or were a disturbance to whatever else was going on. From the beginning of our stay, there was this group of scientists - biologists and so on - that seemed to be part of an ongoing project, ate with us the first night, but from then on seemed to have their own thing going on - including the birthday-party of the hotels owner. This all wouldn't matter, or be none of our business even, if there wasn't the fact, that apart from the first night (when there was no boss-birthday, and the group of scientists ate with us), staff seemed overloaded with the few guests there were - at lunch, people just brought out the soup of the day or meal of the day, before even asking or bringing the menu, the dinners felt more and more uninspired - no comparison to the first dinner - weren't arranged close to as carefully and repetitive. ||Judging from other reviews, we must have been quite unlucky with the time we chose to stay at Belo Monte, because due to either seasonal understaffing or being focused on private events rather than the guests. We hope our experience was situational and doesn't speak for the hotel in full...||-Beach Bar was closed or not staffed|-Some staff didn't really seem to know how to prepare drinks from their menu|-Staff didn't double-check when they were unsure with an order, they just brought what they thought they heard (like 2 fruit juices when 1 was ordered, hot tea, when ice tea was ordered)|-Orders seemed to get lost between table and kitchen; waiting 90 Minutes for a pizza for lunch seems a bit much|-The Guide for a guided experience (which the manager told us she was going to make sure was one, that spoke at least some english) spoke almost no word, switched to full portuguese due to two women joining our trip last minute, which made them have to translate everything he said... ||All and all, though we realize that not speaking portuguese is a handicap on STP, communication seems to be a big problem at Belo Monte. At least half of the annoyances we had to endure could have been avoided or made less severe, if there was any kind of heads up and we didn't feel like we had to hunt down every little piece of information. Even though we managed to enjoy the beautiful nature and the location as a whole, halfway through our stay these things made us regret not staying at Roça Sundy instead of Belo Monte for those five days! We didn't feel we got what we expected.

If you like more secluded places within beautiful natural environment and aren't too picky with the food selection, this is the place to go. Was there 2 nights for business, so I can't comment on tours the hotel provides around Principe. The facilities are good and Banana Beach can be accessed by foot or shuttle that the hotel provides. Beautiful pristine and calm beach! Overall had a very relaxing/soothing few days.

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.

One of the most amazing places I’ve been to! Genuine, friendly, spectacular views from the balcony in the main building. Great selection of outings and adventures. Excellent service from the Manager and Event Manager. Nice and interesting museum on the premises. |Nice walk down the hill to the fantastic beach “Praia Banana”. Snorkelling easy off the beach, always something new to see. Perfect swimming and playing in the ocean but maybe not so good for small children. We loved the relaxed and laid back atmosphere. Very good Wi-Fi.

My stay at Belo Monte Hotel was wonderful. From the moment I arrived, I was really impressed by the grounds and location. The views from the hotel were beyond magical and perfectly positioned for watching the sunset. I was also impressed by the landscaping and how in sync it was with nature. I was able to watch and photograph endemic birds while strolling around the garden and even a few times while eating my breakfast on the patio. You can also easily access Praia Banana, which is a wonderful beach - especially for snorkelling. Even just a few steps into the water I was able to see all kinds of tropical fish.||||During my time there, I was working on a documentary as part of a scientific research expedition. Belo Monte Hotel is a very welcoming place for scientists - they even have a laboratory! It was great to be able to use their facilities for our project and I was really impressed by how helpful the management and staff were. Our expedition was a success but it would not have been possible without the hospitality of the Belo Monte Team. They went above and beyond to assist us and make sure we had the best stay possible.

Incredible location, wonderful historic buildings set amongst tropical rainforest looking out towards the ocean, beaches & forested hills. It’s magnificent. A short drive down a steep road takes you to the most exquisite beaches.

This is where I feel at home. An old plantation house restaured to a very nice boutique hotel. Very comfortable, almost luxurious and with all the amenities needed in the Equatorial climate. The team that runs the hotel will make you feel at home. Genuine friendliness, plenty of goodwill and always ready to assist. This is also the place of the famous Banana Beach and although the hotel is located high up on the hill their setup on the beach is connected with a smooth on request transfer service unless one prefers a forest walk. Activities on offer are numerous and for those who want more than just relaxing on the beach or by the pool I can guarantee you that you will not be bored ... obviously all is related to pure nature. The food is good and will accommodate all tastes. I would however invite the Chef to explore dishes from other Equatorial climates and incorporate these in his cuisine. Overall ... great place and I will recommend it to my clients.

10/10. There is nothing more than I could ask from this hotel. It's pricey but worth every dime. The service is fantastic. Rooms services twice a day to an incredibly high standard. The food was excellent. I did the Full board option which I believe is the most economical. The excursions they sort for you are incredible. The staff are absolute angels. 3 beaches within walking distance. Banana beach is epic and the boat trip is highly recommended. I would come back again if I was in Príncipe. Helder deserves a special shout out. Great manager and very helpful