Hotel Roça Sundy - Principe Collection

Classic old building at heart of former plantation – the original Portuguese managers obviously did themselves very well and HBD have refurbished it well without losing its character. We had a big first floor bedroom with a view towards the sea. Excellent food, well served by staff who mostly have at least adequate English. The management arranges a range of good excursions around the island and were happy to adjust them when we were concerned that too much walking might be involved. We especially enjoyed boat trip from Bom-Bom to Bay of Needles. Only negative is that the path from Roca Sundy to the beach (with pool and bar) at Sundy Praia is not good – slippery in places and peters out towards the bottom. As paths elsewhere show, it could easily be improved without detracting from the surroundings.

Our adventure to Sao Tome and Principe had been fabulous and then we arrived at Sundy - the perfect end to our last few days in this idyllic country. Principe is an unspoilt tropical paradise offering virgin rain forest, abundant birdlife and enthusiastic people wanting to show it off. In Roca Sundy, a plantation still producing cocoa with progressive plans in place to treat workers well, provide education and farm sustainably using tourism contributions from each night spent at the hotel. The rooms overlook the gardens visited by fluting calls of starlings, overhead grey parrots, drongos, kingfishers are much more. Each day there was an organised guided walk into the rainforest with huge leaves, bird & frog song and beautiful flowers, or a chance to snorkel in the clear warm waters off pristine beaches, maintained and checked for turtle activity to keep nests safe. The rooms were first class with AC, large beds, plenty of space and a balcony. The restaurant served up an extensive breakfast buffet with a wide range of fresh fruit, cheese, home baked pastel de nata, home produced chocolate spread, patisseries and bread and eggs served to your wishes. Evening meals were beautifully presented and tasty using local sourced ingredients and the bar provided a huge range of drinks and wines. I just hope the money used in eco tourism preserves the magic we experienced and is not over developed.