Bukubaki Eco Surf

I really enjoyed my stay here in a “Canadian bedroom” (a large canvas tent). It’s a 10 minute drive to the beaches or you can rent a bike. The food was fresh and delicious. Bed was very comfortable and the heater in the tent kept it very warm. Showers had high pressure and hot water. The staff gave me hot water for tea when asked, always asked if I needed anything, and kept everything very clean. Nicer than hotels that would charge the same, but you get the “glamping” experience. Some noise from animals nearby at night but you are outside so come prepared.

Fascinating houses and tents in the trees. Great breakfast buffet. Very nice staff, perfect service. Pool was always clean. They are up for skating and surfing. Halfpipe and slackline accessible at all times. Surflessons can be booked daily. They rent boards and wetsuits as well. The only point to complain about is that it is very far from the beach. So you actually need a car.

We stayed for 3 nights for quitte an amount of money. In my opinion the price quality balance is really not okay! People (several) at the reception were not friendly but rather annoyed, as if they had better things to do, were fed up with tourists... Several people at the reception did not give us a welcome feeling. The tree house looks nice, but does not have a water kettle nor a coffeemachine (which you would expect for this amount of money). The kitchen is minimally equiped. It is hardly (read not) possible to prepare a meal for the amount 4 people (4 beds in the three house). The tree house has chairs outside but they are far from comfortable (we used our towels as pillows. During the first week of august there is a fair in Ferrel and the music (and fireworks) keeps on going untill early in the morning. hard to get some good sleep. Not all is bad..... The pool is small but nice. The people at the restaurant were very friendly in contrary to the reception and the menu is various.

After 3 years we came back to Bukubaki for the second time to spend some surf days in Peniche. We stayed again in one of the bungalows which especially liked the kids. Everything was clean and working, interior design was still the same like three years ago which we like. In comparison to our first time, the restaurant improved and offers now a menu with different choices from healty food to pizza and burgers. If you stay longer and you want to rent skateboard gear for the skate bowl, ask for a multi day rent - we did not and it becomes too expensive to rent by hours or day. After realizing that there is a multi-day offer, we discussed it at the reception and found a deal - but some pro-active attitude from the staff would have been nice. The only real downside in comparison to the last stay was the surfing guides. When booking, we especially asked for the last time surf guide which is a fantastic guy, especially with kids. He knows how to handle kids and get them motivated. We did not get the information that this surf guide does not provide anymore surf lessons for the hotel and we experienced some surf guides which were okay, but really just okay. We had to insist not just get shipped always to the same beach and while in water, it was not an experienced, packed with joint fun and high learning curve. We will come back to Bukubaki, but we will book surf lessons/guides at a different location. Because surfing it is why we travel to Peniche.

The place itself is nice and has a certain charm. Didn’t love the location/area though and lack of programming. Every little thing was extra (like towel rentals, no class yoga only private lessons) which wasnt a big deal but still different from what we are used to. The place itself is well thought out and designed.

We stayed in a treehouse that had everything one would need for a vacation. We thought it was interesting that there was no TV in it, but you are on vacation so who watches TV anyway? The staff recommended great places to go visit that where only a short drive away.

I went to this hotel with my family at the end of April. We all stayed on two tents (each tent was able to accommodate 2 persons). This was a clamping experience. I must say I was surprised by the tent, it was simple but comfortable. The only less positive thing I have to say about the tents is the lack of privacy (you can listen pretty much everything on the tents around you, and you can also listen to the cars passing on the nearby road). Also, inside the tent, I had my head scratching the top of the tent every time - but hey, it's a tent, so suck it up. :-) I also felt some insecurity on the space, because it is not that controlled. It is hard to leave your personal valuable stuff inside a tent without any kind of security - there are some small lockers but, in our case, one of the lockers didn't had any key. Also, you have shared bathrooms... so you have to share it with all the other tents occupants in the space. They only change towels on your rooms, every three days - so if you are staying for less than three days, don't expect the towels to be exchanged - and they charge an extra for that. So you have to manage your towels. From an eco perspective it makes sense, but from a practical perspective, sometimes it sucks. The space itself is great and peaceful. The swimming pool is not that great (in size) - the pictures on the web site are a bit misleading. Breakfast is ok, with the usual options. However, it was the first time that I was in a hotel breakfast that offered vegetal milk options, which is great. The hotel is quite near Baleal and Peniche - 5/10 minutes by car. All in all, I think it was a pleasant experience.

We rented bungalow 1 with two grandchildren. The description says two bedrooms but there is in fact one (bunkbed and sliding door not preventing any noise coming through) and one bed seperated from main room by a wall (no door and open above). Bunkbed not well protected & very high and even the oldest (8) did not dare to sleep there so he ended up sleeping on the floor. The lack of any privacy is very inconvenient: one can not make coffee, tea or listen to something as it would wake up the boys. The kitchen is supposed to be including all essentials to cook but extremely basic and not complete (e.g. 3 plates upon arrival and 2 pans, and no frying pan etc.). The cooking area is very unpractical on top of that. On top of that the food in the restaurant is not interesting (extremely simple & fast food dishes) and not cheap (e.g hamburgers, tostas etc). There is one vegetarian salad choice which is made hours before and, therefore, one ingredient for which I am allergic could not be taken out. We had no other choice therefore than to take the Cesar salad and asked to leave the chicken (and fried bread) out and give more salad and cheese instead. Nothing of that request obviously reached the kitchen. An extremely small plate with some (normal and NOT roman !!) salad arrived (served in an unfriendly manner) and a little grated cheese of unknown origin. Sadly enough the price for this "salad" was 10 euro plus!! The hamburgers of the boys were oke but we never ate there again during our stay. When we complained upon check-out they said they could not help us as it concerned the kitchen. Once home, we wrote them an email explaining our complete frustration with the restaurant and we were offered one dish as compensation upon our next stay. This is a bad response of course and we asked friendly to donate 20 euro to an organisation we know very well helping poor kids in Bolivia. Numerous emails later, the guy just repeats the offer of a dish next time. The bungalows and tents look nice in this resort however are overpriced for what they offer. The swimming pool is nice but very small. So, better management and client orientation would be good here!!

I'd been told about this place many times by friends who loved the combination of a decent cafe/resteraunt with a small bowl to skate. That sounded like the sort of place I would gladly give all my money for the duration of my time here. Unfortunalely when I finally got there with them we were told only guests who are staying there can skate. Make of this what you will. Obviously as someone who enjoys drinking lots of coffee while skating it was a massive disappointment to have such a promising location off limits. Your mileage may vary. It also feels A LOT like the place is eco in its marketing but no more environmentally conscious than any other resort I've seen in the area. A wood veneer does not an eco resort make. I won't be returning and wouldn't advise others to go. The only positive was that the skate teacher there was extremely friendly and can REALLY skate. Watching him give a lesson, he seemed like a great teacher too. I would happily recommend him to anyone. J. James.