Where to stay in Sao Tome and Príncipe: best areas, hotels and roças

Deciding where to stay in Sao Tome is less about choosing a hotel and more about choosing an area. The supply is tiny, a few dozen places to stay in the whole country, and in several areas there is simply no alternative. Sleep in the wrong place and you spend your holiday in the car.

This guide is written from the ground, with the good and the uncomfortable side of each place. Because here "eco-lodge" sometimes means a gorgeous bungalow facing the sea, and sometimes means hot water in the shower only from 6 pm to 9 pm.

In this article

• Where to stay in Sao Tome: the best areas at a glance
• How to split your nights
• São Tomé city and around
• The north: Neves, Diogo Vaz and the Lagoa Azul area
• The south: the most spectacular and least comfortable area
• Sleeping in a roça
• Príncipe island
• Guide prices per night (double room)
• Five things to know before you book
• Frequently asked questions
• We have already worked out the map of nights

Where to stay in Sao Tome: the best areas at a glance

• The capital: Omali, Pestana São Tomé and Pestana Miramar for comfort; guesthouses such as Sweet Guest House on a budget.
• The north: Mucumbli, for Lagoa Azul, the baobabs and the coast around Neves.
• The centre: Roça Santa Luzia, deep in the rainforest, for the Coffee Route.
• The south: Praia Inhame Ecolodge, the base for Ilhéu das Rolas and the southern beaches.
• The east: Roça São João dos Angolares, for its food.
• Príncipe island: Bom Bom, Sundy Praia, Roça Sundy and Roça Belo Monte.

How to split your nights

With eight days, this is the split that works:

• 1–2 nights inland or in the centre, for the Coffee Route without dawn starts
• 3 nights in the south, the only way to see Pico Cão Grande, the beaches and Ilhéu das Rolas without six hours in the car each day
• 2 nights in the capital or the north, for the Cocoa Route, Lagoa Azul and the city

Anyone who tries to do it all from a hotel in the capital soon discovers the south is a good three hours away on poor roads. It is not worth it. Our guide to how many days you need explains how to stretch this to 10 or 11 days.

São Tomé city and around

This is the area with the most choice, the best connections and the only hotels of international standard. It makes sense for your first and last night, and as a base for the north.

Hotel Omali

The benchmark hotel of the capital, a four-star close to the airport and the city, now part of the Príncipe Collection group. Tropical garden, pool, good restaurant and, no small thing here, its own generator for power cuts. It is where we put our travellers up for their city nights. It is one of the most expensive on the island: on booking sites it usually costs around €200–350 for a double (roughly £170–300).

Pestana São Tomé and Pestana Miramar

The capital's chain hotels, facing Ana Chaves bay, with pools and full services. Pestana São Tomé is a five-star (around €230–260 a double) and the four-star Miramar is a little cheaper (around €200). More conventional than Omali.

Sweet Guest House

Our recommendation for tight budgets. A simple, clean guesthouse with very reasonable prices and a fairly central location. Do not expect a pool or views, but for a good night's sleep at a low price it works very well.

Important: the beaches next to the capital are not clean. If you come for the beach, do not look for it here; head to the north or the south.

The north: Neves, Diogo Vaz and the Lagoa Azul area

Mucumbli

Almost a jungle hotel, in the north beyond the town of Neves. Excellent bungalows with superb views and cooking well above the national average. It is the place for those who really want to switch off and go walking.

What to know before booking: it has no sandy beach but a pebble one, and getting down to it takes a sense of adventure: a long descent and, above all, the climb back up.

There is an itinerary logic that almost nobody explains and that works very well for us: if on your way north you visit Roça Agostinho Neto and then linger at Praia dos Tamarindos or Lagoa Azul (and you will), it pays to carry on a little further and sleep at Mucumbli, rather than driving back to the capital and covering the same kilometres the next day.

With two nights there you gain a full, relaxed day to see the spot where the Portuguese first landed, Roça Diogo Vaz, the Santa Catarina tunnel and the black-sand beaches. Two very well spent days.

The south: the most spectacular and least comfortable area

This is where everything in the photos is: Pico Cão Grande, the wild beaches, Ilhéu das Rolas, the turtles. And it is where accommodation is scarcest and most basic. That is not poor planning; there simply is nothing else.

Praia Inhame Ecolodge

One of the oldest eco-lodges in the country and, in practice, the only one in the south with a minimum level of comfort. We say this frankly because we would rather nobody arrived with the wrong expectations:

• Simple bungalows, no air conditioning and no hairdryer
• Hot water in the shower only from 6 pm to 9 pm
• Open-air restaurant area, not pleasant on wet and windy days
• Simple food, with a buffet at dinner
• The roads to get there are pretty bad

Now the good part, and there is a lot of it: the bungalows are twenty metres from a sea at 27–29 °C, it is the best base for Ilhéu das Rolas, Praia Piscina, the mangroves and the other stops in the south, and on sunny days it is simply one of the best places to wake up in Africa. Make the most of it and unplug: there is nothing else to do here, and that is the plan.

A route tip: getting to Inhame is an odyssey because the road passes so many places worth stopping at. Leave early, take your time at Roça Água-Izé and Praia das Sete Ondas, have lunch in Angolares and then carry on unhurried, enjoying the views of Pico Cão Grande and villages frozen in time such as Monte Mário and Malanza.

Other options on the island

On the east coast, Club Santana is an alternative with a beach and pool for those who prefer a resort. On Ilhéu das Rolas itself there is the Pestana Equador resort. In the south there are also small eco-lodges such as Jalé, very simple and designed around the turtle season. Inland there are rural guesthouses and small roças with few rooms: always confirm hot water, electricity and meals before booking.

Sleeping in a roça

This is the most characteristic place to stay in the country, with almost no equivalent elsewhere in Africa: former colonial coffee and cocoa plantations turned into hotels, keeping their original architecture.

Roça Santa Luzia

Deep in the tropical rainforest, surrounded by an idyllic garden. A world of its own, ideal for your first night if you are doing the Coffee Route the next day: you wake up already inside the landscape.

Roça São João dos Angolares

In the south-east, known as the home of chef João Carlos Silva, presenter of the Portuguese TV cookery show Na Roça com os Tachos. Even if you do not stay, the gourmet tasting lunch is one of the best food experiences in the country.

Príncipe island

Even fewer places to stay, and a big jump in price.

• Bom Bom: a simple seafront resort in a beautiful setting, between two beaches joined by a wooden walkway to an islet. The island classic.
• Sundy Praia: the luxury option of the archipelago. High-end tented villas facing the beach, priced well above the rest of the country.
• Roça Sundy: the historic plantation where the 1919 eclipse that confirmed Einstein's relativity was observed, now a hotel.
• Roça Belo Monte: a former plantation on a clifftop, with one of the most impressive views on the islands.

Guide prices per night (double room)

• Guesthouse in the capital: €25–45
• Simple mid-range hotel in the capital: €60–120
• Top hotels (Omali, Pestana, Miramar): €190–350
• Roça turned hotel: €70–130
• Southern eco-lodge: €80–140, often with half board included because there is nowhere else to eat nearby
• Príncipe resorts: from €250 to over €1,000

For the full trip budget, see how much a trip to São Tomé costs.

Five things to know before you book

1. Many places only accept cash or a prior bank transfer. Cards fail even where they are supposedly accepted.
2. Half board is not an extra, it is a necessity in the south and inland: outside the hotel there is nowhere to eat dinner.
3. Power cuts are frequent. Ask whether the property has a generator.
4. Wi-fi is slow or non-existent outside the capital. Buy a local SIM with data.
5. The south fills up in high season. With so few beds, in July and August you need to book months ahead.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best area to stay in São Tomé?

Split your nights: inland or the capital for coffee and cocoa, and the south for the beaches, Pico Cão Grande and Ilhéu das Rolas. With a single base you lose half the trip on the road.

Are there luxury hotels?

On São Tomé island, not in the European sense: the top end is the five-star Pestana São Tomé and the four-star Omali. Real luxury is on Príncipe, at Sundy Praia.

Is it worth staying in a roça?

Very much so. It is the most unusual accommodation experience in the country and you will not find it in any other African destination.

Can I book on Booking.com?

Some places, yes, but many of the best work only through direct contact, email or WhatsApp, and confirmation can take days.

Is there air conditioning?

In the capital's hotels, yes. In the southern eco-lodges, usually not: they are ventilated bungalows designed for the climate.

Can you camp?

There is no organised camping infrastructure. The closest thing is the simple bungalows of the eco-lodges.

We have already worked out the map of nights

Our 8-day São Tomé guided circuit splits the nights between Roça Santa Luzia, Praia Inhame Ecolodge and Hotel Omali: inland, south and city, exactly the split that avoids pointless drives. It is a private trip with an English-speaking guide, from €1,250 per person with breakfasts and half board with 17 meals included, flights not included.

Want to plan the nights yourself? Our 8-day fly and drive starts at €800. Read the complete São Tomé travel guide or write to us if you would prefer a different level of accommodation.