Dom Pedro Laguna Beach Resort & Golf by WAM Experience

A wonderful place. Everything was clean and worked properly, and the staff were excellent.

The beach is paradise, and we had a good time overall. We’d like to come back, and this is a stylish place to relax. The team worked hard and gave us nice service. Room cleaning was perfect, the service staff were wonderful and helpful, and the food was tasty. The tapioca station at breakfast was a favorite, and every one of the seven dinners we had featured different Brazilian and Portuguese-style dishes. The pool bar team were outstanding too. A few things were disappointing. The internet was down for the whole day we were there. There’s no Nespresso-style coffee machine in the rooms, so sometimes we had to go to the buffet just to get coffee. The TVs are a bit old and don’t have international channels. I also felt the hotel could put on more evening events where people can dance and mingle. The gym equipment and its location both need an upgrade.

The grounds and location are wonderful, and the resort feels safe. It’s good for kids, with a mini water park and daily entertainment. Guests can also use a nearby water park, though it only operates Wednesday to Sunday, something the website doesn’t make clear. There’s a mini golf area right across from the hotel too, which we only found out about ourselves. We didn’t feel welcomed by the staff, and they often seemed poorly informed and didn’t give us the information we needed. The website was unhelpful in other ways as well. It wasn’t clear which type of room we were booking among the villas, bungalows, and rooms. The description promised a varanda, and the photos showed varandas with hammocks, but ground-floor rooms have no hammock connections. Those are only in first-floor rooms and bungalows. The resort offers half board and full board, but although there was a range of food, it was simple and tasteless. It also wasn’t explained that beverages weren’t included. The bathroom and varanda floors are very slippery and could cause an accident, especially for children and older people. For a resort that’s meant to be elegant, the cutbacks show in all sorts of details, from the quality of the toilet paper to watery juices and cheap tea bags. The TV only has basic channels and can’t connect to Netflix, which is common everywhere nowadays. Ground-floor rooms have no privacy at all: people on the sidewalk can see right in unless you close the blackouts. It was a sad experience, and we don’t plan to return. There are many hotels in the same area at different prices, with wonderful facilities, the same beach, and much better-trained staff.

It’s a very exclusive place, but the food could be better and the service for kids needs work.