ibis Styles Campinas Alphaville

The parking charge upset me because it came as a surprise. At check-in, the attendant validated my ticket and told me I wouldn't have to pay for the stay. When I checked out, the woman at the desk charged me anyway, even after I explained the ticket had been validated. It wasn't about the amount. I left feeling like I'd been stolen from.

The staff were pleasant, and the room and property were reasonably clean. But the bed was awful, basically a poor-quality box spring rather than a mattress. After the first few mornings my back was locked up and my shoulders really hurt, so I put the couch cushions under the sheets for a bit of padding. The rooms are bare and need a lot of upkeep, like fresh paint and caulking. I know it's a budget hotel and wasn't expecting much, but a decent mattress should be possible.

The breakfast was disappointing: only three hot dishes, and the bakery items were dry and tasteless. The rooms are spacious and have the basics, but things are getting old and some equipment is falling apart. The fridges and air conditioners are very noisy, and my bathroom toilet leaked. Only a few receptionists could speak a little English; the others needed Google Translate. They do lend travel adapters, which was a plus.

The stay began with an almost four-hour check-in ordeal. I had booked two rooms a month ahead for my wife, our five kids, and me. Those were the only rooms in the city that could take more than three people each, though they weren't next to each other. At check-in, after pages of personal details, I was told they needed original documents for every child so they could photocopy them. Our passports were in a bag that hadn't arrived, and our driver's licenses weren't enough. I went to look for the bag while my wife and the kids waited in the restaurant. Even though the rooms were paid in full and my credit card was on file, management wouldn't let us in without the documents. They gave me a key card and room number but still wouldn't let my family enter. My wife didn't understand, and after eating, she took the kids up to one room. They started showering, then management came and told them to leave and wait in the lobby. I returned with the documents minutes later. The hotel copied them and made me sign a two-page contract for each child. They said the policy was on their “Brazilian” Comfort Inn website, but couldn't show it on a US site or Expedia's US site. Nobody tried to help or make things easier, and nobody apologized. Then the second room had a bathroom leak, so we had to ask for another one. We stayed only because there was no other option, even though by then we'd almost rather have slept in the car. The next morning brought another problem: there was no hot water, only ice-cold showers.