Hotel Américas

The price was decent, the pool was nice, and our room was okay, with a working electric shower and mini fridge. The soap was better than some hotel soaps I've come across, and the staff were very nice. My wife and I liked a lot of the people there. Still, some of the cost cutting felt like too much. They didn't provide shampoo in the room or even have any at the front desk. If I'd arrived after a full day of flights with an important meeting the next morning, I'd have been stuck needing to wash my hair after sweating through airports and Fortaleza's streets. Luckily, we found shampoo at a pharmacy a couple of blocks away by the beach. Drinking water was another issue. I assume the tap water is like elsewhere in Fortaleza, where you shouldn't drink it. Bottled water was available at reception, but only for a price, with about the same markup as 1L or 2L bottles elsewhere nearby. A hotel should at least cover basic hygiene and hydration during a stay, and this one didn't provide shampoo at all or water unless you paid. Breakfast also costs extra and is marked up, though it was okay, and charging guests who choose to eat there seems a reasonable way to cover costs. I gave it four stars because I don't know what's standard for hotels in this area. For an American hotel, refusing to provide shampoo would be a serious failure of hospitality and probably earn three stars from me. But I've never stayed in another hotel in Fortaleza or anywhere else in Brazil, so maybe these things are normal for a reasonably priced place, and maybe five stars would have made sense. I'm not sure.