Mabu Thermas Grand Resort

We arrived tonight, and a corporate party has been blasting music at an absurd volume until at least 10:30 pm. It’s still going, so who knows how long it’ll last. At a family hotel, this is completely unacceptable. It’s so loud that adults can’t sleep, let alone young kids.

The pools for adults and kids were the highlight, and we liked the staff, location, and resort overall. Breakfast was decent apart from the awful coffee. Mr. Dalmar, the waiter, fixed our bracelets when they wouldn’t work, and Michele Amanda, the Guest Relations Supervisor, brought us some treats after the problems we’d had. There were a lot of problems, though, and too much time went into sorting them out. Check-in took 50 minutes on a busy afternoon, even though there were eight staff around doing nothing, one handling check-out, and just one checking people in. The crib we’d been promised beforehand wasn’t in the room. We couldn’t find reception’s number: the QR code by the phone opened WhatsApp, and it took too long to work out how to reach reception, so calling the hotel landline was quicker. The shower was dangerous for us, especially our 1-and-a-half-year-old. During a 10-minute shower for the four of us, me, my partner, our daughter, and my mother, the water swung between too hot and too cold about four times. The air conditioning was too cold, had no remote so I had to get up to change it, and there were no blankets. At our first lunch, all three NFC bracelets were inactive, despite being told at check-in they’d be ready. The restaurant was far from reception, where we were initially told to go to fix it. Thankfully Mr. Dalmar sorted them out. For a 4/5-star hotel or resort to have this many issues is unacceptable. I’m Brazilian and have lived in Australia for 8 years, and it’s sad to see this happen. We need to attract tourists from around the world, not only Brazil and South America, and show them the best we have.

The Wi-Fi was really slow, but the rest of my conference stay was very nice. Breakfast had lots of choice and was good quality. The rooms were quite clean, and the hotel and resort work well together, with different pools for families, kids, and people who want a pool bar. It’s also close to the waterfalls.

The rooms were large, but the Wi-Fi was unreliable outside the lobby, and the shower temperature kept cycling because the water pressure varied. I spent the first few days confused about how to book a restaurant or find tour information. There was no printed information, no signs showing hours, and no brochures at the tour desk, which turned out to close at 2 pm. Hardly anyone spoke English. I don’t expect staff to speak it, but without anything printed that I could translate, it was difficult to get oriented. I ended up researching online and making my own arrangements. It’s a huge resort with many pools and a separate water park, so there are lots of children. The staff were nice. At another nearby hotel, everyone spoke English, the tour desk had printed information, and the Wi-Fi was strong.