Novotel Itajai

Housekeeping left the same stained sheets on the bed after I hurt myself in the room and got blood on them. I also had trouble getting help from reception. A couple of times, staff seemed unwilling to help, acted as if they were doing me a favor, avoided eye contact, and wouldn’t come out of the back room to speak with me. When I lost my cell phone, I asked the front desk to check the cameras to see whether I’d left it over the balcony or taken it with me. They said only the manager could help and I’d have to wait until the next day. They also didn’t give me a receipt, saying they would email it. That happened on another stay too, and I had to call reception to ask for it.

This time was an extremely uncomfortable stay, and we’re asking for compensation, especially for the bites shown in the photos. My husband woke up with what looked like bed mite bites, and the red marks were still on his shoulder and back today. We’ve stayed at Novotel Itajaí before, usually twice or three times a year, and have found it more comfortable than the other hotels in Itajaí. We’re only at the hotel to sleep and spend the daytime out, but that night there was no hand soap by the sink. That could happen, but the shampoo and conditioner bottles were empty too. I was alone in the room while my husband was downstairs having coffee, and felt helpless in the washroom. I called reception asking for a refill and requested someone who spoke English because I can’t speak Portuguese. The man on the phone kept saying, “I speak Spanish.” Itajaí is a tourist place, English is an international language, and I couldn’t relate Spanish to what I needed. In the end, I couldn’t get shampoo to shower before bed, and he didn’t try to sort it out. The room layout was odd as well. I knocked my knee twice on a sharp corner hidden under the white bed sheet. I didn’t expect it to be so hard.

The receptionist at the front desk was great. The restaurant has limited choices and is only open for dinner, not all day. I couldn’t find a trash bin in my room, so I honestly didn’t know where to put the garbage. The light wasn’t bright enough for work either. The room could be designed much better.

I couldn’t communicate in English with anyone. There was an electric kettle in the room but no coffee maker or tea bags. I left a note for housekeeping asking for tea bags, and they wrote back on the same paper that they’d run out. I got my own, then found an insect inside the kettle. When I took it to reception, they just rinsed it with tap water and gave it back to me, as if insects in a kettle were normal.