Braganca Palace Hotel

Just okay.

The breakfast had plenty of choices and a good amount of space, and the staff were helpful. The hotel is quiet, comfortable, and well located, with good outdoor areas. Our two nights there were peaceful. The mattress, air conditioning, and minibar were all good and seemed new. A couple of issues came up: the shower only worked on the hottest setting or the regular cold setting, with no low-warm option. Heavy rain during Carnival also brought two leaks near our room door. There’s no parking lot, so cars stay on the street in front of the hotel, though we were told cameras point toward that area.

For what we paid, the stay was pretty bad. We tried not to get worked up about things, but there were a lot of them. The air conditioner was so dirty that someone without allergies might develop them here. The bathroom handle was old and stiff, and took so long to open it could leave you desperate. The toilet paper was very thin for the room rate, and only two employees were doing their best. With a third person, we probably wouldn’t have had to ask reception to take out the trash. Breakfast was another letdown. There was a fly inside the bread when I cut it, and all the cakes were gummy and seemed to have been sitting around for days. The shower itself was large, from a good brand, and heated well, but the water pressure was so weak that it felt like washing with a two-liter soda bottle. The towel hooks were about two and a half meters up, too high to be useful, and one of the hammock hooks was hidden behind the TV. We knew there was no parking, so that wasn’t much of an issue. For anyone visiting Bragança, I’d try another hotel. There are better places for walking around the Pearl of Caeté.

The staff were all very kind, the prices were fair, and breakfast was great. The rooms are good too. My only complaint was about my room, number 02: the shower control had been completely covered with rubber or a similar material because it was short-circuiting and giving electric shocks.