Bela Vista Hotel

I stayed there last October, and the experience was awful. Breakfast was supposed to be included, but when I went down at 8 in the morning there was no coffee left. Even if there had been, there weren’t any cups or plates available. Three employees were there, but I waited ten minutes for someone to come out of the little room and wash a plate for me. The dishes were piled up, with none clean for the guests who still hadn’t eaten. Another man waiting there got frustrated too, and I agreed with him. Staff knew guests were still coming for breakfast, so why let it run out without making more? There weren’t many people in the room, and this wasn’t just a case of earlier guests eating everything. They made too little food, offered very few choices, and had too many guests for what was available. The man asked why there were extra thermoses if they hadn’t made more coffee. He wasn’t from Natal and wanted to leave early to enjoy his trip, but had to wait for more coffee, plates, and cups to be washed. Breakfast was part of the reservation I paid for, so I expected to be able to eat it. The photos look like marketing, but that wasn’t what I found. At most, there were a few little snacks filled with cheese and ham. My room was also handed over late. Check-in was at 14:00, but I got the room at 14:30. If I’d been late checking out, they would have charged me for another night. A sandal also mysteriously disappeared from my room. I asked about it repeatedly and never got a response. I hadn’t originally booked this hotel. I’d booked another one in the same group, and asked them at least to give me a room with a sea view since I wasn’t getting the room I’d reserved. They asked why I hadn’t canceled, but canceling would have meant a fee of half the reservation cost. A few days before, they contacted my boyfriend to say our room at the original hotel had a leak and moved us here instead. I’d stayed at the hotel I chose before, which was right across from the beach and near the hill. This one was much farther from both the beach and Morro do Careca. The room overlooked an unpaved street and an abandoned lot full of weeds. My boyfriend and I ended up staying inside because walking to the beach meant going up and down the hill, and restaurants near the hill were a long walk away. The ancient minibar gave us electric shocks when we tried to turn it on, and the air conditioner was so noisy I could barely sleep. There are cheaper hotels that are much better. I don’t recommend this place and won’t return. Maybe they’ll delete my review, but at least it taught me not to come back.