Swan Novo Hamburgo

The garage staff were cheerful and helpful, and breakfast was awesome. Those were the only highlights of our 10-night stay. The room was a suite, but it felt stuck in the 80s and like a scam. The city view was just a rooftop. The kitchen had no dishes, pots, or pans, so it was useless. There was no beauty kit or toothbrush glass in the bathroom, and the bathtub had mold. The air conditioning only had on and off, and blew freezing air, so we kept switching it every 30 minutes to cope. The pool seemed to be for decoration, since we saw a hose being used to fill it. The hotel was also in rough shape. One of the two elevators was out for our whole stay, leaving one for 18 floors. We were on the fourth floor and often used the stairs, but they were in terrible condition, cluttered with rubbish, carts, boxes, and food scraps every day. At check-in, they asked us to pay the full amount in advance. That felt out of place for a supposedly four-star hotel. The sheets were changed only once. I had a small wound in my right ear on the first day, so we could tell how many days passed before they were changed. When we complained, staff said we hadn't put the special tag on the bed to request fresh sheets, which wasn't true. How is that acceptable at a four-star hotel? Housekeeping wasn't professional either. We had to ask three times for the right number of towels, and they only give one face towel per room anyway. We also asked for a small discount when we went to the seaside for two nights, since there'd be no need to clean our room then and the hotel had already let us down. They refused.

Breakfast had plenty of options, but the ham tasted and felt old, kind of slimy, so I stopped eating it straight away. The room itself offered little beyond a bed, TV, and shampoo and soap. We found the first room really dirty, like it hadn't been used in ages. There were cobwebs and termite wings across the floor and bed. Staff had to come clean the room and bathroom after we asked. Once they did, water started coming in from a major leak right by the door. Staff said it was an AC issue and moved us to another room. The second room was cleaner, but its air conditioning didn't work all night. It was summer in Brazil, so we opened the windows to sleep. We didn't want to move again because we were leaving the next day. This was a very disappointing stay, especially for a hotel that's supposed to be one of the best in the city. I won't return.

The staff were very nice, but the hotel needs an urgent update. Everything looked old, and my first room was unclean, so I had to switch. The A/C in the second room didn't work either. I just wanted a clean room where everything worked, and they couldn't provide that.

This is my second stay, and I still think it's the best around. You get everything you need, and there are great restaurants nearby. The supermarket is right across the street, and the views in the area are the best.