Príncipe Hotel

Just okay.

Really good.

The location in Poços de Caldas is excellent, and the room is a great size, but the hotel needs much more attention and maintenance. My mother's stay at Hotel Príncipe was a real letdown. The room was poorly cleaned. There was no sheet to cover herself with, the pillow had no protective cover and smelled strongly, and the bathroom sink looked like it had gone months without a proper cleaning. The wall lamp was missing its bulb too. When she mentioned that, she was told nobody had reported it before, which says a lot about the upkeep. I chose the hotel partly because reviews suggested good value, and because it was said to have two pools. No one mentioned during booking that the outdoor pool was out of use and completely neglected. The indoor pool was only partly filled, and the surrounding tables, chairs, and other items were dirty and rusty. Breakfast was average, but it was one of the few things that made the stay a little better. The reception and restaurant staff were very polite and helpful, while the housekeepers reacted badly to complaints and behaved disrespectfully. My mother raised the problems directly with a staff member. At first, the woman said she wasn't the manager, but said she'd approve a different rate because of what had happened. At checkout, the bill didn't match what they'd agreed, and it turned out she was the manager after all.

The outdoor pool is abandoned and out of service, and the heated pool doesn't actually heat up. There are several missing light bulbs, and the electrical system needs maintenance. Water from the shower stall also spills across the bathroom floor.