Hotel Recanto Do Sol

Really great.

Great!

I was worried after reading the reviews before we arrived and thought we might be getting into a bad situation. But everyone's experience is different. We had two rooms, one for my parents and one for my husband and me. The downsides were pretty minor: our bathroom had no shower enclosure, which was a bit inconvenient but didn't spoil the stay. The minibar in my parents' room was rusty, as several reviews mentioned, though it still worked. The Wi-Fi was weak and disconnected often, and the curtains let in light very early. Those are things they could improve. What stood out positively was how helpful everyone was, especially the kitchen and cleaning staff, who were very polite. The reception guys brought information and things we asked for, like cups and cutlery, and would receive our iFood orders and let us know when they arrived. Breakfast was excellent, with lots of tasty options. There were fewer choices when there were fewer guests, but still plenty. The rooms were cleaned daily, and the beds were made with real care. I don't understand all the negative reviews. About the sewer smell people mention: the hotel faces a mangrove, which has a strong muddy smell, and the sewage pipes are there too. But the smell didn't enter our apartment. We stayed in one of the first apartments at the front and didn't notice any sewage odor there. It smelled bad at night only if you went out onto the street. The walk from the entrance to the apartment is long, so the smell didn't reach us. We stayed seven days and booked through CVC. I have no complaints. Well done, everyone.

The worst part started before we even got to stay. I booked Recanto do Sol well in advance and confirmed by WhatsApp with the hotel's team before traveling. My reservation was for after 3 p.m.; I arrived after 4, exhausted with my wife, and the receptionist said I shouldn't be there because we'd been moved to another hotel almost an hour away. They said there had been an electricity problem more than a week earlier. I asked why nobody had contacted me, and the receptionist didn't know. The manager, Sra Kelly, repeated the same explanation. I told her they should have informed me when the problem came up, not after we'd traveled and needed rest. I was too tired to drive nearly an hour more. She said they might give us a room, but that it wasn't sanitary and she usually didn't offer it because she knew it was in terrible shape. We asked to see it, and it was so bad that calling it a cell would have been a compliment. Our whole trip was planned around this area, including events with family arriving Wednesday, and we expected to stay in hotels there. She said the only option was to accept the distant hotel. That would also mean extra fuel and parking costs and daily travel. Her final suggestion was that we stay in the other accommodation without having been told about it and maybe return if a room became available. It felt like they had given our room to someone else and moved us, though that's only what it seemed like to us. Booking had been unable to help despite several attempts to reach them. I hope Booking takes urgent action and resolves this. The place itself was a nightmare, nothing like the photos, with an unprepared and disrespectful team. My reserved room felt like a real prison cell. There were insects everywhere, including a centipede in the dining room and ants all over. The minibar was rotten, debris was in the parking area, the shower was awful, the lock was faulty, and the toilet leaked. The service was terrible too. This hotel ruined my trip and left me and my wife more stressed than I can remember. I filmed what I'm describing to back up my account and show how irresponsible the team was. Booking should send an agent to inspect the very poor conditions, which don't match the site's photos.