Unity Hotel Vila Mariana

Nice hotel.

The beds were reasonably good and comfortable, and the kitchen staff were lovely. The hotel's location is the one real plus: it's close to everything, and you can walk to Parque Ibirapuera. Beyond that, I wouldn't return or recommend it. Since it's right on a busy road, it's noisy all the time. The entrance isn't accessible, with no ramp for people with mobility issues, and the stairs are extremely steep. The tiny reception area gets very hot and has only a noisy ceiling fan. The cramped reception desk is staffed by people who seem unprepared, and the first service I got was very slow and poor. The rooms are old, with lots of cracks and signs of water damage in the bathrooms. One of my curtains was falling down and didn't cover the window properly, so the sun came straight in. The air conditioning barely blew a little breeze even set to 16, and didn't cool the room as it should. The shower was a puzzle to use: I had to run the water for about five minutes before it might get hot. The sink was tiny. I was in a room above the first floor, and the gasoline smell in there was unbearable and made me nauseous. Breakfast was average, with very few choices, although the kitchen staff were very friendly. The housekeeper could be unsympathetic and rather rough on some days. She didn't really clean the room, just changed the bed and bath linens. Watch out for the excessive fees: they charge 150,00 for any kind of visitor, so I wouldn't bring a companion or even a makeup artist coming to help me get ready for an event.

The room was okay and clean, and the breakfast was fine. But I had a really bad experience choosing this hotel. I booked on Saturday night and got an automatic message asking for payment by Pix, so I transferred the money to secure the reservation. When I arrived, Sra Lara, who was very polite, said the finance department didn't work on Saturdays. She told me I'd have to pay again for it to show up in their system, and that my money would be returned on Monday, 22/12. I agreed and paid a second time. After I got home, the refund didn't arrive, and nobody contacted me. When I asked, they said the legal deadline was seven business days, which I hadn't agreed to and found absurd. Since then I've had no update or position from the hotel about the refund they had said would come on 22/12. It was irresponsible and showed no commitment or ethics toward the customer. I'm never going back.

The location could make this hotel good, but so much needs fixing. Everything felt disorganized, like nothing worked properly, and the whole setup seemed strange and unhygienic. The same guy who fixed my shower also checked me in at reception. He even got me and my fiancé out of the elevator when we got stuck. Then the elevator stayed out of service for about four days. To top it off, that same person was making breakfast. I didn't know whether to thank him or ask for help. The hotel could be great, but it's hard to see that in the way things are now.