Hotel Ipanema

The views from our room were lovely, especially after our request to move to a higher room was accommodated the next day. The location is fantastic, the pool was clean and lovely, and the sun terrace was great. Our room was lovely too. The wooden shutters, balcony furniture, and tiled floors are dated, but that suited me and gave the place character. It’s also a very clean hotel, which I can’t fault. Most of the staff, especially Maria and Vincenzo, made the hotel feel special. They were lovely and really helpful while we were there. The reception ladies were great about giving us information, and the restaurant staff were very attentive. Breakfast was suitable, and the coffee machine always worked and made lovely coffee. We also loved the cocktails at the bar. The place has a personal touch, and some live music would be nice. Noise was the main reason I marked it down. The bar music carries on late and is very loud. We were right above it and asked for it to be turned down, but Mario wasn’t happy and didn’t lower it. The cleaners start very early and are noisy too. I can’t fault the cleanliness, but they drag furniture over the tiled floors, so it’s hard to sleep through. You can also hear every toilet flush and shower from other rooms. A couple of times we had to ask Salvy, the night receptionist, for toilet paper because the cleaners hadn’t left any. He acted as if it was a huge inconvenience. He never smiled or said hello, even though we were always polite. The pillows weren’t very comfortable for me; we asked for more, but the extra ones weren’t much better. There were no spare blankets either. We really enjoyed our stay. There’s room for improvement, and hopefully we’ll come back one day to a fresh new start.