Hotel Duas Nacoes

I booked one night for a date three months ahead by mistake, and I didn't use it and won't be using it. Even after asking several times, the hotel won't let me cancel, despite the amount being only about €60. For a large hotel to be so rigid over a small amount shows no goodwill at all. It was a miserable experience, very disappointing, and I wouldn't recommend staying here. Definitely not worth it.

Our first night was already paid for, though nobody managed to sleep after 5 am because of the noise. We woke to banging and drilling behind the headboard wall, and there was also major construction in the adjoining building and across the street from 5 to 11 am. Nobody had told us about it. My daughter has POTTS-disotonomia and needs rest, so staying four nights like that wasn't possible. When I asked to cancel, they said I had to leave the room by noon and wouldn't get the previous night's payment back. It took us about four hours to look for another hotel, including walking into around 12 places after finding no availability online. I finally found a suite for over $3,000 for four nights for three people. I had to remain in the area because of my daughter's health, so she could use her energy to enjoy herself rather than travel to and from the area. We also paid for the second night because I couldn't find a new place and move out before noon. The front desk person repeated the manager's message while on the phone with her. I asked for the manager's name, phone number, and direct email, but got only the general details available online. The one-person elevator was out of service much of the time, and the stairs were wobbly and uneven. There was mold in the bathroom too. It's unacceptable not to warn guests about construction noise right beside the rooms, especially when children, older people, or sick guests may not be able to stay, then to refuse payment back for a night we didn't use. The customer service and lack of compassion were unacceptable.

The location is hard to beat, right in the center, and the shower pressure was wild, easily a 10/10. But the mold in the shower, construction and other noise, and clear sewage smell that people mention in other reviews are all real. I probably wouldn't stay again, since the price isn't low enough to overlook those major issues. If you're on a shoestring euro trip and don't want a hostel, though, you could make it work. Just ignore the mold and smell.

The central location made it easy to get around, but I was hoping for a much cleaner and more comfortable stay. The bathroom smelled persistently of sewage whenever I came back to the room. There was black mould along the shower edges, yellow stains on the towels, and the bathroom door handle was broken so it couldn't be locked. The AC didn't cool things down, even set to 16°C, and the room stayed warm and stuffy. My window looked onto the neighboring building's AC units, which didn't help the atmosphere. The guest lift looked unfinished, almost as if construction was still going on. All of this made the stay far less enjoyable than I'd expected.