Sao Miguel Park Hotel

This worked fine for our last night before an early flight, since we wanted a hotel near the airport. We'd spent the vacation on the other side of the island. Our room was okay, but in July the AC could have been colder and it felt a bit warm. Meal times were hard to relax through, with security checking our room number so often it became comical, at both dinner and breakfast. We'd included meals in our stay, and the buffet security felt excessive. The coffee machines were unfortunately out of order.

We spent around 2000 for our eight-day honeymoon, and it was a letdown. Our travel agent said not to worry, that this hotel was just as nice as Azores grand hotel atlântico. I wish I'd trusted my guy instead. After four or five days, I chose to spend every chance I had outside the hotel, which is unfortunate on a honeymoon. If you're visiting sao Miguel, stay somewhere else. It will probably cost less, and I wouldn't trust the four-star rating. Management needs to spend money on renovations, the place is decades overdue. The location is decent, and the hotel isn't dirty. The cleaning crew was great and friendly, and the AC in our room was cold. But calling it a four-star hotel is a complete lie. I have no idea how it got that rating, especially since I'm usually generous with my Google reviews. The hotel looks dated, with 1980s plush carpet everywhere, including the rooms. I sneezed the whole time I was in them. There's a pool, but almost nothing in the room except a tiny refrigerator, smaller than a dorm fridge. Even turned all the way up, it couldn't keep a drink cold for an hour and only held maybe four bottles of soda and a block of cheese. No coffee station, kettle, or ice machine either. I stay in hotels 10x a year, and asking for hot water or ice got me blank stares and an apology that it wasn't possible. The bar did have ice, but I found out I was charged €4 each time I got some for drinks that had gone warm in the fridge. The front desk was mostly useless, though a few people offered slight insights. Asking questions often felt bizarre, except with a few staff, such as the Brazilian gentleman at the concierge. Most of the staff's English wasn't as good as what you'd find in stores. My Portuguese was fluent, but it was tough when they switched to broken English even while I spoke Portuguese. The food wasn't great either. The included breakfast was nothing special. I know queijo fresco is very Portuguese, but by the end I was so tired of it that I might never eat it again, and I love queijo fresco. The bar food was decent but expensive. A ten-minute walk gets you amazing food for a quarter of the price, and it isn't bland.

I'm surprised by reviews from just a few months ago saying the hotel looked dated. It's now been renovated completely, top to bottom, and is more than worthy of the four-star rating. The food and service are top-notch too.

If you're not planning to spend much time in the room, this place can work well. There's a lot to do nearby, and I'd recommend it for that, but not if you want somewhere relaxing to rest. My cousin and I visited in the off-season, from late October to early November, which could explain some of the shortcomings. A tour guide also told us the hotel was set to close for renovations in the coming weeks. It's within walking distance of plenty: the mall, gardens, restaurants and bars, and the main downtown shopping area are all 10-20 minutes away. Hiper China is just steps away and likely has anything you forgot to pack. The hotel itself feels dated. We had a double occupancy room with two twin beds and no balcony. There was no working AC or fan in the bathroom, no bathroom outlet, and some of the lights didn't work. The key card kept deactivating. Construction was going on when we arrived, so it was loud in the morning and through the day. The fridge is tiny, so don't count on keeping leftovers in it. The bar restaurant was great, and the staff there were friendly and helpful. I didn't like the buffet breakfast: the scrambled eggs had a strange liquid in them, and the fruit was always gone. There are two pools, a “hot tub” that isn't hot, and a small sauna that only works occasionally. There wasn't a gym when we visited. The games room is just a few pool tables you have to pay to use. The bar is the hotel's main draw, in my opinion. They had live entertainment one of the nights we were there, and as mentioned, the staff were great.