Azura Hotel

The location itself is lovely, but I wouldn't recommend staying here if you care about transparency, comfort, or fair treatment, especially with family or for a longer stay. After three years of full-time travel in hotels, motels, homestays, and Airbnbs, I've never experienced anything like this. We were first given room 501, which wasn't the room we booked and had no working electricity. When we reported it, the receptionist showed my husband room 603, which matched our booking. He agreed to it and took a video to send me while he went to withdraw cash. While he was away, I was told to move immediately so cleaners could enter. Instead, I was quietly put in room 503 across the hall, a completely different, downgraded room. There was no TV, only a black wall bracket where one had clearly been removed. After a long day of travel with a baby, I went downstairs to ask what was going on. They told me, “Booking.com doesn’t own the TVs, the hotel does,” and said a TV wasn't included in our booking, despite the listing clearly showing one and room 603 having one. They gave no clear explanation, and the reasoning made no sense. An older man who seemed to be in authority was nearby but didn't step in or correct the misinformation. We agreed to one room, were placed in a downgraded one without consent, then told the missing amenity hadn't been included. “The TV isn’t included with your room” sums up the response. We could cancel, but still had to pay for the short time spent being moved between rooms and trying to settle our baby. Thankfully, we moved to a beautiful beachfront hotel, where we were treated with nothing but respect and hospitality, and ended our first day on a good note.

For just a little more, the Rembrandt was much better, with windows, a room 3 times larger than mine at Azura, free cable TV, a swimming pool, and other facilities. I recommend it, but not the Azura. I booked 3 nights at Azura. The photos provided aren't of this hotel. There are 3 rooms per floor, and the rooms ending in 2, for example 502, have no windows and are very small. Mine smelled of mould, and sometimes there were lots of tiny ants in it. It was cheap, so might be tolerable for one night.

The price was cheap, but I wouldn't go back. Hygiene was below standard, and they only provided a quilt cover, no blanket. The air con made a lot of noise, the room smelled damp, and it took about 20 mins for the shower water to get lukewarm. I found one called Putin just a few km from town, the same price but with a swimming pool.

I've stayed here a few times for months at a time, and it has felt like home. For the price, it's fantastic. The staff are friendly and helpful, and the housekeeping staff are cheerful and fun. They leave you alone, which suits me. Sure, there are fancier hotels, but who wants to sit in a hotel room while on holiday? There's a little noise from the building site next door, though that's not the hotel's fault. Shame to read some reviews, people never seem happy. Excellent place to stay.