Central America Hotels International
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Port Sitges Resort (Sitges, Spain)
by dunner7 It's funny, if I had written this review a week ago it would have been very different but having stayed here last weekend (at off-peak) my opinion is different. I first stayed at the Port Sitges hotel in September 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is situated about a 10-15 minute walk from the centre of Sitges in the ... beautiful port area of Aiguadolc. I returned last weekend (January 2009) to stay for 2 nights and I was really disappointed. This hotel is not geared up to cope with the winter months at all. We arrived around midnight and checked in. The receptionist was very charming and told us where our rooms where. As it happens we were staying in the exact same room as a year and a half ago! When we got into the room it was absolutely freezing, in fact it was like no-body had stayed there for about 2 months (and they probably hadn't). Anyway we just went to sleep as it was late and the port was dead. When we woke up the next morning I inspected the room properly. It is an apartment in a hotel so has a little kitchen and a balcony. The balcony overlooks the port and is a great size and perfect for enjoying a glass of Cava on a hot summer evening. The rooms were still freezing though and the problem was that when the key card is taken out of the slot the heating stops so it can't heat up when you are away. When we arrived back that night the rooms were freezing again so I had a bath to warm up. The bathroom was spotless but the grouting needs to be re-done and while the decor of the whole flat is fine (and clean) there is no character or homeliness to it. We went downstairs at 10.30pm to have a look at the restaurant menu (as it had good reviews on Tripadvisor). However, it was closed probably due to no-one being in it. That was fine, we just went somewhere else and it is to be expected in off peak season. When we came back we noticed that there was a leak on our floor but not near our room. They also have a computer with free internet access and it was out of service for the 2 nights we were there. I think they can't be bothered fixing it when it is off-peak. I then went to wash my teeth and there was absolutely no water. We reported this and were told that we would be moved the next morning if it hadn't come back on. We didn't use the pool as it is outside but the last time it was fine and the jacuzzi was okay (needed to be cleaned a bit though). Overall impression: Fine during the summer as more effort is put into the hotel. I would never go back there in off-peak season as it is miserable. We only paid Euro60 so that wasn't too bad, but I don't think I would pay anymore than that for high season either. http://www.portsitges.com/ Read the complete review |
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Inca Real Hotel (San Jose, Costa Rica)
by zoe_page_1 The Inca Real is a budget hotel in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, and I stayed there twice during December, for the first and final nights of my Costa Rican tour. Before I went, I looked at the website (http://www.hotelincareal.com/) and it gave me a certain impression of the hotel that turned out to be entirely untrue. In part, ... this was because one of the rotating pictures on the website is a tall building, so I was expecting a high-rise hotel, which this isn't. When I checked back, I saw it was just one of several "general" Costa Rica photos they use, but it really looked like a hotel to me when I first saw it. Located on Avenida 11 between Calle 3 and Calle 5, the hotel is reasonably central, just a few blocks from the main attractions. A taxi from the airport should take about 30 minutes, but since I was already in town, I walked from the Gran Hotel, my previous base, and it took me about 10 minutes carrying my luggage. I arrived about 3.30pm (check in is from 3pm - quite late compared to other hotels in the city) and though I was the only guest in reception, I had to wait maybe 15 minutes while they faffed around and also contacted the Tour Leader to say I had arrived, which was a little pointless since he had already arranged to meet us later that evening. I got my key (old-style, not a digi-card) and made my way up. The hotel has rooms on 4 levels (ground, below ground and then floors 1 and 2) and we were on the 1st floor. The hotel is very open and airy inside, with balconies on each floor rather than corridors. This is nice and friendly, and allows you to see, for example, if the computers are free before you head downstairs, but it also made it quite noisy since the only walls were the bedroom ones. Signs implored you not to slam doors, and to be quiet after 10pm, but not everyone paid attention to this, and I'm not sure the lobby bar helped. The rooms all have the same facilities, but decor and maintenance vary, as we found out when we returned for our final night and got a much nicer room. The hotel website says they offer 4 main room types: * Single Room: one king bed. * Double Room: two Queen beds or one King. * Triple Room: three single beds. * Quadruple Room: 2 single beds and one king. They were quite flexible about room allocation, and when we returned and one couple asked for a big bed (i.e. a king double) the receptionist simply swapped the keys and sent them away. However, the website is not entirely accurate as in each of the double rooms I stayed in, we had one Queen and one Single bed, not the two Queens they claim. Rooms have telephones and cable TV, wifi, a safe and a desk, but little else in the way of furniture. The bathrooms were clean but slightly worn. The showers took ages to drain (not because they were clogged, but because they weren't slanted correctly) and the sinks were outside the bathroom which was odd, but actually quite useful since it meant one person could be brushing teeth while the other showered. They had hot water (not a given in budget Costa Rican hotels) but the shower heads were like spouts, so you got a heavy but thin stream of water, not a nice spray. Towels were on the less-than-generous side with just a hand towel and a small bath towel (it barely wrapped round me in a decent way, and I'm short and small) each, though they were made into swans for us on arrival. The only toiletries were bars of soap. The room was functional but not too comfy. On the double bed, only one of the pillows was worthy of my head, the other being filled with shredded foam, not the solid kind. With only sheets, not blankets, you had to use the bedspread too, and I always hate touching these with my hands more than absolutely necessary since they are not washed as much as the sheets, and therefore I dread to think who/what has been on them before me. The hotel, as many budget hotels, lacked exciting facilities, though they did have a few bonuses. In the airy ground floor area, outside the rooms, and behind the lobby there was a "lounge". This has comfy chairs (to seat 5 people), 2 computers with free internet, some tourist information leaflets and a book swap, that you got the idea had started itself when someone casually left a book behind. I liked it though. I got a paperback from there that still had the "2 for £7" Tesco sticker on, which was a nice reminder of home all the way over in Latin America. Next to the book swap, a chessboard has been set up, which was a fun touch, and quite a few people sat down for a game while waiting for the internet. Downstairs there was a small breakfast room, though we didn't try it as it was supposed to be quite pricy. Others who did said it was ok, but nothing more, and the service was a bit hit and miss. Next to the lobby there was also a small bar. One of the most peculiar / interesting things about the hotel was the clashing decor. From the outside the building looks typically Spanish or Mediterranean, with pretty window boxes, and the ubiquitous foreign flags over the entrance. Inside, the reception area is quite cramped but the ground floor behind it (through 2 doorways) is like an indoor garden or atrium of some kind, with tiled floors and lots of green plants. It really was quite a nice place to sit, and much better than the slightly dated rooms, with their hideous bedspreads and worn wooden fittings. Worst of all was the bar, though, since it looked like a British pub from the 70s, and was only missing some dirty old men and a few cigars. I wouldn't choose to stay here because there are hotels even more central than this with more facilities for the same price, but our stay was not bad. I gather they get a lot of their business from group tour bookings, which they seem to like since after our first night we all departed by 8.30am and they had plenty of time to clean the rooms before the next tour group shipped in. On the morning following our last night I decided to keep my room until the 12 noon check out, and got back to it about 11am to find a maid hovering outside. She asked if she could collect the towels - perhaps they didn't have enough - which was obviously not a problem for me since I just had a little packing left to finish. I left my bags with reception and they were safe enough, but I didn't get a nice little tag like I did at another hotel in the city, and they were left in plain sight behind the desk. That said, when I returned I was recognised immediately and they fetched my bags without me having to ask. I do think the service was the one real high point of this hotel, as the reception staff was always friendly and never once groaned when I appeared to drop off or collect our room key (2 unrelated people sharing a room + only one key = lots of leaving it with reception). As I was leaving, the manager / head receptionist / boss / whoever convinced one of his staff to walk with me to my next hotel and carry my bag for me. Sure, I'd been lugging it around the country for over a week by this point, but it was a nice touch, and he didn't want money, just a kiss, to thank him when we got to my destination. Overall, it's an ok hotel for a night or two, which is all the time you need in San Jose anyway, but it's not the best in the city, nor the cheapest. Kind of in-between on all fronts. Read the complete review |
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Occidental Cayo Levantado (Dominican Republic)
by rxbeef Cayo Levantado is a slice of paradise situated in the Semana Peninsula in the unspoilt north of the Domincan Republic. It is located on a small island and is the only hotel on the island, which was once used as the setting for the famous Bacardi Advertisement. The hotel only has 200 bedrooms which is small by comparison to ... other Dominican Republic hotels and each room is of a very high standard, with the best rooms being beach villas with private jacuzzi on the terrace and direct access to the beach. This is just wonderful, even when the rain is pouring, because you can sit back knowing you are warm, sipping champagne in the privacy of your own area. The beaches and pools are immaculate and totally uncrowded in high season. Sunbeds are easy to get your hands on and there is no way that you will be without. The food is of a high standard and it's an all inclusive hotel, however for more refined pallets there is a separate wine list which you can choose from. The people are very friendly, as are the staff and the pelicans provide day long entertainment. The cayo levantado is very expensive, but that's for a reason, and that's because it's simply a piece of paradise. Read the complete review |
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