Palace Hotel & Spa Monte Rio

4 stars lol? Not even close This was a funky place for sure. I understand as a frequent traveler that you can’t compare every property on the same scale but even taking this quirky little town into the formula, my biggest issue was expectation. Simply put it was so underwhelming compared to how the place sells itself. This is a place for older folks and families to come and enjoy hot pool treatments, just like every other hotel in San Pedro do sul. But the entire condition of the place was like a run down Motel 6 with a fancy indoor pool. I don’t think a single thing in this hotel has been repaired or updated since the mid nineties, they lock the main door at night, so sometimes you have to call a number to get let someone to open it, and we got stuck outside twice calling for over 20 minutes until someone opened it. However, the staff was INCREDIBLY nice and accommodating however they could be. They were as sweet and pleasant as any hospitality staff I’ve ever met, so I can’t completely roast the place. I think the thing that got me and others that have visited is they boast REAL heavy about their 4 stars. Which is hilarious. That is supposed to be an international symbol of quality and expectation. This is a 2, mayyyybe 3 star at best with a superb staff and a fancy indoor pool. I think they need to either remodel the place and truly make it a 4 star, or relax on the 4 star boasting and get real. I recommend the former, as this is a vacation town and they should capitalize on that.

I've been careful about how I wrote this, as I do not intend to unfairly slur or critique a hotel. I know that reviews are important for business, and that a poor one may negatively impact the hotel, but after the experience I've just had I feel it necessary. We arrived at the hotel late on Tuesday evening, and were greeted by a receptionist with very little English (understandable as its a foreign country but part of the hotel's description includes English speaking staff). The receptionist told us that our price did not include the pool. I told her we wouldn't be using the indoor pool as there is an outdoor pool (clearly advertised on ***********). The receptionist told us that the outdoor pool was unavailable (no reason given) and told us if we wantes the indoor pool it would be €20 per person, per day. Going to a sunny country from Ireland, we were very excited for the pool, and were extremely disappointed without it. Exhausted, we said that we would have a think about it and get back in the morning. Upon entering the hotel room, we noted that the Air Conditioning was broken, there was no safe (advertised on ***********), no balcony, and the fan in the bathroom was not working. We decided to wait to speak to a receptionist with better English, but when we approached the desk at lunch time the next morning we saw the same receptionist. We explained that we weren't happy with the room. We eventually were given a new room on Thursday, following several interactions with reception (no English speaking receptionist available) and a very intimidating interaction with a member of housekeeping, who proceeded to speak very aggressively at me in Portuguese when she realised I was unhappy with the room. She actually knocked on the door a few minutes after we got the new room and walked in to inspect it! Unfortunately this was not the last of alercations with this housekeeper. Our new room had no safe, no balcony furniture and was very outdated. We couldnt use the wardrobe as it smelled very bad, musty. The room was not cleaned once during our stay. By day 4 we had to go to reception and ask for towels and toilet paper. They couldnt understand us and we only got towels. Our toilet stopped working by Friday and we had to manually flush it. The food in the hotel was poor. Breakfast was free but not good at all. Dinner was €25 a head, very expensive for the village, and consisted of reheated meat and salty potatoes. On Saturday evening while going for dinner, the housekeeper mentioned earlier walked past us, shouted 'Oi!' to us, and then told us in broken English that she was sorry she never got the chance to clean the room. We said it was ok (even though it obviously isnt but she was very intimidating), walked off, and she shoted 'Oi!' at us again, asking if we wanted towels (we had gotten our own that day from reception). The hotel also claims to have sound proofed rooms, and this is also a lie. Building was taking place in the hotel and we heard

Começamos por constatar que a configuração do hotel obriga a longas caminhadas pelos corredores dos quartos. A receção encontra-se no piso 3 e partindo desta, caminhamos 80 metros pelo corredor dos quartos deste piso até um hall onde se encontram as escadas e o elevador para descer ao piso 1. Neste piso, fizemos o percurso inverso, caminhando mais 60 metros até ao quarto que nos foi atribuído. Os nossos filhos ficaram alguns quartos ainda mais à frente. Já tínhamos caminhado 140 metros por corredores de quartos quando chegados ao quarto, o cartão não abriu a porta e tive de regressar à receção. Afinal a fechadura eletrónica desse quarto estava avariada e deram-nos uma chave. Quando finalmente entramos no quarto, já tinha feito uma caminhada de quase meio quilómetro dentro do hotel. No quarto, a iluminação limitava-se a 3 candeeiros de parede: um por cima de cada mesa de cabeceira e outro na parede oposta, junto à televisão. O da parede não funcionava e os dois por cima das mesas de cabeceira emitiam tão pouca luz que ligamos as lanternas dos 2 telemóveis para abrirmos as malas. Na casa de banho, o secador de cabelo (anunciado no site do hotel como fazendo parte das caraterísticas do quarto) tinha lá apenas o suporte. Deixamos para resolver no dia seguinte. Como não era possível ler, ligamos a televisão e tivemos mais uma surpresa: Não funcionava. Saímos cedo na manhã seguinte e regressamos perto da hora do jantar. Estavam reservadas mais duas surpresas: o nosso quarto não tinha sido arrumado e a porta do quarto dos nossos filhos estava aberta. Mais uma caminhada até à receção, onde reportamos ambas as situação. As explicações foram muito simples: O nosso quarto não tinha sido arrumado porque a fechadura eletrónica não funcionava e a chave que nos tinham dado era a única. Quanto à porta do quarto dos nossos filhos, se estava aberta era porque quem foi arrumar o quarto se esqueceu de a fechar. Simples! Ainda bem que os outros hóspedes eram gente séria, pois os pertences deles estavam dentro do quarto. Deixamos a chave na receção para que fossem arrumar o quarto enquanto jantávamos. Quando terminamos de jantar, deram-nos novamente a chave e íamos falar sobre a luz, a televisão e o secador. Começamos por este e a solução foi pronta: Foi buscar uma caixa com um secador, entregou-nos e disse: “Levam este e amanhã de manhã tem de trazer o secador e entregar aqui. Não o podem deixar no quarto!”. Já nem falamos sobre a luz nem sobre a televisão, pois não queríamos correr o risco da solução ser a mesma: “Levam esta tv e esta lâmpada, mas amanhã têm de trazer tudo de volta”. É que não ia ser fácil fazer a caminhada matinal com as malas, o secador, a lâmpada e a tv debaixo do braço. Como não podia deixar de ser, mais uma surpresa quando chegamos ao quarto: Trocaram as toalhas, mas não fizeram as camas. Se calhar acharam que não valia a pena, dado que as íamos desfazer logo de seguida. Durante o jantar, acidentalmente derramamos mousse de chocolate na toalha

Bom hotel, boa comida, boa piscina e piano grátis para tocar e bilharde (só que se paga 5€ 30 min. E 10€ 1 hora). O quarto é bastante confortável e tem uma televisão (também na recepção). Ás vezes vam ao quarto limpar, mas é rápido, o único problema (para mim) é que na última noite colocaram música alta na recepção.

Établissement avec piscine payante à l’heure. Bruyant et accueil froid Emplacement non adapté aux touristes

En general bien, Pero me parece un poco excesivo el precio de los servicios de la piscina, interior, gimnasio y masajes. Estaría bien que te dejara una hora gratuita para disfrutar un poco de la piscina interior