Hotel Marina Atlantico

“1st Visit to the Azores”

I booked Independent travel through Gate 1, a company I have used several times. This was my friend and I's 1st trip to the Azores. The hotel was within 20 minutes or so of the airport and along a busy, main strip parallel to the ocean. Across the street is a cruise ship dock and there was at le… more

I booked Independent travel through Gate 1, a company I have used several times. This was my friend and I's 1st trip to the Azores. The hotel was within 20 minutes or so of the airport and along a busy, main strip parallel to the ocean. Across the street is a cruise ship dock and there was at least 3 days there was a ship of our week. We arrived 2 hours later due to tail end of rainy/very windy Azore weather. We got to hotel about 9 am and check-in is at 3. The check-in process was pretty quick and the front desk held our suitcases for us. We didn't leave the property and just napped on and off in the lobby. We did end up paying $16 Euros each for breakfast, since the airlines didn't feed us anything. We checked back with front desk a few times to assess room readiness and were about to thankfully get in for 12 pm. We were located on 2nd floor near 1 end and 1st impression was of spacious, clean room with balcony, 2 chairs and table facing the street and being able to hear the waves and sit out there was nice extension. We had 2 twin beds which were comfortable but the pillows were very soft and not supportive. There was a small safe which we used, along with stocked min fridge which we did not. There were seat cushions available in closet for outside chairs, 1 soft chair and another bench in front of bureau area. Inside closet was a few hangers, we asked for more, along with bathrobes/slippers and extra comforter. The amenities were limited. liquid soap only at sink and shower had liquid soap and shampoo. No conditioner, body wash, lotion or bar soap. They provided plenty of towels, no washcloths, blow dryer, coffee maker which we didn't use. They will also give you 1 glass bottle of water daily and we refilled our own personal bottles in gym. We used the large indoor pool daily, ironically you get cards and exchange towels at front desk. Please be sure to ask for hot springs specific towels, otherwise the other one will get stained. They have an outdoor pool that wasn't opened yet and a huge public pool across street. They had a decent gym, treadmills, elipticals, mats, weights plus Turkish and a dry sauna, hot tub, spa where we each had a good 90 minute massage, bathrooms/showers/changing areas. They started doing construction on room next to gym while we were there. The hotel is within walking distance of many restaurants on the main street along with shops. There are public buses that go by along with a trolley, we didn't use those or cabs either. The staff was pretty friendly and tolerant of me trying out my Portuguese. We did enjoy our stay here with a few exceptions - pillows need to really be replaced and breakfast improved. The 7-10 am Breakfast buffet was included and I had read reviews about it being lackluster, especially the eggs and we agree. They weren't edible, powdered or whatever they were tasted fake and watered down. I've had egg beaters before and don't have an issue with that but these were not good. 1 morning only, they had hard boiled and that was fine. Sausage lousy too. Multiple bread varieties, rolls, croissants, 1 morning there were some custards, yogurt, bacon, pancake machine, juices, coffee, tea, lemonade, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheeses, grapes, kiwi, white melon, tangerines, pineapple. Cold cereal, toaster. No omelet station nor was food replaced regularly when it ran out. There seemed to be plenty of staff though and there were some large groups also that came through early and later in breakfast session and wiped stuff out. We always had a decent breakfast during travel so this was surprising.

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“Not the most pleasant.”

Not the best experience. Expected more of a 4 star centralized hotel. Caution guests with the parking at -2 level with no direct access. We landed at 6am from an overnight flight. Checked in early but told no room available. We would taken an upgrade but told no availability. No fuss. We returned h… more

Not the best experience. Expected more of a 4 star centralized hotel. Caution guests with the parking at -2 level with no direct access. We landed at 6am from an overnight flight. Checked in early but told no room available. We would taken an upgrade but told no availability. No fuss. We returned hours later. We spent a week, parking at -2 level. When checking out, they wanted to charge us for the -1 level parking that had the direct access. I clarified we never benefited from it and paid out of pocket for -2 level (€7.50 / daily) In fact, no one told us we finally had availability there! Rooms are average. Not very spacious and limited toiletries. Carpets need to be cleaned both in rooms and hallways. Stains are visible. Breakfast was good considering the sleeping accommodations. We also had reserved ocean front. That made the experience a little better. Reception/ front desk staff could do a little better.

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