Pousada da Torre — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata de Valença

My boyfriend and I were very disappointed with this choice of Pousada. When we arrived, all appeared to be good. The room was lovely but expensive at 260 reais when you dont even have a balcony but I think you are paying more for the location as the location really is unbeatable. First impressions seemed promising. The pool area looks nice and everything looks modern and clean.||||I found one of the receptionists to be hostile (the younger one) and blood out of a stone would have been more accessible than a smile or warm greeting from her which I find quite unacceptable generally but especially when paying this kind of money.||||I was disappointed to find that the bar closes promptly at 11pm which for a holiday resort seems extremely early and it is poorly lit with no music at all which makes it seem kind of flat when you should be gearing up for the evening ahead.||||The breakfast was poor. Nothing made to order and usually only 2 or 3 choices of fruits, some cakes, cheese, ham and some scrambled eggs and frankfurters. ||||The air conditioning leaked in our room and I told the maid and she seemed to think it was the norm and came with a towel to mop up.||||Also if you are an early bird (if you are usually up before 9 then this doesnt apply) but occasionally we liked to lie in (after a heavy night ;-)) and after 9 the noise is silly. Cleaners very noisy and the walls are paper thin in the rooms.||||We ate in the restaurant a few times and the food was very good however we had a terrible experience one evening which I am still shocked about. ||||I ordered a chicken kiev with rice and chips and it turned up and looked and smelled delicious. I tried it and I thought; what is that? The texture was really strange. I looked closer and then cut a piece for my boyfriend to try. We then cut the kiev open and the chicken was completely raw. It was not undercooked and pink, it was completely raw like a slimey fillet out of the fridge. I immediately panicked as of course there is not any meat raw as dangerous as chicken and called over the waiter expecting him to be horrified. My boyfriend is Brazilian and explained the situation and the waiter said. What do you want to do? Do you want me to take it back for more cooking? I could not believe it. I said to my boyfriend to tell him no way. Raw chicken can actually kill you!||||He took it away and appeared to be unhappy about it. I would have thought a restaurant would be horrified and apologise profusely. Anyway we decided to eat somewhere else and asked for the bill (of course expecting him to not charge us for the 2 soft drinks we had) but he charged us for the raw chicken too. By this point I was disgusted with the attitude and the whole thing. My boyfriend went and told him that we are not paying for a raw chicken and he was sulky not sorry and said he would bring us a refund. He then proceeded to serve others, not deal with us so I decided to go in and ask for a manager as we had wasted an hour there and still hadnt had dinner. I went inside and asked him for the manager and he told me to calm down and relax in a very rude way. Told me to stop stressing and relax. The rude receptionist then got involved and didnt understand why we were upset when they offered to cook the same chicken again. That evening when we handed our key in the receptionist snatched it out of my boyfriends hand and ignored him when he was polite.||||The following morning I spoke to the manager and she also didnt give a toss. I said we are paying 260 reais per night to stay and it wasnt the fact that a mistake had been made it was the way it was dealt with. They basically made us feel like we were making a fuss over nothing. Its a shame as there are a couple of barman who are lovely but whoever owns it obviously does not care about a warm and hospitable atmosphere.||||Morro do Sao Paulo is a fantastic island but I would not spend your money here. If you dont care about customer service then its fine but if you do it is NOT the place for you. The place next door Villa Dos Corais is the place to stay. It is a little more expensive but a thousand times better than here. Stunning entrance, balconies, bar with music, proper sunbeds and a lovely vibe.||||Torre has so much potential and if I owned this place I would be horrified how people are treated as apart from the service and some minor details it could be great. When you go on holiday you expect people to care about the experience you are having. I stayed in a place in Marrakech in October which I have reviewed on here and even though there were many things that needed work, because the team at the hotel were so fabulous and charming, you could overlook some of the minor flaws. What is the point in staying somewhere expensive and nice if you dont even get a smile?||||MORRO IS AMAZING THOUGH -...

After an all-night flight from the U.S. to Salvador and an air taxi to Morro de Sao Paula, we were ready for a restful visit with members of our extended family. Our first impression of the beautiful island was that the Key West of the 1950’s had relocated, to Brazil. Transport of our bags from the small airport to our pousada was by wheelbarrow, down sand streets and between postcard beaches and a laid back collection of bars and restaurants. We were impressed upon our arrival at the appearance of Pousada da Torre, with its swimming pool out front and giant jacuzzi near the reception area. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and we checked into our rooms after some delay, as we had arrived 30 minutes or so prior to the advertised check in time.||||Following a pleasant afternoon on the beach and in the water, the troubles began. After rinsing off for a soak in the jacuzzi, we were told it could not be turned on without help from maintenance men These were summoned, and the jets were soon operating. Unfortunately, the heater was not operating, so we had a short dip in the cold jacuzzi. It appeared this was never fixed during our three day stay and because of other maintenance issues, we didn’t bother to check the nearby sauna. The jacuzzi adventure was followed by a trip to the room, where we had a cold shower. We were told there was no hot water. The room safe was not operating properly, static on the room telephone made it difficult to hear even the front desk, and the advertised wi-fi did not connect to anything.||||After the safe problem was addressed by maintenance, we walked into the main town for a nice meal. Upon our return, we found water dripping from the ceiling in the hallway, as well as over one of the beds in the room. With soaked bedding, and a wet mattress, we requested a move to the adjoining vacant room. This prompted a call by the night manager to the owner, who denied the request. After prolonged argument about this, we finally were allowed to move, but were told the adjoining room, although identical in every way, came at a higher price. We were already paying Ritz-Carlton prices for a substandard room, and absolutely refused to pay extra for the room, and finally were able to sleep in decent beds around 11 p.m.||||By the second day, the Internet connection was working (and to be fair, there was a computer connected to the Internet near the front office, which one could use for 20 minutes at a time). The hot water became available intermittently, and the ceiling leak in the new room, from a rain the second night, only ran down the wall and didn’t hit the bed. We decided to give up on that issue.||||If the owner of this place ever decides to correct the problems, it will surely deserve a 4 or 5 rating. The good points: great location, fine breakfast every morning with the room, good cooking for the evening meals, and very helpful and friendly staff except for the night manager. We recommend the rooms toward the back of the property, so you won’t be exposed to the loud music that cranks up next door after the sun goes down.. This would be a real gem with some proper attention. Based on TripAdvisor reviews of the other places on the island, our experience may be par for the course here. But at triple the price of a nice hotel room in Salvador, you have the right to expect more. We can’t say enough good things about the few days we had on the island; we’ve never been on...

La Pousada da Torre te gusta desde que llegas. El personal de la recepción es muy amable, siempre dispuesto a responder preguntas y a guiarte sobre paseos, localización de locales de ropa, de comida, etc. La señora y los chicos y chicas del bar también son muy eficientes, los varones son los mismos que hacen el servicio de playa, con rapidez, y buenas sugerencias. ||La ubicación de la posada es, a mi entender, la mejor, porque tiene salida directa a la playa lo que es impagable, y también está ubicada a minutos del centro, para ir a cenar, a comprar regalos, o simplemente a pasear por la feria de artesanías. Aproximadamente a las 18.00 hs en la empalizada de madera que separa las posadas y los bares de las playas, se arman unos "carritos" con comidas típicas, bebidas, churros, jugos, para comer al paso que son una buena opción para comer algo rápido si un día no quieres sentarte a cenar en un restaurante. La posada tiene a pocos metros un supermercado que te permite comprar lo que necesites y colocarlo en el frigobar de la habitación.||Se debe tener en cuenta que en el Morro cae el sol muy temprano, (17.00 hs), por lo cual la gente vuelve a los alojamientos a prepararse para salir a cenar, lo que también ocurre más temprano que en otros destinos turísticos de Brasil que he visitado. Por ello, las reposeras y las sombrillas de la posada son retiradas a las 17.00 hs pero si quieres te puedes quedar más tiempo en la playa aprovechando el mar que es tibio y precioso.||El desayuno de la posada es óptimo, muy variado, con opciones diferentes cada mañana, no te alcanzan los días para probar todo!!!!. Te preparan unas tapiocas sabrosísimas, solo tienes que pedirlas, igual que el agua caliente para el mate; conocen las costumbres argentinas, y se afanan por complacernos en todo momento. La piscina es preciosa, sus dimensiones son suficientes para disfrutar sin que te incomoden los demás huéspedes, y el sauna y el yacuzzi también lo puedes usar sin esperar. Tiene mesas y sillas a su alrededor para tomar la merienda o simplemente leer o conversar cómodamente. ||Los cuartos son muy confortables, la cama grande y cómoda, el baño muy limpio...el estilo del lugar es moderno y acogedor, de muy buen gusto. Hay algunos cuartos que dan al frente, por lo que son más ruidosos que los que dan al jardín. Mi marido y yo, por consejo de amigos que ya habían estado, pedimos uno de los que dan al jardín y descansamos perfectamente...con el aire acondicionado, y alejados del ruido que tiene la playa 2 por la noche, debido a los bares y restaurantes que se concentran en su mayoría ahí. Antes de contratar con Pousada da torre, habíamos googleado posadas en la 4ta playa, pero desistimos porque, si bien el agua es allí caliente como una terma, esa playa se encuentra muy alejada del centro para ir todas las noches, y dependes de transportes con horario fijo, ya que la marea alta del atardecer no permite hacerlo caminando. Les confieso que por curiosidad fuimos una mañana a ver la posada que nos había gustado y realmente agradecí habernos decidido por Pousada da torre. Las vistas de la cuatro son hermosísimas pero durante la mañana el mar está bajo y deja al descubierto casi doscientos metros de piedra, hasta después del mediodia, en que el agua sube y las cubre. Se forman piscinas naturales cuando el agua está baja pero no pienses que son piscinas para que te metas a nadar... nada que ver!!! son sectores de la piedra que tienen alturas diversas donde queda el agua al bajar el mar y atrapa a algún que otro pecesito... lo mismo ves en la dos, frente a la posada, disfrutando de la comodidad de tener todo a mano, centro, playa, restaurantes, bares, el puerto.||No quiero terminar sin decirles que desde el centro se puede ir a Gamboa caminando, es una playa contigua a la playa de arcilla, (donde todo el mundo se hace una máscara supuestamente rejuvenecedora) pero debes hacerlo temprano, antes de que el mar comience a subir, pasas el día, hay barracas muy lindas y vuelves en unos barquitos que salen hasta las 23hs. Allí el agua es tan caliente como en la cuatro. Puede llevarte unos 40 minutos llegar a Gamboa y el paseo es muy lindo, entre la vegetación del Morro, con hermosas vistas al mar en algunos lugares. Otro paseo que te recomiendo es el del faro, desde donde puedes tomar las más lindas...