Azor Hotel — Hotel in Ponta Delgada

We checked into the Octant after walking up from the Grand. Located at the end of the main promenade, (overlooking the main prison to its right!). There is a slight incline to the entrance past the casino (part of the hotel complex), which my carer found a little taxing (- he later found it best to walk on the far side of the road, on the red bike lane, overshoot the hotel and then left wheel me onto the pedestrian crossing, which was then downwards to the hotel). There is no doorman at the Octant, so my carer had to struggle with two cases, two hand luggage and me, in the chair, to get through an outward opening door. We then had to queue as reception was undermanned. At my eye-level, I was aware of the very heavily chipped/ damaged veneer of the desk.|We were allowed into our room early, which was a blessing, as I needed to lie down, after the stress of getting into the hotel. ||We were gifted, hotel-branded, panama hats (2), one hessian bag and 2 choc-chip cookies, in the room.||The room was comfortable, clean, modern, large and airy with a spacious balcony, albeit the balcony dividers are short by about a foot- which meant that a lot of mobile calls could easily be overheard from neighbouring rooms, added to which the walls themselves are neither thick nor very soundproof. The hotel provided a shower seat, albeit a cracked one. The flush panel, even at best, gives only a very short flush- be warned!||You are allowed an hour in the bijou spa area free-of-charge. I immersed myself in the luke-warm spa pool, though I noticed that most of the water jets were not operative. There are a handful of 'sunloungers' for chilling-out.||We were on a B& B rate. Breakfast was a veritable triumph of local produce and fresh cooking. Poached eggs available ( nb. they ask how long you want them cooked). Vast range of choices from various local cheeses to a cooked breakfast with the crispiest of bacon. Pastel de Nata and local breads are available. Gorgeous. Watch out though, I had to be taken to our room at one stage and when we returned, we were told that, as we'd left our table, anything now consumed was chargeable!||Turndown service? What turndown service? For four night we tried various combinations of cards on door (make up room), cards on bed (change towels) but nothing happened. Beds not made, no fresh towels, nothing! On the last (fifth) evening, at 1845hrs, we were dressing for dinner when housekeeping then attended for a turndown! Housekeeping gave us a bale of fresh towels and 2 choc-chip cookies.||The night time restaurant, 'À Terra' deserves a mention - it is an incarnation of the breakfast room, so it's massive with many window tables. We had Azorean cheese soup. We had the gnocchi and the suckling pig, which was tender with a little thin crackling and served with salad and, bizarrely, a bowl of cold, ready-salted crisps (?!), but the dish of note was dessert- an amazing confection, looking for all the world like a real Braeburn apple- filled with vanilla mousse- a real joy to experience. The patisserie is exceptional. ||There was a much vaunted market section (2 separate counters), by reception, to buy local wine and cheese- no price list and they only open on request. I never saw them operational.||Reception refused us a late check out save for a really high fee, until we pointed out that the only reason we required one was because they'd forgotten our alarm call at which point they extended checkout by an hour!||We visited the Whale-watching Bar. It's on the 7th floor (where the 'whale-watching' rooms are located, next to the small (raised and unheated) swimming pool. It is only accessible by lift from the first floor ( so 2 lifts required from the groundfloor reception). There are a handful of outdoor sunloungers and seats serviced by a nice cocktail bar with scenic windows. The cocktails are good, though it's one of the few places in Ponta Delgada which levies an automatic service charge. ||Not the best location in town, nor the most scenic views, unless you like grey concrete and yachts (the 'grey concrete' is true for all of the front of PD, in fairness); but if you need to be on the front, you could do a lot worse. The nearest whale-watching operation is 'Picos...

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Azor hotel. It is a well designed and clean hotel, with a touch of luxury. The staff are very friendly and go out of their way to make sure your stay is pleasant. Credit to Jessica who checked me in, Luis who took my bags and showed me my room and Vasco from the restaurant who prepared some delicious plates for me. Everyone else was great too, forgive me but I don't remember their names.

My room was clean with a spectacular view of the marina. Fridge was stocked with water and two local soft-drinks, Coffee and local tea restocked every day, a complimentary cookie upon check in (placed on your bed) and extra pillows in the room. The size of the room was much bigger than what you would typically see in Lisbon. Even for two people, it was a lot of space.

An odd feature of the room was that the TV had to be turned on for the WiFi to work. This was not a problem for me but can be an inconvenience if you only want WiFi without the TV playing. You could put the TV in sleep mode, this would blank out the screen to a black screen. However, the TV was still on and would leave some light even though it was a black screen.

An added bonus would be if the room had a speaker with an Aux cord. This is just personal preference and not a major inconvenience as many travellers have bluetooth speakers.

The restaurant is exceptional but their service can be a little slow. This might be due to shortage of staff on some nights. They have a smaller restaurant with a bar on the same floor as the lobby and the larger restaurant is one floor above (This is where breakfast is served). I’ve eaten at both. The one downstairs has TV’s so if you would like to catch a football game and grab a delicious local cheese plate or pizza, this is where you need to be! Try the bread, you will not be disappointed.They are very flexible with their menu and are able to customize your meal, if you ask nicely.

A full breakfast is served every morning. They even have a chef to cook your eggs the way you like them. The hours were very good too, I believe breakfast closes at 11 or 11:30 but they are very relaxed with this and do not rush you. I did appreciate that very much!

My only issue with this hotel is where the gym was located.

I used the gym frequently, this has an odd set up as you have to walk through the restaurant and into the back to get to the gym. The layout is not smart, it seems like they decided to add the gym as an add-on and the only available space at the end of the dining hall. The gym itself is modern with ample amount of weights and cardio machines. There was some construction on this level, I was told they will be adding a full spa and should be complete in the summer.

Would 100% recommend this hotel! Keep up the great work, until next...

We stayed at the Azor Hotel twice during our time on the islands. Both times the receptionist, Sarah, was utterly amazing. Very polite and friendly, and helped us to return our rental vehicle at the hotel itself and arranged our taxi to the airport at the end of our stay.

Now for the bad points -

Unfortunately we felt the other receptionists were more abrupt and unhelpful - especially when one afternoon we asked when housekeeping would be round and we were told ‘they start on the second floor and will make their way around to you eventually’. There was no question of whether they could arrange it sooner and therefore housekeeping interrupted our day.

We also found it completely ridiculous how the TV has to be turned on to enable wifi. What if we need access to the internet while working and do not want the distraction of the TV on - even if it is in mute? It looks unprofessional in a video call and it’s distracting. From an environmental standpoint, if we simply want access to the internet and do not want to watch the TV, it wastes electricity. Unacceptable in this day and age.

The most alarming thing was that the door to the room doesn’t shut unless you physically pull / push it - unlike most hotel rooms nowadays. Bit of a unneeded security risk.

After our first stay at the hotel, we stored some bags. They did not move these items to the room prior to our second stay. It would have been so nice if they had already been placed in the room.

The door to the toilet does not shut fully which hinders privacy. The door to the shower does not allow for a towel to be placed down to prevent water leaking onto the floor when getting out.

Although the balcony overlooks the marina and the town of Ponta Delgada, the door does not shut to the balcony meaning you have to move the key to the outside of the door and lock it while out there otherwise you have the air conditioning running and the door open - again, not great from an environmental standpoint.

If you pay with points, do not expect breakfast or access to the lounge.

However, for the positives - there is a private parking garage on site ensuring any rental car is kept safe. The room provides some soft drinks and water free of charge and there is a mini-fridge, coffee maker, kettle, and safe. It is a short walk to town and far enough away to ensure the area the hotel is located...