Hotel Camões — Hotel in Ponta Delgada

The good: The gentleman at the front desk did allow me to store my bags until check-in. Our flight arrived at 7am and check-in time was 2pm, so this was very helpful. (no early check-in available.) The location of the hotel is good for accessing restaurants, shopping and walks along the waterfront. The room was large, updated and very clean. Lovely hardwood floors and granite countertops in the bathroom. The beds were quite comfortable. The breakfast was very nice with both hot and cold selections. Physically, the hotel was excellent.||||The bad: The narrow street can be busy at times, so noise can be an issue now and then but not at night. There is no coffee maker, kettle, mini-fridge items or ANY amenities in the room. The safe in the closet is key operated and you have to pay for the key. I had a shower in the morning and then went to the beach. When I asked for a clean towel at the front desk so I could shower again before bed I was told "you are one person. You get one towel". I asked if I could have a kettle to boil some water and explained I had recent hand surgery and wanted the water for compresses but was denied. I was told that if I wanted hot water I would have to order it through room service. ||||My brother and sister-in-law were traveling with me but staying at another hotel. We were looking for somewhere to eat on our first night and I noticed on the in-room "information sheet" that the hotel had a restaurant so I suggested we eat there. When I inquired at the front desk where the restaurant was located, I was told there was no restaurant at the hotel, even though it clearly stated on the sheet that it did have one and that it was open from 7-10pm. ||||Overall, this is a nice hotel in a good location but don't expect any extras, even if you ask. The front desk, other than storing my bags, were not...

The room was too poor for a 4 start hotel. No kettle, for example! Small TV. Shower glass leaking on the floor (the part bound to the wall) when showering. The room had a very small fridge which was a bit noisy. The room did not have a view to the ocean, but to a backstreet from where during the night was coming a pretty good amount of noise each time a car or people talking were passing by.

The buffet breakfast was even poorer: if you wish for a British breakfast, forget it: you only get the eggs (and only as scrambled), you either get bad canned mushrooms or fried bacon, but both at once (alternating, one day you get mushrooms and no fried bacon, the next day the fried bacon and no mushrooms), no tomatoes, no beans, no sausages, no black pudding. If you wish for a continental breakfast with cold meats and cheeses, then the "variety" is very poor: you only get one type of ham (or salami - not sure how to qualify it), one type of sliced cheese and some fresh local cheese. That is it for the continental breakfast!

The worst happened the day I left: I was picked up at 7:15, so before 7:30 when they start serving breakfast. Therefore they made me a small breakfast bag with a sweet roll, a tiny packet of cheapest biscuits, an apple and a small juice. I handed it back at 7:00 saying that I was expecting a sandwich with some ham and cheese (the ones that they serve each day as continental breakfast) and despite having still 15 minutes to wait until the pickup happened and the kitchen people being already there and doing their stuff, nobody cared to spent 30 seconds to prepare me a sandwich! So I left without a breakfast for which I paid! This attitude was the most ignorant and...

Overall:||A good $100 1-night-stay while waiting for next morning's flight. A/C not functional.||||Positive:||The room: huge rooms, hardwood floors, couch in the room, desk with chair, full tub in the bathroom, balcony with desk & chair outside. Quiet but I was lucky insofar as my room faced courtyard||||Service: friendly welcome with prompt check-in. A big thank you to the lady at the front desk who bent over backwards to get me a fan. Without the fan, this review would be entirely different. The staff also made me a little packed breakfast because of my early departure (06:45, breakfast doesn't start until 07:30!) - the gesture and the breakfast were really nice! :)||||Negative:||The A/C. I like my room cool. The AC is merely a weak fan that blows a bit of air but has no cooling effect whatsoever. Thank god they had a fan they could give me (I think I got lucky there!)||||The bed was a twin, and thus fairly small and somewhat uncomfortable. Noise could be heard on occasion from the hall but nothing during the night.||||Breakfast hours:starts at 07:30am until 10am... I realize in Portugal one eats later, but standard breakfast hours start at 6am. ||||The final say:||An enjoyable stay. I would expect more comfort for $100 and I wouldn't rate this a 4-star hotel but I was impressed by the space and...