HF Ipanema Park — Hotel in Porto

Reception. In general, they were quite professional. One thing that changed that perception, though was when we requested for a taxi.

We booked a taxi ourselves online but got no confirmation, hence we requested the reception 1 hour earlier to call for a taxi to pick us at a particular time. We were told there is a taxi stand around the corner. And they were right. In my experience, however, there weren't always taxis the 10 times I've passed by this place—and we needed to rush. Plus, it was raining. It was wet and cold. Apart from that, I was in the lounge with all our luggage while my partner was attending the conference. It seemed as if calling for a taxi was such a big deal when hotels do that with pleasure and without any fuss.

It was time for us to leave yet there wasn't any taxi waiting for us outside the hotel. We asked the staff—only for him to still had to call a taxi in the taxi stand which was just a stone's throw away but with a handful of the conference attendees leaving for the airport and all that, we were worried. Good thing there was "one" taxi waiting. Just one!

Then I was asked again by the staff where we were going for him to tell the driver. That morning, I had to repeat myself three times to three different staff in three separate occasions within 90 minutes—only for the taxi to bring us to the train station instead of the bus station. As a result, we almost missed the bus, got stressed, and paid much more for the taxi.

Food. Breakfast - the sauteed vegetables either tasted strange or tasted unpalatable. They got lots of stuff which I couldn't eat yet I got to pay for the breakfast. So my breakfast for the 4 days was this: mixed fresh fruits with natural yogurt, tea, sauteed vegetables, boiled egg, scrambled eggs, fresh/raw tomatoes & cucumber, some cheese, baked beans from the can which didn't taste as good as they normally do. Regarding the service in general, it was good. They always collected the dirty plates.

My husband however seemed to like the breakfast...

Bar - ordered summer salad but nah, overpriced and bland—with only two things! They could have added some slithered almonds or pumpkin seeds, some cheese and whatnot. The service was good, though.

Restaurant - horrible food. The pizza was frozen so my partner didn't order that. Got something else but with no luck. We enjoyed way more and twice the Japanese food we took away from Sushi & Co which is just around the corner!

Lunch during the EAGE Conference. The first two days, good. The third and fourth, bad.

Room. It's an old hotel which I guess used to be a 5-stars in its prime so it's spacious. Love that! Very comfortable beds. Clean bedsheets. Clean room. Most of the time, I wanted to re-use my towels but not keep it in the toilet. Why not change the policy to: Put the towels on the floor or in the bathtub if you want them changed? Instead of just changing relatively clean and/or unused towels? And the telephone could do a bit of dusting.

Lounge. Relaxing! Spacious! Comfortable sofas.

Lifts. Fast!

Location. From 17:00, expect traffic jams and bus arriving late or not arriving at all. It reminded me of Bangkok 2009, well, not as bad though. Traveling by metro would be a better choice, except that it's not yet ubiquitous...

I called ahead of booking and spoke to the reception, asking what facilities I could enjoy as I was only booking this hotel due to the rooftop pool bar. I was assured I could book without a problem, as only the internal pool was closed due to covid. I booked the trip, got to the hotel, and was informed the rooftop bar wasn't open, but that it would open the next day. This happened every single day until my trip ended, for 9 days. Not only did I pay a lot more for this amenity, the fact that I was lied to repeatedly and had to postpone my tours believing the staff ruined our anniversary trip. I submitted a complaint and asked for a refund for the difference of the amount between this hotel and the sister hotel, which doesn't have the rooftop bar, and got told there is a disclaimer on the website saying not all facilities will be open due to covid, so I was not entitled to any refund. To add insult to injury, not only did I have to complain the cleaning wasn't being done daily, half the time towels weren't left in the room and the coffee, tea and sugar weren't stocked up. Once I complained, they sent some upstairs. When I called and complained about the rooftop bar to the reception, and asked if they could send room service to the rooftop as it presented no difference to the bar being closed (people were using the tiny pool there with no social distancing) they told me they''d call me back and never did. The breakfast was the only thing that was nice. However, since my family has stayed at this hotel for the past 20 years, you can see that the level of general quality has dropped. I am still very dissatisfied with being lied to deliberately so I'd book the trip, after being assured the rooftop bar would be open. It's a dishonest practice I wouldn't have expected a 5 star hotel staff would take. Fair to say, my family and I won't stay here again unfortunately. Make sure you actually research before you go, if like me you're only booking for amenities you won't get. Edit after the owner replied - Easyjet further called you and confirmed the rooftop bar was closed for the entirety of my stay, and that what you did was dishonest, so they've refunded me partially as it breached their guidelines that you advertised amenities which weren't open. The rooftop bar was closed between the 27th of August until the 8th of September that I could verify, so what you said is incorrect. I've amended my comment about the breakfast, as I was referring to the general quality of the hotel going downhill - Towels not being replaced, stained bedding, coffee, tea and sugar not being replaced until I complained, not really what you'd ever expect from a 5 star hotel. Thank you for the invitation to return but obviously I'll pass. I hope you aren't as shocked as from learning your own amenities were closed. It seems that there are a lot of service failures you are...

I emailed the hotel to inquire about room assignments and basic information (wifi, breakfast restaurant venue and operation times, reception dial number) along with a rooming list. However, the response I received was a single line asking for my reservation number. Even though room assignment requests might require a reservation number, basic information should be readily available. Perplexed as to why only the reservation number was requested, I provided my reference number. They then asked for the full reservation number, which I provided. After giving the correct reservation number, I received no further response and was left without the basic information I had requested.

Upon my actual arrival at the hotel, none of the requests I had made via email four days prior had been fulfilled. When I asked for some rooms to be changed, the reception staff frowned and impatiently asked which rooms. After organizing the necessary information and requesting keys for three rooms, the staff member expressed annoyance, questioning why this information was only being provided now. Each time a change was made, I made sure to express my gratitude. After distributing room keys to all group members, I returned to request a wake-up call, only to be told the service was not available. Requesting a change to my own room to a different floor, the staff member visibly showed annoyance, mumbling about why I was making the request only now. At that moment, feeling as though the roles of guest and staff had been reversed, I expressed my desire for service befitting a 5-star hotel. When I apologized if I had upset them but pointed out that their tone and expression were unnecessarily rude, the staff member did not apologize but instead reiterated that they had fulfilled all my requests. I am baffled as to how a hotel providing such service could be rated 5-star. I had stayed here before and encountered issues with the reception not having proper information from the booking department, which they tried to justify. However, unlike this male staff member, a female staff member on that occasion eventually cooperated with a more pleasant demeanor, leaving me less frustrated.

I will certainly be advising my company against using this hotel in the future. The hotel's location is also not ideal, with nothing of interest nearby and requiring a car to reach the city center. In the mornings, opening the curtains reveals a view of seagulls flocking outside the window.

For the service one star is too much for...