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CAPAO BONITA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Regina Address: pca. Rui Barbosa 306 Price: $20 Rating: Best Value Reviewed: 1998 Review: Good hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($5 - too high! - can easily be walked), across from a busy park and in the immediate downtown area. Rooms are spacious, clean and come with color tv with remote control, frigo bar and a fan. A nice added touch is the combination AM/FM radio and digital alarm clock. There are more luxurious rooms available for $30 and suites for $40. A very good value hotel and highly recommended. Price includes breakfast. CAPAO DA CANOA. BRAZIL Name: Hotel Kolman Address: Price: $33 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1993 Review: In this rather expensive resort city, there are many hotel choices ranging from the middle to the upper price bracket. Excellent hotel located a short walk to the bus terminal ($5 by taxi), in the downtown area and only a couple of blocks from the beach. Rooms are spotless, extremely spacious and come with color tv and a poorly stocked frigo bar. A nice added touch is the comfortable couch that comes with virtually all rooms. Highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. CAPONGA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Aguas Belas Address: Praia de Aguas Belas Price: $26 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: Barely adequate hotel located right on the beach and within walking distance from the bus stop. Rooms are basic, simple, spacious and hardly warrants paying the above price for one. Try bargaining. At first he wanted $36 for the room but he did come down $10. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only hotel on this particular beach. However, the hotel does have a swimming pool and the surroundings are very peaceful and picturesque. The higher room rate is probably for the beach front location. Price includes breakfast. CARABALLEDA, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel Fioremar Address: Price: $30 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1997 Review: This resort town located on the Caribbean coast has many hotels to choose from. This fine hotel is located in an area populated with restaurants and souvenir shops. If you’re in the mood for an American type of meal, there’s even a McDonalds fast food restaurant located almost directly across the street. Rooms are fairly spacious, spotless and come with color tv and air conditioning (much needed!). Good value since this tends to be a rather expensive town. CARACAS, VENEZUELA Name: Lincoln Suites Hotel Address: Price: $110 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1997 Review: Very nice, indeed! Truly a world class hotel. Luxury at its’ finest. Excellent five star hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($8 - okay price - took an unofficial taxi which is not recommended but the price seemed to be reasonable) and one block from the immediate downtown area. The suite is extremely spacious, spotless and comfortable. There’s the living room furnished with a sofa, two chairs and a coffee table. Off to one side is the kitchen area with a mini refrigerator. Finally, there’s the bedroom with cable tv with remote control. Amenities include such things as a hair dryer in the bathroom. Everyone from the reception clerk on down to the bellboy speaks fluent English. The hotel has hightened security by having a uniformed security guard roam the lobby. There’s even a security camera in the elevator. The hotel has an upscale restaurant, a bar, a gift shop and a travel agency. They even have their own special but pricey cabs in front of the hotel. I have the feeling that this is one of the most luxurious hotels (there are a few others) that Caracas has to offer. If in Caracas on business or pleasure and you want a special splurge, treat yourself to this high quality hotel where the service is excellent. You’ll be glad you did. Highly recommended! CARACAS, VENEZUELA Name: Plaza Palace Hotel Address: Las Delicias de Sabana Grande - Av. Los Mangos Price: $31 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1997 Review: Very good three star hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($7 - reasonable price!) and a couple of blocks from the immediate downtown area. Rooms are spotless, fairly spacious and come with air conditioning and color tv (good cable including CNN International, ESPN and HBO) with remote control. I was fortunate enough to get a room on the 7th floor with a balcony which gave me a superb aerial view of the city. Breathtaking! Amenities include a hair dryer in the bathroom. The hotel staff is helpful and speaks some English. In expensive Caracas, this hotel can be considered a true value. Highly recommended! Drawback: Instead of the traditional key, a card with a magnetic strip opens the door. You might have to insert it a few times before it actually works. Travel Tip: Don’t stay at the Hotel Caracas Cumberland located just a few short blocks from this one. Besides charging a whopping $100 per night, the hotel is uncooperative and not the least bit helpful. That’s why after a few short minutes there I demanded my money back and left. CARAGUATATUBA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Avenida Address: Price: $6 Rating: Worst Reviewed: 1992 Review: Cheap hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($3) and three blocks from the beach. Rooms are basic, barely clean and come with a ceiling fan. Not recommended if you’re financially able to stay elsewhere. Price includes breakfast. CARAVELAS, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Marina Porto Abrolhos Address: Praia do Gauca (Barra de Caravelas) Price: $59 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1994 Review: Very nice, indeed! Excellent luxury hotel located 10 kms. from the actual city of Caravelas. Despite the fact that it’s a little difficult to get to (45 minutes on a crowded bus since finding a taxi in this small town is next to impossible), it’s well worth the inconvenience. The hotel is situated across from the beach. Rooms are comfortable, spotless, fairly spacious and come with color tv (poor reception), air conditioning and a reasonably stocked frigo bar. The decor is above what is to be found in the ordinary hotel room. The grounds that the hotel sits on as well as the beach area is beauitful and tropical looking. Amenities include a large swimming pool as well as a wading pool for kids and a golf course. For a restful vacation, this hotel would definitely be it. A good value since a good and filling dinner as well as a good and ample breakfast is included in the price of the room. A nice touch is the beautiful red, blue and yellow parrot in the lobby. Highly recommended! CARAZINHO, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Rossato Address: Price: $16.50 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1993 Review: Very good hotel located a short distance by taxi ($4) from the bus terminal and several blocks to the downtown area. Rooms are spotless and come with color tv with remote control on the wall beside the bed and a balcony overlooking a side street. Very comfortable, indeed! There are more inexpensive rooms available that are smaller and don’t include color tv and balcony. This hotel is warmly recommended! Price includes breakfast (roughly $2.25 less without). Drawback: The hallway outside the rooms on the second floor is dark,so turn on the light switch at the end of the hall. However, you only have about 30 seconds to insert your key into the keyhole and turn the lock before the light switch automatically turns off and you’re left in the dark once again. CARLOS BARBOSA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel San Carlos Address: R. Dr. Carlos Barbosa 480 Price: $29 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1998 Review: The best and apparently only hotel in this charming and peaceful town of 19,000. The hotel is conveniently located almost right around the corner from the bus terminal and just a few short blocks to the downtown area where the locals gather on Sunday afternoon (the day I was there) to sit on benches and talk. This very charming and quaint hotel is reminiscent of a Bavarian type of hotel. Rooms are fairly spacious and come with color tv with remote control. Very nice and highly recommended! Price includes breakfast. CARORA, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel Katuka Address: Av. Francisco de Miranda Price: $27.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1997 Review: Good hotel located a very short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($1.50 - reasonable price!) or it can be easily walked. It’s also situated alongside a highway in a peaceful setting and is quite a ways from the downtown area (never did find it!). Rooms are spotless, spacious, but yet homey and come with color tv (several cable channels) and air conditioning. Warmly recommended CARTAGENA, CHILE Name: Residencial Mirador Address: Price: $3.50 Rating: Worst Reviewed: 1990 Review: Rooms are very basic with no locks on the doors. Not recommended. CARUARU, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Centenario Address: r 7 de Setembro 84 Price: $43 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1994 Review: Adequate two star hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($2.50) and in the downtown area. Rooms are small, fairly clean and come with a frigo bar, color tv and air conditioning. There are less expensive rooms available than this one but the hotel desk clerk “claimed” that those rooms were all filled up. The least expensive room would have been $19 less. The above price paid was supposedly for a deluxe room but it’s not as the room is surprisingly small for the amount paid for it. This hotel is barely recommended because I find it difficult to justify spending that kind of money on this type of room. However, the hotel staff is friendly. Amenities include a very small swimming pool. Price includes breakfast. Travel Tip: Not far from this hotel is a wonderful handicraft market with several stalls selling crafts at very reasonable prices. Also, the cab fares in this city seem to be reasonable and honest which is not always the case when traveling within Brazil. CASCAVEL, BRAZIL Name: Santa Maria Hotel Address: av. Assuncao 1238 Price: $22.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1996 Review: A few modest hotels around the bus terminal and this is one of them. Adequate hotel conveniently located directly across the street from the bus terminal but, unfortunately, a good distance from the downtown area. Rooms are simple, spotless, fairly spacious and doesn’t come with really anything except its own private bathroom. It’s a bit high in price, perhaps, for what you actually get but can still be recommended. Price includes breakfast. Drawback: For the price of the room, the hotel could have at least supply a fan as it’s hot and stuffy without one. Add’l Info: The city of Cascavel has one of the cleanest and most organized bus terminals that I’ve had the pleasure of encountering during my numerous trips to Brazil. Excellent facilities! CASSINO, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Atlantico Address: Price: $26 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1992 Review: In this resort city, there are several hotels to suit most budgets and this is one of them. Excellent three star hotel located on the main avenue and only a few short blocks from the bus terminal. Rooms are comfortable, clean and come with color tv and a fan. Amenities include a spacious swimming pool. The restaurant in the hotel is reasonably priced and worth trying. Friendly staff. Price includes breakfast. Highly recommended! CASTRO, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Central Palace Address: rua Cipriano Marques 21 Price: $11 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Good and adequate hotel located several blocks (a good walk) from the bus terminal and one block from the main street of the downtown area. Rooms are simple, fairly clean (not swept under the bed), fairly spacious and come with a sink. The bathroom is located down the hall. For $6 more per night will get you a room that is slightly more spacious with a private bathroom in it. Some rooms have the added advantatge (mine included) of having a view of the park across the street. Drawback: Remember where your room is located because not all of the rooms have room numbers on them. CATANDUVA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel de Franchi Address: rua Park 230 Price: $24.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1999 Review: Good two star hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($4 - should have been $3.50) and a block from the immediate downtown area. Rooms are very spacious, fairly clean (carpet isn’t - small wonder - the maid looks like she’s 80 or 90 years old!) and come with color tv with remote control, air conditioning (doesn’t cool effectively) and a frigo bar. Can be recommended. Price includes breakfast. |
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