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| MACHADO, BRAZIL Name: Minas Hotel Address: av. Arthur Bernardes 291 Price: $18 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1996 Review: Good hotel located a few blocks from the bus terminal (one direction) and a few blocks from the downtown area (in the other direction). Rooms are clean, very spacious (even with four beds) and come with color tv (volume very sensitive). There are more expensive rooms available with color tv and frigo bar for $25. Friendly and helpful staff. Recommended! Price includes breakfast. Advisary: If you decide to go downtown, be aware that when you return it’s uphill all of the way. A real killer in the drenching Brazilian heat. MACHIQUES, VENEZUELA Name: Gran Hotel Machiques Address: Price: $24.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1997 Review: In this small city several miles south of Maracaibo, there are a couple of hotels to stay at including this one. Adequate hotel (really more like a motel) located a 20 minute walk from the bus terminal or a short taxi ride ($1.50 - fair price!). However, it’s a good distance from the downtown area so allow at least 45 minutes walking time each way. Rooms are clean, spacious, simple and come with color tv (one channel; poor reception) and air conditioning. Run by some friendly folks. Recommended! Drawback: Occasionally, you might find bugs or insects. Travel Tip: If interested, the other place to stay at in the city is the Motel Tukuko which is similar to this one and not too far away. MACUTO, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel Santiago Address: av. La Playa y C 3, Urb. Alama Price: $34.50 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1997 Review: Very good three star hotel located about 15 minutes from the Caracas International Aiport by taxi ($24 - overcharging is rampant here!) and directly across from the shore in this peaceful resort of 19,370. Rooms are a little on the plain side, somewhat small and come with air conditioning (always a welcome relief in this country!) and tv (doesn’t work). The hotel is very quaint and Spanish-looking and has its own restaurant. There are also many restaurants nearby. The hotel staff is friendly and helpful. English spoken. Warmly recommended! MAFRA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Emacite Address: rua Cel. Vitoria Bacelar 69 Price: $18 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1995 Review: Very good hotel conveniently located within walking distance from the bus terminal and in the center of the downtown area. Rooms are spotless and come with a small writing desk and chair. I was fortunate enough to get a room on one of the upper floors with an aerial view of the city. Breathtaking! At the time of my visit, the hotel was offering a special at the above price. Otherwise, the price for a single room would normally have been $28. This is probably the best hotel that this city of 47,000 has to offer. Very much recommended! Price includes breakfast. MAINTENCILLO, CHILE Name: Delfin Centro Turistico (cabanas) Address: Price: $39 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1990 Review: Very nice and tastefully decorated cabins. Highly recommended! MALDONADO, URUGUAY Name: Hotel Colonial Address: Price: $13 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1991 Review: Very basic but clean hotel located on the main plaza. Recommended! MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA Name: Hotel Benedetti Address: Price: $36 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1991 Review: Mar del Plata is the most famous resort in the country. Many hotels in all price ranges to choose from. Good hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal and right in the immediate downtown area. Rooms are clean, fairly spacious and come with color tv and air conditioning. Good and inexpensive laundry service. Drawback: Be wary of mailing letters and postcards to the U.S. from the reception desk. Since the clerk is probably unsure about the cost of such items, he’ll charge you three times (at least!) the postage rate. It’s better to go to the post office yourself. MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA Name: Avenida Hotel Address: Price: $31 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1997 Review: Good and adequate hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($4 - okay price!) and right in the downtown area. It’s also in a good restaurant area including a McDonald’s fast food restaurant nearby. Rooms are simple, fairly clean (except for under the bed), small and come with color tv (good cable including Sony Entertainment Television, TNT, The Discovery Channel, ESPN, FOX, USA, CNN en Espanol, CNN International, CNN Headline News, MTV, HBO, The Warner Channel and The Cartoon Network), air conditioning and a small refrigerator. This hotel seems to be a reasonable value in expensive Maracaibo. Recommended! Drawback: The hotel management seems a little particular about guests leaving their room key at the reception desk whenever leaving the hotel. After the guest leaves their room key at the desk, then one of the hotel personnel will push a buzzar to unlock the lobby doors permitting the guest to leave. I find this practice a little inconvenient and time consuming. MARACAY, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel Princesa Plaza Address: av. Miranda Estre entre Fuerzas Aereas y av. Bermudez Price: $40.50 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1997 Review: Many four star hotels to choose from in this bustling city of 538,000 but this one seems to be the only one that’s anywhere near being reasonably priced. Excellent hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi and a couple of blocks from the immediate downtown area. Rooms are spotless, spacious, very comfortable and come with color tv and air conditioning. Instead of a key, you insert a card into the door to unlock it. You also use the same card to turn on the lights upon entering the room. English spoken by the early morning staff. Highly recommended! Advisary: After trying at two other four star hotels first, this was the only one that had any vacancies. Apparently, there’s a shortage of good quality hotels for a city this size. MARATAIZES, BRAZIL Name: Praia Hotel Address: av. Atlantica 99 Price: $54 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1994 Review: Good hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($6 - too high!), in the center of town and directly across from the beach. Rooms are spotless and come with color tv, air conditioning and a frigo bar. Most rooms on the second floor (mine included) overlook the beach area. If staying in this resort town, this is one of the two top hotels to consider. The other one is the Saveiros Hotel which is also quite good. Highly recommended! MARILIA, BRAZIL Name: Grande Hotel Address: Price: $9.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1993 Review: Okay hotel located a short distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($3) and right in the center of the downtown area. Rooms are simple, fairly clean and come with black and white tv (located on a very high shelf which makes reaching for it very difficult) and a fan. Air conditioning is roughly $2.40 extra. Breakfast is roughly $.90 extra. Friendly hotel staff. Recommended! MARINGA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Imbu Address: Price: $8.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1993 Review: Adequate hotel located around the corner from the bus terminal and a couple of blocks from the center of the downtown area. Rooms are basic, small, fairly clean and come with a fan and a small cheap writing desk. Recommended but certainly “nothing to write home about”. Price includes breakfast. MATA, BRAZIL Name: Paleon Hotel Address: rua da Martriz 295 Price: $14 Rating: Best Value Reviewed: 1998 Review: The best and only hotel that this hot and dusty town of 6,000 has to offer. Good and fair hotel located uphill from the tiny bus terminal (run by one person) and in the center (what very little center there is) of town. Rooms are clean, spacious and come with color tv and a fan. The restaurant serves mediocre but inexpensive meals. However, you’ll probably end up eating here as it’s the only suitable restaurant in town. Recommended! Good value. Price includes breakfast. MATINHOS, BRAZIL Name: Beira Mar Hotel Address: Price: $7.50 Rating: Worst Reviewed: 1992 Review: In the small town of Matinhos (population: 8,000), there are plenty of cheap hotels to choose from and this is one of them. This very basic hotel is located within walking distance from the bus terminal and a half a block from the beach. Rooms are very basic and could be cleaner. Friendly. Not recommended if you can afford to stay elsewhere. Travel Tip: It might be better to stay at the Hotel O Castarao located just next door. Also, that hotel has an excellent restaurant at reasonable prices. MEJILLONES, CHILE Name: Residencial (unnamed) Address: Price: $6.50 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1990 Review: Basic but clean. Recommmended! MENDOZA, ARGENTINA Name: Aconcogua Hotel Address: Price: $61 Rating: Best Reviewed: 1991 Review: Truly a world class hotel. Luxury at its finest and the best hotel in this large metroplitan city. Rooms are spotless, spacious and come with air conditioning and color tv. Located in a peaceful part of the city but yet only minutes away from the downtown area. One of the things that makes this hotel a little bit unusual is that the frigo bar (mineral water, soda pop and two bottles of Argentine wine) is included in the price of the room. Highly recommended! MERCEDES, URUGUAY Name: Hotel Ito Address: Price: $9 Rating: Best Value Reviewed: 1991 Review: Basic but clean hotel located a few blocks from the center of town. Recommended! MERIDA, VENEZUELA Name: Hotel El Tisure Address: av. 4 Bolivar No. 17-47 Price: $53 Rating: Honorable Mention Reviewed: 1997 Review: Merida is definitely a popular tourist city, although I’m not quite sure why. Don’t misunderstand my point. Merida is a nice and large cosmopolitan city with several beautiful churches but, quite frankly, I don’t see anything really special about it. Maybe it’s popular because it’s in a cooler climate in the southern part of the country, nestled between some very picturesque mountains. Or maybe it’s because Merida is a gateway to some quaint colonial towns within the region. However, one thing for certain is that this very touristy city has plenty of handicraft stores and plenty of policemen (scores of them), making sure the unsuspecting tourist doesn’t get robbed. Anyway, in this large and busy city of 222,700, there are many hotels to suit most pocketbooks and this is one of the more upscale ones. Very good four star hotel located a good distance from the bus terminal by taxi ($2.50 - good price!) and four blocks from the downtown area. Rooms are comfortable, spotless, spacious and come with color tv (a few cable channels) with remote control and a fan. Nice touches in the bathroom include soap in the shape of a seashell. They do have a restaurant on the premises but it was closed at the time of my visit. Hotel service is excellent. Recommended! Advisary: There’s a chaotic and menacing traffic jam in Merida. Driving is a nightmare and trying to walk across the street is even worse. Take care and good luck! MIRAMAR, ARGENTINA Name: Hotel Continental Address: Price: $21 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1991 Review: Adequate hotel located within just minutes from the beach. Helpful and friendly staff. MIRANDA, BRAZIL Name: Hotel Roma Address: Pca. Agenor Carricho 356 Price: $9 Rating: Mediocre Reviewed: 1995 Review: Adequate hotel located very near one of the bus companies (no terminal; only two bus companies; the other is located near the edge of the city). The hotel faces a rather plain and small park and also situated in the downtown area. Rooms are a little small, somewhat dingy looking but fairly clean. The bathroom is located down the hall but the halls aren’t well lit up at night so you may have difficulty in finding it. For $9 more per night will get you your own private bathroom (might be worth it! besides, the communal bathroom is in terrible shape). All considering, not too bad of a hotel and can be recommended for a night. Staying longer? There are other hotels (mostly on the edge of the city) that are better for not that much more money. Price includes breakfast. Advisary: It might be best not to wander out at night since this is kind of a run-down city. Drawback: When using the communal bathroom, you may be startled by a big (but harmless) bullfrog leaping about. |
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