Maratea Mare

I had an amazing time stayng in Maratea + the trip in Brazil overall.

Since I arrived to the Hotel Maratea I felt like home. The owner Attilio Colitti. who by the way is the Honorary Consul of Italy, greeted us personally and was very helpful. The Hotel is right on the white sandy beach with a great restaurant where you can dine under the brazilian stars. The value is excellent considering also that each room has a kitchenette. I totally enjoyed my stay at Maratea!

First off, the taxi from the airport to the hotel will cost you approximately 110 BR. which is about 65usd. We stayed at Hotel Maratea Mare for 3 nights. We arrived and was told our room was ready. We went to our room - there are NO towels, NO Toilet paper, No Shampoo, No Soap, etc.. we got the towels and toilet paper later, but then had to go and buy our own soap and shampoo... The second day, our room did not get serviced which terribly sucked as there was sand in the room from our day at the beach. I have some friends in Florianopolis who called the hotel and asked for the price in portuguese and they offered about 40% less than what we paid through expedia. When we checked out we made our big complaints and did not pay them full price as it was absolutely crap. They acted like the bad experience we had at their resort was our fault... Their concierge also was not good - we told them we were there only for three days and that we wanted to do activities - their concierge seemed clueless of the place and did not make phone calls or help us out the least...really lame. Luckily we went online at night and found some activities for the following days. I would NOT stay here again if my life depended on it. The only good thing was that the beach was good...

My staying at this hotel lasted no more than 15 minutes. I've made a reservation based on the comments I'd read and its ranking: 5th or 7th hotel in Florianopolis. Serious: this ranking makes no sense for me any longer. By the time I've reached the hotel, there was nobody in the reception and I kept waiting for 10 minutes for someone to checks me in. It wasnt the recepcionist, but the maid (that was very kind, indeed). She wasn't expecting us and the room wasn't already ready and she went upstairs to make it up. After 15 minutes we went up and for my surprise the room was terrible: dark, old facilities, awful. I started to search for another hotel once I couldn't stand staying there and left the hotel the fastest I could. I really cannot imagine that among plenty of excelent hotels in Florianopolis this could be considered in the top 10 by users.

The Hotel Manager and his staff are very friendly and will truly go out of their way to help make your stay as pleasant and fun as possible. The hotel has a great location for family-type trips. The hotel decoration is simple yet very elegant. The rooms are spacious and very comfortable. All-in-all, this hotel offers an option of great value to consider for your next trip to Florianapolis, Brazil.

This hotel is a gem on the island of Florianopolis. It's small and intimate, and located directly on a beautiful beach. It is run by an Italian expat who was so friendly over the phone and email as we were making reservations, he seemed like an old friend by the time we got there! Everyone who works there was fantastic, and went out of their way to make our stay comfortable. The rooms themselves are like mini apartments, very comfortable, with full kitchenettes and separate bedrooms and sitting area. We were there over Christmas and New Years and had an amazing time. I highly recommend this place.

My husband and I stayed here on a week-long trip to Floripa. We really had a wonderful stay. The hotel is right on the beach- a perfect place for relaxing, swimming, and walking. Since the beach is facing the north, the water is gentle and perfect for little kids. The hotel is a great place for a family vacation and a nice place for couples, too. We had one of the larger rooms that faced the beach. It had a nice kitchenette, so we saved a little by making our own lunches. There are plenty of grocery stores nearby. Our room was comfy and not too hot and was pretty quiet, too. We really relaxed. The hotel is rustic, cozy and not too fancy, but it more than compensates in comfort and friendliness. I have to add that the staff is super nice and helpful (they helped us with a rental car, airport transfer, etc) and really added to our positive experience. We really felt at home! We can't wait to go back! One tip: be sure to rent a car so you can see other beaches in Floripa!

From December 30 to January 9 I stayed at the Maratea Mare Hotel. I choose this hotel becaure of the excellent reviews posted on tripadvisor.com. For this reason I have decided to share with you all my bad experience, described here-below. On Dec 14, 2009 I finalised the booking - by paying 50% of the whole stay, as per their request - of a single room for 10 nights, from Dec 30 (check-in) to Jan 10 (check-out). Based on the exchange of emails (preceded by a phone call) with the hotel receptionist and the payment of 50% by wire transfer well prior to my arrival to Floripa, I was confident that everything was fully set and I just had to make the most of my vacation in Floripa. This is what I did up until the day preceding my departure from the island. At noon of January 9, 2010, I was told by the receptionist (other than the one I dealt with at the time of booking the room) that there was a mistake in my reservation and that I actually booked for 9 nights instead of 10. Therefore, I was asked to leave my room and relocate to another one for the last night at the hotel. The reason being that my room had already been booked to somebody else, who were going to arrive shortly. I made it very clear to the receptionist that no mistake was made on my side and suggested her to take a look at the exchange of emails in the first half of December and the payment of 50% deposit to sort everything out. I was also very clear with her that I did not intend to leave my room just for one night, the last of my trip there, as I was going to drive down to the South of the island (Campeche) and spend the afternoon sun-bathing. This is what I did for I was confident that my explanation had resolved the misunderstanding. Regrettably, on my way back from Campeche, around 5 pm I asked for the key of my apartment, which were denyed firstly by saying that the room was being done by the cleaner. I then went to the room, in the hope that the maid was going to finish shortly as I needed to take a shower. The room was closed and no cleaner was around. I returned to the reception and only then I was told that all my stuff was removed from my room and brought to another one, because my room was occupied by a new guest who had arrived earlier that day, while I was on the beach. The hotel manager was very confident (and so was the receptionist through whom I booked the room in mid-December) that I was the one to have mistaken the reservation by indicating 9 nights only instead of 10. It took me more than half an hour, during which I asked copy of my reservation emails, to make them understanding that I had booked for 10 and NOT 9 nights as mistakenly alleged by them. It was clear that they even did not read the papers as they were 100% sure to be right and that I was wrong. Needless to say how annoying was the whole thing. This caused my stress and frustration, as I felt completely passed over. My explanations given before leaving the hotel earlier that day (around noon) were not given any consideration at all. More importantly my belongings were removed from my room without any justified reason and taken to another room without my permission, although I was perfectly complaint with the hotel booking procedure, having wired 50% of the amount to be paid for the whole stay 15 days in advance. Also, my further explanations upon my return at the hotel were not taken into due account as they both insisted I was wrong and they were right. In a few words, a nightmare becoming true. In addition, I had to wait for more than one hour to take a shower, in another room, before checking if my stuff was all there, getting ready, packing everything and moving to another hotel. In respect of the latter, the manager and the receptionist arranged to book a room under my name in an hotel downtown and paid the difference (about 20 Reais): just the minimum to try to go over the unexcusable behaviour they had had with me that day. I think it was the first time in my life I was moved my stuff from one hotel room to another without my permission and in the absence of an expectional circumstance, such as a quake, a fire, etc. This is what annoyed me most, beside having to explain several times to at least 3 people at the hotel that I did not do anything wrong with the reservation and they had made the mistake instead!! This was the bad end of nice travel. Hope none of Trip Advisor users will ever experience something similar. This is the reason why I would not recommend this hotel to a friend. Thanks for your attention. Ciao, Giovanni gcarotenuto@hotmail.com