DayTrip54162550879
Google
Drive about 45 minutes down the coast from the city of Fortaleza and you will find this hidden gem on arguably one of Brazil’s best beaches. The location of this hotel is magnificent, perched on a hill overlooking a beautiful secluded beach, in the charming beach town of Barro Preto lies the Carmel Charme Resort. |As soon as we walked through the door to enter the resort, we were promptly met by friendly staff who escorted us to the terrace overlooking the pool and beach and we were immediately offered refreshing agua de coco along with chilled tropical fruit shooters. Check in formalities were performed and we made our way to our room. All rooms here overlook the pool and ocean and the view from our room did not disappoint. Our room was well appointed with a stocked mini bar, large King sized bed, a loveseat sofa bed, and small table and chairs. The room amenities included 2 complimentary pairs of Havaianas with the Carmel logo which was a very nice touch. The room is also equipped with a remote controlled split air conditioner and a flat screen HD TV with multiple international channels. |It is extremely rare to stay in a hotel and not have anything go wrong and unfortunately this was also the case here. |I’m going to start with the good. |The location of this resort exceeded our expectations in every way. Photos on the internet do not do this place justice. It is stunningly beautiful here. Having breakfast at their beachside dining room was a highlight each morning. It was such a great way to start out each day. The grounds are well maintained and the views of the ocean are unforgettable. |I would also like to commend the staff here. Everyone that we encountered were so helpful and friendly. One day during my stay, I went for a bike ride around the village and eventually made my way to the nearby town of Iguape where I then returned to the hotel along the sand on the beach as it was low tide. It was a very warm day and by the time I reached the hotel I was exhausted! I collapsed onto one of the lounge chairs and I was promptly met by a friendly staff member who brought me an ice cold agua de coco without me even needing to ask for it. It is little touches like these that make good hotels great and keeps people like me returning. This kind gesture was very much appreciated!|The pool grounds are beautiful and immaculate and swimming up to the poolside bar for a refreshing cold cerveja was wonderful. The secluded beach at this hotel would rival any of the world’s best beaches, and I was born and raised in Hawaii and this beach compared well with our best. Warm beautiful blue water with gentle breezes each day was heaven on earth. |With friendly staff and blessed with a beautiful location, you would think that everything would be perfect. I really really wanted to give this resort a 5 star rating but there were a few things that lowered their score, and one of them was quite significant. |Unfortunately they were doing room renovations and for some reason, they chose to assign us a room directly below the room being renovated. I could understand if the hotel was completely booked and some emergency room repair needed to be performed but this was clearly not the case as you could see ladders and equipment on the balcony of the room being renovated so the front desk staff had to be aware that this was taking place. Assigning us a room directly beneath the room under construction and subjecting us to pounding, sawing, and drilling each day of our stay is inexcusable. We chose to fly to Fortaleza and stay at this resort because we had heard how relaxing it was here and that is what we wanted to do, relax. Relaxing in the room during the daytime was not possible. The room we were assigned to should have been blocked from their inventory and if they were facing a sold out situation and yet knew that renovations were planned, they should not have accepted our reservation. This is not a cheap place to stay. The daily room prices here are very high by Brazilian standards and one should not have to put up with construction noise while trying to relax on a beach holiday so this was very disappointing for us. |There were also a few minor room inconveniences that should have been rectified before we were assigned to our room. Our toilet seat was broken and the lid would not stay upright. If the room had been cleaned and inspected by properly trained housekeeping staff, this would have been taken care of. Also, the drain in our shower did not drain the water properly and each time we showered, we would be up to our ankles in water. Again, this should have been noticed and rectified by trained staff between guests. |I should also mention that I only encountered one employee at the hotel that spoke English during our entire stay which was not a problem for me as I understand and can speak Portuguese but it could be challenging for guests with no Portuguese proficiency and this in no way contributed to a lower star rating on my part. |This hotel has absolute 5 star quality and potential but better training of housekeeping staff and better decision making by staff tasked with room assignments will help them get there. |I would love to return one day and I am hoping my next visit there will be more relaxing.