Colonna Park Hotel

“Very nice views and overlooking two beaches”

The hotel is older and a little run down but the rooms are fine. All rooms have beds for four people. If you book a room with sea views, the views are superb, including sunsets. Breakfast is ok. Staff is friendly but has limited English language knowledge. The hotel is a 30 minutes’ walk (... more

The hotel is older and a little run down but the rooms are fine. All rooms have beds for four people. If you book a room with sea views, the views are superb, including sunsets. Breakfast is ok. Staff is friendly but has limited English language knowledge. The hotel is a 30 minutes’ walk (downhill in one direction and uphill in the other) from downtown where most restaurants and shops are. An Uber ride (very cheap) is recommended. Wifi in the rooms was hardly working.

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“Overlook the minor flaws and just enjoy this lovely hotel!”

My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights in November – absolute heaven! On my request, staff assigned us suite 412 – which is the corner suite overlooking both bays and must be the most beautiful room in the hotel! Small drawback: it does not have the Jacuzzi/whirlpool stated on the website but... more

My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights in November – absolute heaven! On my request, staff assigned us suite 412 – which is the corner suite overlooking both bays and must be the most beautiful room in the hotel! Small drawback: it does not have the Jacuzzi/whirlpool stated on the website but the large balcony and views are simply to die for. The room itself was lovely, clean and had most facilities (although no kettle and you had to pay a daily fee for the safe – strange…) The hotel itself is a beautiful, colonial-style Fazenda with several courtyards – bear in mind, there are a lot of steps and yes, of course it could do with a bit of tender loving care and upkeep but it definitely makes up for those deficiencies with warmth and charm. Wifi was sketchy in our room, to say the least, but might be better closer to reception. The pool is large and very nice and we always had it to ourselves when we returned from the beach mid-afternoon. The pool area could do with a few sun umbrellas. We only went to Joao Fernandinho beach (via some steep, very uneven steps) which was simply beautiful and idyllic, although we did walk along Joao Fernandes beach a couple of times to get a massage (much busier beach). The hotel and the two bars located on Joao Fernandinho provide beach chairs and umbrellas for free for hotel guests, not to mention fresh fish and oysters from the morning’s catch which are proudly presented to you by Angelo and Marcio as soon as you arrive on the beach each morning. The water was lovely and green although quite refreshing (around 22/23 degrees) when you first went in – bearing in mind that we were there in “spring” just after a rainy spell. There were some friendly vendors selling ice-cream, beachwear, jewellery etc but they were very easy-going and didn’t approach anybody that did not actually encourage them to. Some excursion and party boats anchored down a little bit further out in the bay but usually moved on fairly quickly. There are no bathrooms on the beach so you need to go back up to the hotel if you need a toilet, shower etc. Apart from the green clear water and idyllic setting, what we enjoyed most was witnessing Brazilian beach life! There were couples and families of all ages (apart from Brazilians the majority were Argentine tourists) enjoying themselves on the beach and in the water. Our definite favourite was the keepy-uppy sessions of guys who just kept the ball going for hours on end – some guys going off for a swim while others joined in…yet the ball hardly ever hit the ground, talk about ball skills!!! It did get very busy on our last day which was a Brazilian national holiday. The breakfast was ok and the two evening meals we had in “Smeralda” (separate review) were excellent. In summary, the Colonna is a lovely place in an amazing setting with very friendly and helpful staff, just be prepared to chill and enjoy it rather than be overcritical of some minor wear-and-tear.

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