Sao Miguel, Azores - Neat Hotel Avenida Review
Flight to Somewhere rating:
Neat Hotel Avenida from the outside (on the left)
The location of Neat Hotel Avenida is great - the harbour where the whale watching tours depart from is within a few minutes' walk and so is the centre of Ponta Delgada. There are lots of restaurants and shops within walking distance, a small shopping centre is across the street and there is a small supermarket around the corner. The supermarket has an adjoining cafe, where you can get your pastel de nata fix. You can also easily walk to the bathing area of Ponta Delgada (not a beach!) - there is a swimming pool where you have to pay an entrance fee or you can just set yourself up on concrete slabs and swim in the sea.
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We arrived around midnight and the check in was fast and efficient. If you want to use the safe, you will need to ask the reception to give you a lock and a key (no extra charge), so you might as well do that during check in. The lobby/breakfast room area are nicely renovated and look very modern and stylish.
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I requested a quiet room and we were given a room facing the street in the photo above. There was no noise from the elevator and even though the street looks quite big, there wasn't too much traffic. You could see the harbour from the room, which was a nice bonus.
Neat Hotel Avenida standard room
Not sure about the star rating of Neat Hotel Avenida (hotel website has no info, Expedia says 3* while Google says 4*), but it is a hotel located right by the harbour of Ponta Delgada. I stayed here for a week during the trip to Sao Miguel and wanted to pull some of my thoughts and impressions together into a review.
I chose this hotel not through careful review reading (which is what I usually do), but because it was the only available option on the package holiday I wanted to book. In fact, there weren't any reviews to read as the hotel was undergoing a rebranding and a refurbishment at the time of my booking and only reopened to customers in summer 2017. The hotel website didn't even have real photos of the rooms, only computer-generated images! I was understandably hesitant, but the price of the package holiday was too good to ignore and there was only one other hotel in Ponta Delgada showing availability on all the standard hotel booking websites - of course, it cost a fortune (tip from my experience - if you are booking for the peak season of August, book everything way in advance as places will sell out).
The view from the room
Neat Hotel Avenida standard room
The rooms are air-conditioned, which came in very handy for us in the hot month of August. There is free wifi throughout and I didn't have any problems with the coverage in the room. What I felt was missing from the room though was tea/coffee making facilities. Also, whilst in the course of the renovation a lot of things were upgraded, the carpet was unfortunately left untouched - you can tell that it's seen better times, and that's a shame. Given the green/modern feel of the interior, I can imagine that fresh wooden floors would have fit the look a lot better.
The breakfast was included in the price and was tasty, but a bit scarce in terms of the selection. I would have liked a few more options of hams/cheeses/spreads and fruit. They did serve the traditional bolo levedo buns and the local black and green tea, which was brilliant. Incidentally, if you are a foodie, do check my post on what to eat in the Azores.
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Finally, the service was always friendly and we didn't have any issues during the stay - all in all, it was a very enjoyable week and I would happily stay at Neat Hotel Avenida again (just maybe bring my own kettle and mugs this time).
If you liked what you see and are considering Neat Hotel Avenida for your Azores holiday, click here to see the latest prices.
Bathroom (bath can't be seen, but is on the left)
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