we spent a week 17.-24.2009 in vip hotel.we had "backside"room with balcony. room was clean and quite big. breakfast was good but few mornings there was dirty dishes in tables because of rushhour:). location was ok if you have a rental car and taxi is 5€ from marina to hotel.walk to marina takes about 15minutes(it's downhill when going and uphill when coming back) driving in azores is easy and we drove to mountains and hills everyday. in hotel is good rent-a-car office and it's good because you can park your car to hotels garage for free.normally it's 5€/day it was about 45-50€ per day with insurance.

Stayed for one week in the beginning of August 2009. Hotel was very clean and service was very good. Location is good if you have a car since the ring road is just around the corner. Without a car it's a different story though. It takes about 20-30min walk to the city center and a bit more back uphill. The minibus stop is near but I never used it. There is a big shop just a blog away and anyone interested in fast food can find McDonald's near by.

Breakfast worked very nicely although it was a bit crowded around 8am. Only thing missing was fresh vegetables - well vegetables in general. There are fruits but that's not just the same thing, is it? Otherwise breakfast got everything I needed including porridge.

Lunch was a bit disappointing but eatable and dinner was actually really good. Too bad the grill was closed for some reason so don't have opinion on that. But all in all I wouldn't eat at the hotel every day.

There is a car rental office in the premises. It's called All-Around-Tours. Parking at the hotel garage is included in the price which is very handy. Strait lift from the garage to the rooms - couldn't be easier. They are very liberal with returning times (in my case anyway) and just like the boss there said "everything is possible".

There is a sunning deck with a dipping pool at the roof and indoor swimming pool somewhere else (didn't see it and didn't care). All the public spaces were very clean and well kept. Sometimes there is a public computer with internet connection in the lobby but not always. Didn't figure out the pattern in there...

Standard room was very clean and nice. It even got ocean AND mountain view - and didn't cost any extra. Nice wide range of tv-channels but the bed was a bit too hard. Cleaners did a grand job and there is safe in the room - very handy.

Could recommend this hotel to friend or anybody else in that matter.

We stayed in this hotel for 2 weeks during our stay in Azores. We stayed in a suite and thought we got good return for our money.

The food in the hotel is overpriced (don't take the 7€ salad, it's waste of money!), but what can you expect from 4 star hotel?

The room was cleaned every day and towels changed even though we didn't ask for it. The front desk staff was helpful and friendly.

The wi-fi was overpriced, but there was free internet at the front desk. Unfortunately it didn't allow access to any secured websites (as email).

The location of the hotel is not as bad as described, but it is true that it is furthest away from the city than other hotels. But you can walk ( we are 2 under 30 year-olds) to the city in 20 min and there is minibus service during the day (until like 7pm). The Atlantico shopping center is about 10-15min walk away. There are few restaurants within 5 min walk from the hotel, but it is true that you might need a taxi to go to town if you don't like walking.

We were on the 7th floor facing the ocean (and the roundabout). Very nice! The balcony had a table and chairs to relax and listen to the fountain below. Breakfast was good with all kinds of juices, breads, eggs, meaty products. The hotel is 1 block from the Sol Mar which had great prices if you want to buy some gifts (wine, tea, cheese). One issue we had was that we parked in the hotel's underground lot and had a tough time getting in and out with the card they gave us. Next time I would park on the street and save the 5 Euro/day. Also as others have said, it's not in the center of town so there is a walk or taxi to deal with. The bar on the 8th floor is great for an "Especial" and an ocean view!