Would not recommend this hotel. The staff at reception were surly and hardly spoke english.Could not turn off or down the the airconditioning. The lock on the safe broken, but was mended within 1 hour. Electrical switch cover in bathroom came off. Smelly towels. Poly sheets and lumpy foam pillows. Neighbourhood dodgy. The only good thing were the waitresses who always had a smile.

It is a pitty that this hotel is so old and that they did not renew it. The rooms are old, the air-conditioning makes a lot of noise and almost everything looks like it did not get any maintenance for over 20 years. But, it has the perfect location, the rooms (seaside only) have the most incredible few you can imagine and you can take a little (old and scary) tram to the sea and jump into the clean ocean (Careful, there is no lifeguard at the seaside. ). I don’t know if I would stay there again, but on the other hand I will never forget this hotel because of the wonderful view and the swimming in the sea. So, it’s up to you.

The Sol Victoria Marina was recommended to me for a five-day-stay in Salvador from a travel agent in Rio. Despite the negative reviews here I booked the hotel and was looking forward to some relaxed days at the poolside.

The disappointment started when I checked in: No word of welcome, a grumpy female receptionist just asked for "Passport?", then slammed the key on the desk without any further explanation, and a porter showed me the lift.

One lift not working, I made my way up through the gloomy, hot and noisy corridor to my room. In the room I found old bills from the previous guest, a large sticky stain on the desk, an overall old and very worn room. The switch for the a/c didn't work, so I was on my way back to reception.

Another grumpy male receptionist took the key, and with no words of excuse, or any other words, slammed another key on the desk.

Back in the lift, to a higher floor, another dark, hot and noisy corridor, and into the room. Still old and worn, with stains on the bedcover, the a/c switch non-existing. A call to reception (at least this person understood and spoke some words in english to me) revealed that the a/c can be switched on with the large unmarked switch on the old radio-panel next to the ned. Right. So it was either "On" or "Off".

I decided to stay for the night, since it was already late, despite a general feeling of unease.

Next morning I had a closer look around and found that the room in general was in a poor and not very clean state. At 8:30 am massive noises from a drillhamer came from next door, I found that I couldn't flush the toilet, so I started packing the few items I unpacked the night before.

I gave the breakfast a chance, and was not really disappointed, but it was clear: Not another night in this poor place. Upon checkout the key was taken from me and immediately given to a porter to check the minibar - an open mistrust I never ever experienced before, but already reported in numerous reviews. I asked for the manager, since no-one else had any more english skills than required for the most basic questions.

I explained all the points that made me leave after just one night. He apologised for the behaviour of the two receptionists, but not for anything else. He even screwed me with the invoice, which was supposed to be without service charge, as agreed with the travel agent I booked with, but he insisted on this additional 10% charge.

I was completely fed-up with this worst ever hotel I had to stay at, never again. Unless they do some massive refurbishements of the whole place, and train the staff properly, I cannot recommend this hotel at all. There are much nicer places in Salvador, so there is no need to endure this.

I stayed at the hotel for 6 nights. The room was OK and clean when I arrived although the refrigerator hadn't been defrosted for quite a while and some lamps were not working. I arrived at the hotel at noon time, filled out the registration and got the key to the room 3 hours later. Only the management and girls at the reception were able to communicate in English. The staff in restaurant, room service and house keeping did not speak any English. Ordering room service had to be done via reception. The internet was not working very well the first two days and it finally broke down completely and management was unable restore the service before I left. When approaching the reception one was never greeted with a smile and once the welcome was a "what now".
The breakfast buffet in the coffee shop was OK.
The insulation between rooms is very poor and it was possible to hear conversations etc. from adjacent rooms. The hotel is a high rising building but there is no safeguard in front of the windows.