My initial reaction upon entering our room at Praia Azul in Natal was not positive. While the common areas - the pool, the breakfast area, the front desk and library - were outstanding, our room was, well, tired. The furniture was worn, soft furniture had sloppy slipcovers, our chairs were way to low for the only table etc. That said, I would still highly recommend Praia Azul. Like the other 2 hotels we stayed in while traveling in Brasil, it lacked some basic "luxuries" like a coffee pot, dressers or a single clock. What it did have was space and a wonderful location at the less crowded end of Ponta Negra beach. We reserved 2 rooms on the second floor of building 3 - the ones with the Panoramic views. Our 2 boys stayed in one and my husband and I the other. The boys had wireless internet, we did not. It was available in the lobby and there was a computer available to purchase minutes. Internet was spotty but I'm not sure it that was the hotel or Natal. The beach was a short walk downhill and was stunning. There are vendors all over the waterfront renting chairs and selling all kinds of things. Breakfast was great with lots of variety of fruit, meat and cheese and breads. There were also hot items like eggs, sausage and the ever present manioc. Staff at the front desk and housekeeping were friendly and helpful even with our little Portuguese. Our room was well cleaned each day and the common areas were spotless. Security was highly visible all over Natal. There was a locked door to the beach that you had to buzz to get in and out of. This door was locked for the night around 8:00 and then you had to go around to the main entrance where a guard was always posted. There was also gated parking. Each room had a separate bedroom with mirrored sliding doors (could have done without that in the morning). There were 2 small balconies. The main room included a TV (the boys had theirs in the bedroom) with a couple English channels, a couch, chair, extra twin bed and kitchenette with sink, microwave and small fridge. The shower was great! Praia Azul is at the end of the 1.5 mile boardwalk. There are many shops and restaurants within walking distance though we rented a car for half our week so we could visit a couple of other beaches. Since we got a special rate of about $80/room /night oceanfront including breakfast, I think we got a great deal. I grew to really enjoy the hotel and would stay there again when we are in Natal.

My wife just stayed there, nice hotel, but left the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the outside door, yet the maids tried a few times to open, but she turned them away. When she left for a bit to the pool, her purse was still on the bed, sign on the door and they came in and stole $500 real from her! When she told the desk, they could care less and said it was her fault.Yet, for instance, I had a place in Porto de Galinhas in December, where I left the safe open accidentally, and the maids left a note that because of this, they left the room immediately as to not cause issues.
My wife told the hotel again on checking out, and they could care less about the thieving people working there(I almost think they desk guys get a cut as well maybe).
Thieves thieves thieves!!!

Located at the north end of Ponte Negra Praia, just at the beach. The service was good and the staff very friendly. The meals in the Hotel are as good as in the restaurants in Natal and are quite cheap. The breakfast buffet is not huge but the choice is good. The rooms are clean and very spacious. It seems that the whole complex was built as an appartment house and not actually as a hotel. Therefore the rooms are actually appartments with a living room, something like a kitchen (without a cooker) a bathroom and a bedroom.
As the hotel is at the north end of Ponte Negra, it is a 10 minutes walk along the beach to the place where most restaurants and shops are located. There are only a few restaurants next to the hotel.
The hotel is nothing special and ranges somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. What makes it special is its price. It is very cheap (you might find prices at around 200 Real per night for 2 persons during carneval, if you browse the web), even cheaper as many so called pousadas which do not offer the same comfort and service. Compared to other hotels/pousadas in other places of Brasil offering the same prices, Praia Azul is just perfect.
Natal is a nice place but the trips (i.e. buggy trips, trips to other beaches like Pipa, which is 2 hours from Natal) are expensive (too expensive in my opinion) and normally do not fulfill the promises of the agents selling you the trips. It might be more advantageous to rent a car or buggy and to travel to the beaches and dunes on your own. Praia Azul does have parking spaces.

The praia azul is a charming hotel with friendly staff. The rooms were cleaned every day & were of a reasonably high standard. The food in the resturant was good although a little inconsistent. i would not recommend this hotel to anyone with walking difficulties as there are a lot of hills/steep stairs etc to get up...in fact the whole resort is a climb! all in all we had a really enjoyable stay at the praia azul, which was one of the few highlights of which otherwise was quite a dull holiday. Ponta negra is a bit like blackpool during the summer holidays, the beach is very long but extremely narrow & tight & with all the usual chaos with a beach like this there is not much chill time to be had!! i enjoyed the food but leanne hated it so if you dont like seafood or steaks done rare then you'll be eating pizza & frango (chicken) all the time. A couple of good place to eat was the mexican cactus...now first impressions you'll walk away, it does need a good paint job & needs to get rid of the cheap plastic tables & chairs but the food is to die for. Felinni is a superb italian & boiiderio is a great steak house which is an great experience!! DO go to pipa its less hectic very sleepy hippy village where you can spot/swim with wild dolphins...the other highlight of our holiday! We flew with thompson which was actually comfortable & some how enjoyable, but when you fly with monarch i suppose anything would be more enjoyable. To be honest i dont we would go back to ponta negra maybe try somewhere else in brazil, one thing that struck us was the gulf between the rich & poor, its huge!!! we think we get ripped off for goods??? try being brazilian. one last thing if you think you can handle the sun (which we did!) then think again...started on the usual factor 12, went very quickly to 20 & ended up with 30....the sun is evil! you have been warned.
P&L