I grew up near Blumenau and everybody knew that the Plaza Hering (the former name of this hotel, when it was still owned by the Hering group) was the most exclusive in the region.
When I finally stayed there, I was really disappointed. Let me explain point by point.
The carpet in corridors and rooms looks dirty and is stained after decades of use. The fridges in the room are oooold, rusty and noisy. The bathroom is miserable. The faucets are worn out and don't work properly after 35 years of use.
Beware of taking a room facing 7 de Setembro Street, because the traffic noise comes into your room unfiltered.
The overall decor in the lobby might have been fancy when the hotel was new, but now it shows how bad the taste for decor was in the seventies. I mean, really bad taste. The color matching. Unbelievable! My eyes hurt just by recalling the scenes. Breakfast is quite good, as the service. Unfortunately, it doesn't help me to get a better overall opinion about the hotel.
By the way, I had the impression they are not spending much on maintenance. It seems my impression was confirmed by an accident that happened in April 2011: a boiler exploded, destroying a part of the facilities building. Luckily, nobody got hurt.
So it's not just a bad experience because of being ugly and outdated: it can become dangerous as well.
Actually, I'm very sad to say this, but Plaza Blumenau embodies perfectly the term "decadence".
Tip: Ibis Hotel is one block away, it's much cheaper and doesn't pretend to be something it isn't.
