VELA BRANCA RESORT

The location is stunning as you are on a hill overlooking Porto Seguro and up the beautiful coastline. The grounds are spacious and well-maintained. The room was spacious too, and clean and modern. Breakfast was exactly what you would expect. They had free computers for use if yopu did not have a laptop with you. It is walking distance from the bus station, and the historic centre. The airport is very close too. The staff were very helpful and friendly (but I do speak some Portuguese and this was much appreciated). Maybe the pool is a little small, Otherwise a very good Brazilian 4* hotel.

We stayed at Vela Branca for the family wedding of very good friends. That seemed to go well and so I will start with the good stuff: The ocean views are fantastic, our room was large and had the best sea view - and was furthest from the music at the bar. The gardens are beautiful and well-maintained. The pool would be small if the hotel was full. But. . . . Maybe about 20 of us arrived the day before the wedding - but management had not thought these newcomers might want food, so they omitted to organise adequate kitchen staff to cook our dinner. The result was that dishes came individually and intermittently, and some people has eaten and left well before the last few were served anything. Several of our group spoke the language and it appeared that the hotel had never expected anyone to want to eat there! That filled us with foreboding. Next morning we rinsed a few clothes in the basin, with the hotel soap. Big mistake, everything turned blue. Management denied this had ever occurred before but laundered the offending items free; which came back a fetching shade of light blue-grey - something in the waters I suppose. And the safe in our room was defunct. We told management about this several times a day - and to their credit it was repaired - moments before we left 4 days later (actually they had sent a workman to do some repairs, 20 minutes before the wedding service when, understandably I hope, we were getting dressed and preferred to do that without the audience. However, they do seem to take security seriously as there are numerous uniformed security guards patrolling the chainlink perimeter fence at 15 minute intervals; and a manned barrier on the entrance. Wi-fi was promised, and the passwords were handed over, but nothing actually worked, ever, even at the reception desk. There is a town beach, which is dirty from the river flowing past the boat docks, so people seem to rent taxis to travel further up or down the coast - where the beaches are idyllic. Reception also seemed incapable of changing money. As we left, we tried to negotiate some sort of discount for the first night meal debacle, but the one anglophone receptionist was absent and the remainder were intransigent. So we left with a sour taste from what might sometime be a lovely place - if management could only get its act together. Oh, and the airport is really very close. . .

I stayed in Vela Branca with a friend in May/2008 and our welcoming couldn't have gone worse: a brazilian guy was complaining he had been stolen while in the room. "I hope it won't happen to us", I thought. But in fact it did. Two days later my shaving machine was gone from where I left it, to be returned in the last day by a sorry employee, and after I having said I wouldn't pay the bar expenses and would present complain in the police office. The pool was in construction and most of the hotel was closed because they told me it was low-season. The only good thing was the restaurant, with so-so food. The employees where either thiefs or rude. So, never again!