Hotel berhampiran Iglesia Raíces, Asunción, Paraguay, Asuncion

Hotel com localização excelente, em frente ao shopping del Sol. Segue o padrão Ibis, sem surpresas. Checkin agil, bom café da manhã. Internet boa. Funcionários atenciosos, porém um deles precisa de treinamento para tratar com clientes.

Our stay at Sheraton started on the wrong foot although it might not have been the hotel’s fault. My Marriott Suite Night Award request was approved but when we arrived at the hotel we were told that suites were fully booked and they had no idea why my SNAs went through. So we stayed in a club room for the first night but were moved to the presidential suite on the second night and which was highly appreciated. The first room was an old generation Sheraton room: rough carpet, shower in tub, subpar soundproofing, toiletries were unbranded local stuff, also the bathroom door did not close properly and there was no lock. One positive was that the bed was unmistakably a Sheraton bed = comfortable. The presidential suite was equivalent to 4 normal rooms in terms of size according to the floor plan. It was still a fairly aging room but with the extra space it was very useful to us including our 18-month daughter who was very happy and could run around. Service was quite good during our stay with various staff members addressing us by name which is not that common at a hotel of Sheraton level which is not supposed to be considered luxury like Ritz Carlton or St.Regis. One manager was quite visible during our stay, she welcomed us at check-in, she was greeting guests in the restaurant for breakfast in the morning, same during happy hour in the lounge, and she also stopped by before our departure when we checked out. I also received an e-mail after our stay to inform us that they found one item in the room and asked if we wanted to send someone to pick it up. Most hotels don’t even bother with a “lost and found” service so kudos to Sheraton Asuncion. Regarding dining, happy hour in the lounge and breakfast in the restaurant were above average, and the in-room dining menu and prices were quite good relative to what we could find in the city including in the large shopping mall next door. I also noted that wifi was blazing fast at 350+ Mbps, one of the best I have seen anywhere in the world – not the kind of hotel where I would have guessed this to be the case. Overall this is not a new and modern hotel but when judging a hotel I always compare to the local competition. The other choices I noticed are an Aloft, an Ibis, a Holiday Inn Express, and a Crowne Plaza. Except for the latter I don’t think there are any other international hotel chains remotely close to the level of Sheraton and given the good service and dining, as Marriott Bonvoy Elite I would return to Sheraton.

Let me start with the pros about this hotel. It is in a very good and secure location near restaurants and shopping. The rooms are spacious and clean and the beds are very comfortable. The staff is friendly and accommodating. There is a nice swimming pool on the top floor and a fairly well-equipped gym as well. There is a spa where you can get a good massage for a reasonable price. The hotel restaurant, Tacuare’e, serves excellent food and the service is top notch. The breakfasts have a fairly good selection of food, but it literally never changes. It is the same thing every day. It would have been nice to have a change since we were there for three weeks. The coffee is awful and you are charged extra for cappuccino, etc. Now let me talk a little about some of the cons. This is what I would call a minimalist hotel and I really should write minimalist in capital letters. The lobby is plain and boring and the rest of the hotel follows its example. The walls are white and literally devoid of any color or decorations of any kind – no pictures, nothing. That goes for the rooms as well. There is nowhere comfortable to sit in the lobby either. They have what looks like oversized mattresses that rest on the floor and are up against the wall, but there are no back rests. They look cheap and believe me, they are uncomfortable. Speaking of uncomfortable, the rooms have very little in the way of furniture – a small desk with a chair and another chair that is not only hard, but extremely uncomfortable. The closets are small with very little shelf space and there were only 4 clothes hangers. There were no drawers to store clothing. There was nowhere to place luggage and we came with a lot. Although the bathroom was clean, it smelled. It was the first thing we noticed each time we came into our room. Although the hotel tries to be accommodating, it needs significant improvement. We often had to ask multiple times for things we needed before they finally appeared in our room: extra hangers, something to put our luggage on, etc. Housekeeping was often slow and our room was not cleaned two times during our stay. And finally, according to the rules for 4-star hotels, one bottle of water per guest should be provided free of charge. The only water was in the minibar and we were charged for it. Although we enjoyed our stay at the hotel, we probably won’t be going back. There are other more attractive options in the area.

Palmaroga Hotel was an extremely pleasant experience for me. The building itself is a beautiful mix of renovated old and modern, with a special mention for the patio on t 1st floor and of course the pool and view on the roof-terrace: what a delight when it is 35° C. All the staff is great: the people at the reception, but also the cleaning personnel, the waiters and waitresses at the café and for breakfast. Talking of the breakfast: the buffet is great, with lots of delicious options and there s a small gym where you can work the semilunas out of your body again! The location in the center of Asuncion is ideal : you can walk to any of the important sightseeing spots. However when I was there (Semana Santa), the center was not the liveliest place I've seen, but it's ok. I can't really imagine a better place in this price range.

The staff were warm and friendly and ready to help us with anything they could. The apartment itself, was clean and spacious and had a great view of the River Asuncion. All the amenities we needed were on hand including a laundry room and small gym. The pool is small but adequate and with a great view of the river. Its in a great location, very accessible for the town generally.