Nice rooms, althought the a/c is noisy, but if your windows open, je get even more noise because of the traffic and car alamrs.

I stayed at the Altamira Suites for four days starting on August 11th, 2004. The location is the best feature of this hotel. The neighborhood is the same where the recently closed Four Seasons Hotel Caracas was located. It’s located three blocks away from the Metro station Altamira and two blocks from the main avenue Avenida Francisco de Miranda. The mall Centro Plaza, which offers a variety of stores, a pharmacy, banks and a very complete grocery store, is only half a block away. However, the accommodations at this hotel are substandard and they do not coincide with the description of a five or a four start hotel that was advertised in most travel websites I visited prior to my trip. On my own appreciation the hotel had either two or three stars at most. Bellow it’s a more detailed description of the facilities.

Common Areas
The hotel has a nice decorated lobby and presents an art gallery with very nice displays of local artists. The parking garage is ample and secured and it’s concealed within the hotel premises, so you will be safe when walking from your car to the lobby. You do not have access to the hotel, either in a car or walking, unless you are or will be staying in it. Visitors must indicate who they will be visiting before allowed access. The pool is very nice and clean. The exercise room is located in the roof top and it is very deficient and rusted. It looked like no one had used the equipment in quite some time. I recommend that you find a gym near by unless your exercise routine is very simple. The hotel is situated in one of the most prominent neighborhood of the city, so you will not have a problem finding a gym; in fact there is a gym right behind the mall Centro Plaza. Walking in the neighborhood is safe during the day when plenty of people walk on the street. As any other areas in Caracas is not advisable to walk outside at night. Also, please do not wear jewelry, especially if it is visible. Just the fact that you speak English will make you the center of attention in many situations.

Room Condition
Most of the apartments are in a very basic condition, even those “recently renovated’ as the hotel staff indicated. The two or three units that are in a better conditions are rented to people who are staying for a month or longer, or those willing to pay as much as double of the published rate offered in the Internet. All units have a kitchen, with mostly full size refrigerators. The bathrooms go from bad to basic condition for the most part; however, they are clean and have plenty of hot water. Each apartment has its own water heater. Ask for a room facing the Avila Mountain, since the opposite side is very noisy due to street traffic.

Service
The service was terrible, except for the maid, which it happened to be very nice and helpful. Probably it helped that I spoke perfect Spanish. My rate included a paper delivery daily, which I never received, even after being asked during check in. I spent 45 minutes trying to check in and 30 minutes to check out, even though there was nobody waiting in front of me. They seemed to have a ton of paperwork to process before they gave me the room key. At my departure, the staff indicated that they were having trouble with the credit card system trying to process someone else’s checkout. I told them that I was about to miss my flight and the staff indicated that they couldn’t do anything and that I had to wait. However, I offered to pay cash and they checked me out right away. Fortunately, I had plenty of Venezuelan currency left over to cover the hotel expenses. Another major disappointment was that my rate included continental breakfast; and even though my reservation indicated that the room was reserved for two people and my companion was properly registered at check-in, the staff indicated that the rate only included one breakfast per room and made me pay 15$ a day for the second breakfast. Obviously, I had not time to argue and decided to pay it. The Orbitz reservation printout I had with me that indicated the breakfast inclusion didn’t do any good and the staff advised me to contact Orbitz directly to clarify the mess up and get a refund.

In conclusion, the condition of this hotel is very basic for the price paid of US$120/day plus 16% tax. Don’t get me wrong, the location is excellent. However, for the same price or maybe a little more you could stay at the Five Star Gran Meliá Caracas, although the neighborhood is not as nice; or at the JW Marriott that although a little pricier is located in another convenient location at the east side of the city. In contrast, if you like to have just a clean one bedroom apartment, and a delightful and lively neighborhood to walk around during the day, the Altamira Suites might be an option assuming you can get a very good rate of $100 or less. It’s not worth to pay a cent more.