All staff had an excellent attitude and it's true the rooms are a bit dated but you won't find many other hotels that are better in Salvador itself. Excellent location close to Barra Beach for a great sunset over the bay.

Ok, most have made comments that I may repeat on.

Booked a suite for 3 nights and on checking in told that we had been upgraded to the best suite - a duplex. Wow.

On entering the hotel, I was filled with mis-givings about the place, looked and felt like a good railway station room.

Was agreeably chuffed that we had a duplex suite until we opended the door.

Tacky and worn carpets, rubbish sofa and arm chairs, dismal as you could get. Going upstairs things did not improve much, other than nice large balcony with good view of the park and swimming pool. Balcony was useful to dry wet clothing, an expensive option.

We never used the sitting room, not even sat on the sofa. Didn't bother to complain, it was clear that everything about the hotel was shabby other than when viewed from the outside! Yes, the hotel looked great from the outside.

Only had breakfast at the hotel, had all our other meals out. B'fast was adequate.

Lifts to the rooms in the general lobby, so always security outside the lift doors to make sure undesirables did not find their way in.

Staff generally helpful and pleasant, no problems here.

Internet - go across the road, it's much cheaper.

Area is safe, walked around at night. During the day went for long walks and no problems at all.

Taxi - safe and cheap - never was once over charged, we did use the taxi a lot.

Bahia is a great town, beaches are better than in Rio. Great music too. Don't forget to find out if the 15 piece drums bands will be playing at night in the old town. That's something not to be missed.

When you get to the old town, search out the lift to take you to the lower level and the market. There is a very good restaurent in the market - 1st floor. Order the Shrimp BoBo, one serving is sufficient for two. It's mega.

Other hotels spread out, so not much else to choose from. There is a newer hotel up in the old town but I am told its cost in $250-$400 a night price bracket.

Safe boxes in the room is archaic - a padlock and key system, used at the Tropical 5 star in Manaus and at the Mabu in Foz Igacu. Only the Sheraton Rio had the more modern type allowing the setting your own 4 didgit code.

As per my comments about the Tropical Group Hotels and Mabu - no iron available, so take a travel iron unless you are used to wearing creased clothing, don't care or a T Shirt and tatty jeans person.

Great town, will visit again if finances will stand the strain. Will of course avoid the Tropical. I only wish they read all the reviews and did something about the Hotel, it's in a great position.

Good luck, Brazil is great country to visit. Just take all the precautions you would in any city in the world and you won't have a problem.

If you do have a problem, that would be down right un-lucky, or you are simply too naive to be travelling. Blackpool might be a safer bet.

This hotel is part of the Tropical chain run by Varig. This one is okay, providing a reasonable place to stay, but would never make a highlights list of hotels. It was undergoing renovations to the lobby area while we were there.

The room was reasonably sized and the bathroom had been updated. The puke green shag carpeting didn´t do much for the room. There was only one room key available and you got charged a daily rate for using the room safe.

The breakfast buffet (included) was very run of the mill. The pool area was quite pleasant and there is a reasonable health club, for which an extra charge is levied per use.

The area was not really convenient. The main tourist area, the Pelourinho, is a good half hour walk away. We walked there in the day time, but the city seemed too dangerous to walk back at night, so we took a taxi (about $6 USD).

The Pelourinho is worth the visit, as it has undergone a massive restoration of colonial Portugese facilities. There are some good restaurants and interesting shops. It is very heavily policed, with police on every corner, which tells you something about the area. Tuesday night it gets very crowded, with music in the main square.

We took a half day city tour which was worth the price. It was with an individual guide (for two of us), and he pretty much showed us and explained to us what was worth seeing.

The street vendors are very aggressive and I would advise not to engage them in the least, not even to say "No." Just ignore them and continue walking. They will take any opportunity to tie a piece of ribbon around your wrist ("for good luck, a gift") and are very hard to disengage. I am sympathetic to their economic plight, which is dreadful, but we are just tourists. Hopefully the government can resolve the massive poverty.

We also saw a Condomblie service, which is an African religious ceremony involving dancing and trances. It was interesting, but after a couple of hours grew wearying. The hotel found someone who seemed part of the cult, who arranged the visit.

Salvador is the second most visited tourist spot in Brazil, and is for the more adventurous tourist. If I were to come again, I´d see if I could find a satisfactory place a bit closer to the Pelourinho.

The city of Salvador, Bahia is lovely but it could be dangerous, just don't wear jewelry or look too much like a tourist. Your best bet to be safe is to dress down and avoid walking in the city late at night. I stayed at the Tropical Bahia from January 27, 2005 to February 3, 2005. I left right before carnival to the city of Rio. The hotel physically needs updating but the staff(very helpful and friendly) and the pool makes you forget that your room still has the same design from the 1970's. The area of the hotel is in the middle of the city between the beach and pelundrino(the colonial/tourist area) I personally like the area because all major bus lines stops by the hotel and I felt safe during the night and day but it can be very noisy during the day. If you are in the pool during sunset or late in the afternoon watch out for the micos(little monkeys) and sometimes fruit bats, I personally enjoyed watching them. Basically the hotel includes all the amenities you need but don't expect to feel like you are at the Sheraton.