We stayed in this property for 5 nights during new year 2007/08, the stay was "problemfree" and the rate was "good" when you consider location and time of year. The hotel was booked solid during our stay, mostly with US tourist.

The hotel is in need of a major renovation (this is ongoing), both inside and outside, everywhere you look there are signs of tear and wear, not so weird considering the hotel is 100 years old.

That said, the place was very clean, the new bedding and shower is in place (I stay a lot with Marriott so I can almost track how far they are rolling out the new rooms), and the service is smooth and profesional as always, and the relatively small lobby made for some nice personal interaction with the very freindly bellhops, concierge, security and front desk staff.

I like old historic hotels (when the standard is right) and I found the quirky hallways, high ceilings and all the strange levels and "old world decor" very nice, I would like to come back when the place is finished but at that time the rate is probably out of reach. Location is brilliant but many locations in BA is brilliant.

We did not dine at the restaurants, except the very average pool bar and some very mixed breaksfast experience in the very small brasserie. Strange that they did not use another breakfast area when the hotel is packed, not a very nice place or ambiance to enjoy mornings with a newspaper.

Anyways, it was a nice stay but you could probably do better, if you shop around. We stayed at Panamericano earlier in december and eventhough the hotel looks strange from the outside, this hotel was a lot better than the Marriott (and cheaper) unfortunately they did not have room during our second stay.

We visit BA from Houston often and love the city and country. This was our first time in this hotel.

It has been our experience that most of the central area hotels are in serious need of refurbishment. This was true for this hotel also. It is a beautiful older building that, if the rooms and facilities were up to Marriott standards, would be a great place to stay in BA.

The pool is NOT year round as is the case with most of the hotels in the area. The spa facilities are not so great. They do have a sauna that I did not use, but the "hot tubs" were tiny and on a platform that was not very solid.

The hotel is located at the end of Florida street so it is very convenient for any shopping and for walking around Florida street.

The rooms need renovation as much as the lobby area. The hotel has patched and repaired them for sometime now and it is clearly time to do a refurbishment. I am honestly surprised that Marriott let's them keep the Marriott name since the hotel is not up to their standards as compared to elsewhere in the world.

I did not have any problems with the bill as reported elsehwere here, but two other guests checking out when I did had problems based on what was being said between them and the clerk.

The problem I had was that $100 was stolen from my room. I reported this promptly to the manager on duty that evening who assured me they would look into it but they did nothing at all. I use the room safe for all but walking around cash in my wallet. I left my wallet on the desk while up in the spa and returned to the room to find the porter turning down the bed. I noticed when he left rapidly that my wallet was not where I left it. After a few minutes, I decided to check and found $100 missing. The next morning after not even being contacted by hotel security up to this point, I contacted the hotel manager who had the head of security and an assistant manager talk with me. I had to this point not let anyone know that I spoke Spanish. The asst mgr and security guy informed me it was my fault for leaving my wallet in plain sight inside my locked room and that the safe was provided for this reason. They then discussed amongst themselves in Spanish that the porter was required by hotel policy to report immediately on entering the guest room if any valuables were visible. I then asked them about this point. They were shocked that I understood (I am a big white red headed american so I don't look like I speak spanish). They promised to check on this to see if he reported the sighting of my wallet as per hotel policy and let me know. When we checked out 3 hours later, they still could not determine the answer to this simple question or anything else. Their basic attitude was that it was my fault for thinking my guest room was even remotely safe or secure.

We then left the phone number of a friend in BA so they could call locally with any updated information. They made no phone calls to her as of our departure from the country 10 days later.

If the hotel had made any effort to make this right or even to check the facts and report as promised, I would have dropped it. It was only $100, but the whole mushroom treatment approach was insulting.

I reported this to Marriott corporate on my return. Marriott corporate office has done nothing other than notify the hotel I was unhappy. The hotel then had the same asst mgr from BA contact me here in the USA. Since she was part of the problem, I did not waste my time. I will try Marriott corporate once more before giving up. But, be warned that you really need to use the safe for anything remotely valuable in this hotel.

It was a bad experience - my room had a leak in the wall(close to the bathroom), the service was slowly and instead of smiles I found attendants just wanting tips. At last my room account was wrong and I need to complain. Definetly it's not a Marriott standard.- Bernardo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Very nice hotel. Great location, convienent to Florida Ave (right across the street).
Hotel restaurant was excellent.

Hotel was remodeling the check-in area, but I did not have any issues with this.