The Ritz Lagoa da Anta is a nice facility with terrible service. It's actually a bit funny, because every single interaction with hotel staff goes badly, every single one. At the front desk, in housekeeping, the restaurant, it doesn't matter -- the staff is undertrained, unmotivated, and provides atrocious service.

Check in: I checked in on a weekend evening. There was one young man working the front desk, trying to check people in, answer phones, and respond to guest inquiries simultaneously. There were probably six or eight guests in line, but no other employees to help the staffer. It took me 30 minutes to check in. At various moments other employees came from the back office to the desk, but they didn't lift their heads, greet guests, or offer to help the poor fellow trying to do all the work, they always disappeared after a few moments. Guests were upset and frustrated, as was the one young staffer. Awful first impression.

Rooms: The rooms are generally pleasant with modern furnishings and a small balcony looking out to the beach, but they have some serious design flaws. The worst issue is that they are underlit. There is simply not enough lighting in the room or the bathroom. There isn't enough light to read in bed, even with all the lights on. There are not enough electrical outlets. Guests need to charge phones and plug in computers, but there is one electrical socket underneath the desk and another by the bed with a clock plugged into it. So you need to unplug the clock to charge your phone. Room service was inconsistent. Twice, the maid took my towels but didn't leave clean ones, but once she did. Twice, the morning newspaper was not delivered to my door, but once it was. Just unpredictable, inconsistent service.

Wifi: The wifi is supposedly free, but is terrible. In order to access the wifi, guests will have to fill out an online form that asks for their name, address, passport number, email address etc. Why? I've never seen such a system in my life, no other hotel uses it, it's inconvenient and intrusive. It doesn't work well on small devices (smartphones) and it's not clear to me why I should have to provide personal data in order to use a wifi system. Are they going to spam me with unwanted emails? Either give guests wifi access or don't, but this system is crazy.

Lobby Area: The hotel is only a few years old, so it's modern and well-built, and the lobby is lovely -- although there is no air conditioning in the lobby, bar, or restaurant areas. The hotel gets very hot during the daytime, guests in the restaurant at lunchtime were visibly sweating.

Bar/Restaurant: This is the area with the worst service in the hotel. My first evening, there was no bartender on duty although the bar was open. I asked a passing employee how to get a drink and she identified herself as the manager and appeared as frustrated as I was. She ran around and finally found the bartender in the back. The hotel uses an inconvenient system to pay for meals -- at check-in you are issued a paper card with your name on it that you have to carry around at all times -- when you want to check out of the bar or restaurant, you give this to the waiter, and then (I'm not making this up) they disappear for 20 minutes before they come back with your check. It wastes everyone's time. The hotel should not only provide intensive re-training to all of its wait staff but should rethink this card system, because it gives waiters one more opportunity to annoy guests.

Breakfast is supposed to open at 6:00 am, but by 6:15 the restaurant doors were still closed and guests waiting impatiently in the lobby to enter. The food and coffee were not fully set up when guests finally rebelled at 6:30 and pushed into the still-closed restaurant. As breakfast got under way, the tapioca chef arrived about 6:45 and set up her counter, the dirty plates were not cleared away from empty tables, so new arrivals had no place to sit, there were no heating fires lit under the hotplates, and not a single waiter could be found. The coffee urn ran out twice during our short breakfast, leaving unhappy guests waiting for waiters to refill it. We finally found them in the backroom of the restaurant chatting amiably, and we begged for service. The physical layout of the restaurant hurts service since it gives the waiters a little back corner to sit and hide. Also, the orange juice is made from powdered concentrate, it tastes like Tang. Awful, since Brazil has cheap and plentiful oranges. Why would a nice Brazilian hotel serve chemical orange juice?

At lunchtime, if you step outside the glass doors to the pool area, you are condemned to eat from the small "pool menu", but if you move two meters into the restaurant, you're allowed to order from the regular menu. Odd. Please consider having a single menu for all meals, the pool menu is just annoying and unnecessary. The dinner buffet is pretty good, but again the service is terrible. At dinner one evening, the frustrated hotel manager observed the slow service and came over to our table to apologize saying she thought the waiters were all sleeping. I assume she's going to initiate some re-training for the staff.

Overall, the Ritz Lagoa da Anta has the potential to be quite nice. It's a beautiful property on a nice beach, but every interaction with staff is an annoyance. I would not stay there again and I would not recommend it to others.

The beds are not what I expect at a ⁴star hotel. I can't remember the last time I slept on such a bad bed. The bed was a soft sponge type that is really cheap. The bathroom towels were old and smelt odd.
The breakfast was poor. Greasy plates, dirty tables and cheap products offered with combination of bad service. The aircon was way too big and cold even with the minimum fan adjustment and temperature regulated we were uncomfortable . The corridors are dark which gives a bad and dirty atmosphere. Apart from the above the rest was pretty okay. Parking area for car convenient but not free. Great location and view. Services for baby okay but lacking detail. No free laundry service for children and very expensive. I think with a little effort from management this could be a top hotel!

The hotel is located close to all points of interest in Maceio, has free wifi and is very comfortable. They have a very friendly staff, the restaurant is famous in the city and has good prices. The breakfast is champion. It has good recreational facilities. Recommend for couples and family.