Hi everyone,

Got back from natal last wednesday morning i will be writing a more detailed report later in the week, but have to say brazil/natal was found to be a frustrating and even a disapointing place to visit and even thou it was a good holiday it dident have the 'wow' factor.

It will be interisting to see if natal takes off and i am not surprised to see the above statement about portland cancelling the summer holidays there.

More later.

Oh Mike that is disappointing! I await your report with interest.

As promised our opinion of natal etc,

Awoke monday morning in anticipation of the drive down to gatwick and a nights stay at the renaissance hotel before our flight to natal but low & behold the dreaded sore throat greets me, all year without any illness and i kop for this but never mind im on holiday!!!
Enjoyed our stay at the renaissance even more so after it was agreed we could use of health club card for 20% off on drinks & food even thou it took a while to get that sorted out.

Caught the first bus out to gatwick and checked in easy egnouth and had our last english breakfast which was ok and as the plane wasant full we ended up having four seats for the two of us which was nice for us and even better after a couple of bottles of champagne.

As usual the long wait to get through customs etc and on the coach to the hotel the rep proudly stated that we was pioneers in choosing natal as it had only just opened up for british tourists and on arriving at the hotel first impression looked ok, checked in and was advised by the rep that it would probably be best to eat in the hotel this evening save the hassle of changing money,finding a restaurant etc so off we go to the hotel restaurant which was a self service buffet style after standing around for ages and none of the staff looked remotely interested we walked out and thats when the strong wind hit us and so uncomfortable to sit outside and have a drink etc, managed to order a pizza after a bit of difficulty and to be honest i wished we hadant bothered as it was uncooked,pale and probaly the worst thing i have tried to eat, the signs are not looking good.
Went to meet the rep at the arrivals meeting on enquiring about the strength of the wind she replied it was there all the time AND THOMSOMS STATES ' A GENTLE BREEZE' take it from me this is no gentle breeze when you see plastic chairs, tables and trying to eat cornflakes in the morning you would end up with milk over your face as it was that strong.
We knew we had picked a basic hotel and there was no problem with the rooms despite the A/C being right opposite your pillow and was quite roomy and towels and sheets were cleaned every day.
On the lunchtime we wondered along the beach down the next hotel this being a five star hotel was obviously more nicer and ater a word with the security they eventually agreed to let us eat by the swimming pool obviously language being a slight problem but the first thing we noticed was glass barriers around eating areas and obviously sheilding you from the strong winds.
I did try the same hotel next morning and after five minutes assuring the hotel security i was ok i enquired at the reception about paying and using thier gym i was told that there was no way the hotel would let me use their facilities in which i found this hard to understand but there you go!

Ponta negra espiecally the beach was fantastic and for me saved the holiday, the beach is not your relaxing type as there is something going on all the time there are vendors walking up and down all day selling items like the usual sun classes,clothing, and carts selling cocktails, crepes <which was very nice> even pots & pans and to be fair if you said no you would get no hassle off any of them we would always park up opposite the imagine bar/cafe as there were two guys who ran the sun loungers/umbbrellas etc in which they supplied a good beach service and theirs was the blue & white ones with the number R17 painted on.

Restaurants was hit & miss and after trying a couple we found the bella napoli more to our taste with warmer <temperture wise> food being served and right opposite the beach, there was another good one but to be honest i cant remember the name all i know the guy outside had a american accent, our favourite thou was at the end of our hotel road just before you turn into either ponta negra or natal town its on the right hand side and is called 'guinga' this is a first class restaurant with prices being slightly highet than most but well worth it as there is a sushi bar,cigar room and also a non smoking room as well.
Trying to exchange money turned into another problem and thomson's even supplied a guy to come in twice a week to exchange money we was ok as we took american dollars and sterling but our friends had sterling travellers cheques and the hotel or the exchange kiosk WOULD NOT exchange sterling travellers cheques, so this could basically take two days out of your holiday and espiecally if the guy doesant turn up like he did for my friend who had to phone the rep up and enquire about wherabouts and was told he wont be coming out today! <cant beat communiction thomsons>.
We did ask for a move but had no joy there but got the feeling the rep wasant inerested as she had implied that thomsons had sent their best reps out to natl being a new place & all that if that is their best then god help us with the other ones, did go on the beach buggies to go and see the biggest cashew tree in the world and a few other sights but cant say it was brilliant but broke the holiday up to a degree.
The other warning i sadly have to say that one late afternoon i decided to have a walk along the beach in the opposite direction to ponta negra from our hotel plasant agnouth walk up to the next hotel but on my return was approached by four teenagers all in a line behind each other anyway the second guy started shouting 'raul raul' obviously meaning money i walked past him but the last guy started shouting the same thing and positioned himself in front of me saying you have money after shouting back no money he stared at my pockets and then my watch i just stared back at him and stated no money and started walking past him to be honest i expected a whack from behind but gladly nothing happaned and i wasant carrying any money anyway i have to say this as i wouldent hope anybody of a weaker nature to suffer this.
i could go on but wont bore anybody any longer just to say we stayed at villa do mar hotel.
It will be interesting to see if brazil/natal does take off as i think its got a long way to go if they want to make it succesfull for the british.

oh dear Mike. I have of course only been to Rio and loved it.Sounds like your beach was a miniature one of Rios though with everything happening!
Obviously though if you go to Natal you must think like Rio security wise. I never wore my rings at all - left in the hotel safe for the duration. I never wore expensive jewellery or even costume jewellery that looked expensive. We went out only with the money we needed. This may be what holidaymakers in Natal should also follow.
So were there slum areas round about Mike?

Care to be the first one on HT to review a Natal hotel Mike? I have asked for your hotel to be added to Other Destinations hotel reviews.

Hi Fiona,

No problem with the hotel review and would like to add just a few other things that have just come back to me.

Sorry about repeating myself about the strength of the wind but a incident happaned with one of our friends as the three of us had left our sunbeds overlooking the beach to meet the money guy on walking back to our sunbeds one of the palm branches snapped and fell to the ground just adjacent to us in which i replied ' thank god there was nobody under that as the consequences could be serious' then as we got nearer to our sunbeds we noticed a small crowd by our sunbeds you can guess the rest one of the branches had fallen down and luckily just grazed our friends arm obviously upset and comforted by fellow customers, but i have to say not one of the staff enquired about her wellfare, basically the palm trees had not been maintained and there was a lot of rotten branches, on contacting the manager we had the usual apologies, but no real effort or anything in the way of compesation.
One of my thoughts about this is that the staff felt uneasy with british tourists reguarding communication etc and this was confirmed when ever we ordered food at the hotel as the staff and they had to come over at least five times to define what he wanted <bless them> it was no real problem and in some ways added to the holiday but could be frustrating.
Also in regards to my confrontration on the beach i was wearing a cheap watch and had no money i must admit i cant believe i was wearing shorts with pockets in and take it was just luck of the draw and found out afterwards that leading up to the area known as artists beach there is a shanty town and i take it thats where these guys were from inwhich leads me to another point as one evening i was hoping to go to artists beach just for a change of scenery, but luckily we spoke to the rep and asked her was it worth going she stated i wouldend advise you to go there in the evening as it can be a bit dodgy which to be honest deflated me even more.
I have also have to say the hotel was celebrating their 20 anniversary and laid on free drinks and food from 20.00 hrs new years eve to 16.00 hrs new years day unfortunately we had two long showers new years eve <same as kerala last year> which put a spoiler on things but have to say really enjoyed the new years day with barbecue and the same band on that was on new years eve.
Ponta negra if you keep to the main streets there is no problem and forgot to add about the one street that is full of bars which strangely is packed on a wednesday evening and also friday & saturday we tried the slasa bar which is very popular in which they operate a card scheme in which they supply you with a card and the waiter or bar staff will fill it in according which drinks you have and at the end of the night you take it to the counter and pay the bill which worked out ok, we also tried sgt peppers but a word of warning its absolutely packed and makes for a good atmosphere.
Just before i go also try the local drink 'caipirinha' very strong but a bit too much sugar for my liking.
We also ventured into one of the more local bars adjacent the beach but towards the famous sand mound where there was a local band with anybody going up to play we had a few stares but nothing uncomfortable and enjoyed a good couple of hours enjoying the music etc.

Please dont get me wrong we made the wrong choice of hotel and apart from the wind factor ended up enjoying the holiday and would go back but at this moment of time have to say wouldent rush back. at the end of the day there is only one way to find out about different places and also i have to say in one sense we was comparing it to goa & kerala and have to say brazil is cheap but not dirt cheap like goa etc.

thanks for a very detailed report on the hotel and resort. It helps others- especially as it is a new destination. We ate in quite a few places in Rio where they did not speak English- in fact this was the norm. However, in Rio they are more geared up to the tourist in that they have a loose translation of their menu( sometimes the translation didn't come out too well ( eg chopped pieces of meat) and sometimes if no-one could translate something it was left out altogether!

I ordered a bacardi/rum the one day and got back a glass of water! and trying to order the nice brazilian patatoes was a job in itself invairably we ended up with chips.

water? :lol:Review page is here

Also posted a review on thomsons web page be interesting to see if they publish it?

Hi to all those interested in the Iberostar Bahia brazil
I have today received this reply from Iberostar

You will find the hotel next week on the website. The opening is scheduled for the end of march.

Best regards and thank you for booking Iberostar!

So hopefully by this time next week we should know a bit more or atleast be able to find it on thier web site

Hi Pat and Andy here
Thanks for the update we are going on the 5th of may and we were getting a little bit worried if it would be ready by then.thanks again.
jubileepat

Hi everyone
Are there any hotels you would like added to our hotel review page? These can be ones you are going to or ones you can review for us.

Having read Goamikes description of Natal, I am upset that he had such a bad time here, but have a few points to add of my own. I live in Natal and unfortunately its this kind of attitude that will stop English tourists from coming here, although, perhaps thats not such a bad thing, we like it just the way it is !!
Firstly, Thomsons are correct... there is a light breeze, every day, which is more than welcome as it takes the edge off the heat of the day.. it is not a gale as inferred in the previous posting.
Secondly, in Brazil, it is rare for people here to speak English, I dont understand the problem with English tourists not being prepared to even make the effort at speaking another language.... you are in their country so learn their language... if you had, you would know that "raul" does not mean money and people were not trying to rob you !!!!!
If you want to eat pizza, go to Italy, if you come to Brazil, be adventerous, leave the comforts of your 5 * hotel and try eating the regional food, you will find that it is fantastic and very good value... its really upsetting when people travel overseas and expect English breakfast, chip buttys or baked beans. I am English and I am very ashamed when I see my own countrymen abroad... we are a discrace when we travel and expect eveything to be just like mum makes at home.... if you dont like it then go on holiday to Blackpool !!!

Whilst I understand the point you made about getting out and about and trying the local dishes I hope you were not referring to Mike - he said in his post that he tried the local restaurants.
When in Rio we did have a phrase book and I had tried to teach myself some basic phrases but if we had to learn the complete language before we ventured anywhere it would be very limiting! If you can't speak the language you just have to get by as best you can. and that is part of the fun of it. ( I love Thailand but have you ever tried to learn the language??!)
It would be interesting to hear your recommendations for what to do, where to eat etc. And also what the local dishes are.

In response to gmoore letter, you are correct in saying about the gentle breeze in ponta negra beach area and noticed the nearer you got to the big mound it was even less breezy and a safer place to swim i was pointing out that the hotel we stayed in was very windy to the extent that a few of the palm branches fell off and actualy grazed our friend.
The language barrier is no problem for me and found it fun espiecally the parasol guys on the beach when we agreed a price drawn in the sand etc
Once again you are correct about my wrong spelling about the brazilian real <raul> but i know for a fact what they was after and i also realise this can happen anywhere in the world even in my wonderfull town of birmingham.
Food is not a problem either as it happens i work at one of the uk's top college of food and will more or less try anything thats on offer as i have done in other countries and go to other countries to actually get away from the likes of macdonalds and chip buttys etc.
I wished i had picked a five star hotel as it was mainly the hotel that spoilt the holiday for us and as stated we made a wrong choice so that was our problem and can only write my thoughts to hopefully give other people a insight, but as i would say there is only one way to find out things and that is try it at least once.
PS for the record i dont really like blackpool.

Brazil is featured on BBC 1 tonight on holiday 2006 at 19.00 hrs.

Not sure which region is featured as tried looking on the web site but nothing is coming up.

Apologies, I'm not referring directly to Mike in my posting, its more of a general observation that I have made on my travels around the globe, and especially of English toursits here in Natal.

In my experience, English people who visit Natal rarely venture outside of their hotel complex or stray from Ponta Negra beach.
Natal has so much to offer and most people never even see 10% of it.

The hotel staff here are all starting to learn English and in Brazil in general, language can be a barrier, but English tourists all over the world expect everyone to speak their language and get cross when people dont, It needs to be a two way street and we should all attempt to learn at least some basic phrases before we travel. The Brazilians and other nationalities worldwide all think the English very "arrogant" when we assume that people will speak to us in our language when we travel.
I think we have to remember that Thomson have only just started flying here, this year is the first time most of the hotels have ever taken English toursits, so there are bound to be a few teething problems.

Mike, it sounds like you had a bad experience on the beach with the 4 guys, but as you say muggings happen all over the place.
Natal is officially the safest city in Brazil. I am from London and lived in Canary Wharf for 5 years and I feel much safer here that I ever did in there. I guess its just bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I would reccomend everyone to visit Natal, and especially venture to the beaches in the North, they are absolutely breathtaking. I can also say, as a foreigner living in Natal, I have never met such welcoming people, even those who have nothing, will invite you to their house to share a beer or some home cooked food.

Natal is not like Rio, where crime is a very real problem, and there are no Favelas as such, the area that mike referred to in his original posting is just a very run down part of town with extremely basic housing. The problem in the North East is the wages. Whilst we tourists sit sipping our ice cold beer by the pool in our luxury hotels, the staff that bring it to us are earning minimum wage, which here equates to GBP 180 per month, for a 6 day week, 8 hours per day!

There are problems for the government to overcome here in the North East, but Italian, Spanish and Portuguese tourists have been coming here over and over for many years now, so I see no reason why the area will not open up to the more adventerous English traveller. I will happily reccomend beaches, restaurants and places to visit if anyone is planning a trip to Natal.

thanks for a very informative post gmoore! I certainly agree that we should not expect Brazilians to be able to speak English. We liked to go restaurants that locals went to ( mind you they may have been Portuguese tourists!) and where sometimes nobody there spoke any English. They always seemed to have an English translation of the menu ready to give though. We also used our phrase books when we went to places like succo(sp?) bars.
We ventured out of Rio both trips and can see that Brazil is certainly a country of contrasts- Petropolis could have been an alpine town! So is Natal different again? Where would you recommend to visit?