Name: Hotel Venetur Margarita
Address: Los Uveros Street, Porlamar, Porlamar, Porlamar, 480, Venezuela
Rating: 8

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Santiago Marino International Airport

Hotel Venetur Margarita

Porlamar

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I am the kind of person who checks and makes an initial judgement with regards to a specific place, hotel or restaurant based on reviews I find on internet, specially the ones on this site. However, when it comes to this hotel, most of them couldn't be any more wrong. 

First of all, I shall list (below) some myths and truths about this place. 

1) A plethora of reviews criticise that there is water shortage going on at this hotel. However ,this is NOT TRUE. Water service, both  inside and outside rooms, WORKS PERFECTLY (and of great capacity ) At ANY TIME OF THE DAY ( please note this is as of July 2017) 

Secondly, most reviews seem to criticise how " humid and damp " rooms are. This is true but there is an easy solution: let the walls of the room " breathe " by Turning the AC off as soon as you get in the room. Thank me later ;-) 

Third, many reviews criticise how " cold the rooms are " and how it is " not possible to control the AC from  within" . Again, this is NOT TRUE. You can control the AC (but at limited level) as there is a button to set the AC " low , medium or high " capacity. 

Finally, some reviews state that staying at this hotel is quite dangerous. When we went , there were even national guards walking around on top of the hotel's own security service and civil protection staff.  We felt extremely safe at all times. 

Now some points of consideration: 

The good: 

THE VIEW : if you , like me , enjoy nice scenic spots with a beautiful landscape, you'll find this hotel has plenty of amazing spots for the making of a great holiday picture  ( see my attached pics ) 

SERVICE and FACILITIES: Do not forget this hotel used to be the Hilton. The Staff has maintained its legacy by always remaining  helpful and courteous at all times. The pool is well maintained and super clean. The gym is well-functioning. There is a beauty salon. Bookstore. Mini shops and artisan stalls, too. 

The not - so - good: 

THE FOOD - Albeit reasonably priced, it really is not of good quality. When we went the menu was so limited and there was NO CHICKEN available. If you're staying here, please eat somewhere else. There are plenty of great choices in the area.

THE BEACH: beautiful to look at but not to swim in. Again, if you're looking for a paradisiac , Caribbean beach, you won't find it here. Try somewhere else in the island. Like the beach area away from main town. 

SOME FACILITIES ARE SHUT DOWN: the casino, one restaurant and the hotel's night club are gone but not forgotten.  On the bright side, there is a nice casino really close by and a smallish night club right in front of the hotel. 

Hope this balanced review helps you out when making a decision with regards to your next holiday destination in Margarita Island.

We are a British - Venezuelan couple that stayed at Venetur Margarita's Luxury Suite ( room came with jacuzzi, kitchen , living room and a big balcony!! ) Despite the few negative points I just mentioned, we would definitely 
Come back here :) 

Thank you Venetur and its friendly , always helpful , staff!!!!A+++++

Excellent!! Could improve some areas but reviews have been quite unfair here. Fair, Balanced review below 

My visit in that was good. The food and the service was good too... The rooms are comfortable. But I don't like the beach of the hotel. If you want enjoy a good beach,  you need to get a taxi and go to another beach. 

My visit here

The hotel grounds and layout is very beautiful. Needs plenty repairs but they are trying!! Most of the staff are very helpful and kind. Family entertainment at day and night.free soft drinks. Breakfast is excellent and so is lunch. Dinner was not so good.
The rooms are large and  nice -need some repairs. 
I stayed in room 938 from 15-16/6/2023. 
When i returned to Trinidad and checked my luggage - i discovered that 2 of my dresses were stolen at the hotel!!!!!
The only incident that really got me angry and disappointed@$&

Nice but thieves in hotel.Things got stolen.

Don't Go it's terrible ,it's a toxic place it is the worst hotel ,nasty and stink waste of money .place moldy and food tasteless.nohot water in the rooms ,door locks need fixing,water all on the carpets the food is very cold ,it is a hit and miss to get some veggies to eat .

Don't go it's the worst ,hotel I ever go to ,need closing down faeces all on the ground ,urin running on the floor ,no hot water

Avoid this hotel.... the service of the hotel it’s just awful, it takes ages to try to fix a simple problem like just to clean a toilet, I had to change several times the room because of how dirty are the sheets and the humidity it’s on the spot to make the sheets sticky and make you to on the ac all time even though you are freezing, the carpets in the hotel full of stains, the hotel breakfast it’s very limited I advice you to go outside to eat, it’s not an 5 stars hotel for sure I could say it’s low than 3, there is no WiFi in the rooms you have to go to the lobby to get it, you are not allowed to bring people to your room if you do they will charge you, there is no communication between the staff, one person say something, another says other things and like that , there is only one elevator working, and as a I said the service the lowest in the world, the water of the shower in some rooms it’s just cold not warm not hot, the rooms are also deteriorated it completely disaster NOT RECOMMENDED IT 

Worst hotel ever 

Just awful, I'm talking about a supposedly five star hotel with dirty and worn out rooms that only has running water for an hour three times a day...

The sweet bread served at breakfast was at least two days old and they had no sugar 

Avoid at all costs

VENETUR
Stay away!  

We travelled to Margarita Island on January 16th, for two weeks at this resort. We were here 20 years ago, but having read recent reviews, our expectations were low. I cannot begin to describe how bad our experience was. One member of our group was Venezuelan and I'd like to point out that the issues I describe as unacceptable are not just based on my North America standards. 

We attempted to check in early, and after a long wait, took 30 minutes to fill out the paperwork (nothing is prepared in advance here). We were told to return at 2:30 or 3pm, which we did. After waiting in line again, we were told to return at 4pm. Given the long wait times, why have everyone show up at 4pm to check in?  We learned later in the week that there are currently huge vacancies at this property. At 4pm, we waited in line for 45 minutes to check in...a process which still took 20 minutes. We learned throughout our stay here that the front desk is seriously understaffed. (Also, no one answers the phone if we called, so we had to come to the lobby and wait in line for any issues that arose during our stay). 

Our room didn't look very clean, and the furnishings were painfully worn and broken. The security lock on the door had been pulled off - the screw holes still visible. This turned out to be a problem, as twice over the first 48 hours, staff entered out unit, without knocking, despite the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. We ended up propping a chair under the doorknob when in the room to secure the door. 

The suite had a safe in the closet, but no locking cylinder. Thankfully, our Spanish speaker was our lifeline when communicating with the front desk, as we were unable to find anyone at the hotel who speaks English. We learned that the cylinders need to be rented from the front desk for a cost of $3. We didn't know if this was for the entire stay or per day, but we had to get one at the front desk. So, back down to wait in line. It was 50 minutes until it was our turn. Sadly, the hotel is out of cylinders to rent out, but were "lucky" that we have a safe at all, apparently. The "solution" provided to us was to lock all of our valuables up in the hotel safe, and whenever we want anything, we could just ask one of the staff to open it for us. Of course, we'd have to stand in line every time we want access to their safe....  Otherwise, we could check back daily with the desk to see if anyone checking out turned in a cylinder. (In the 6 days we were here, no cylinders became available). 

We also had two tv's in the unit, but only one remote. We asked for a second one but were told that the hotel was "out of batteries". 

A few other details:

Info - no info given to us about the resort when checking in, such as restaurant or pool hours, ice, laundry facilities, wifi,etc...  This includes no emergency information, such as the location of the fire exits. 

Ice - we had to call the front desk and ask, and were told that there was an ice machine on 6th floor. (We were on 5). When that one quit working, we called again and were directed to a machine on 11. We alternated looking for ice at both of those spots on most days. When neither was working, we got a bucket of ice from the bar. On our last day, the front desk directed us to a machine on 9th floor. Every day it was like a treasure hunt.....

Kitchen - our sad little kitchen contained a variety of mismatched pots with broken and loose handles, a badly dented frying pan that everything stuck to, three coffee mugs, one glass, chipped plates, etc. For some reason, a hotel staff member had to personally attend and go over the inventory with us - there was nothing worth stealing....  The fridge had a lean to the rear but that helped keep the door shut. It actually worked okay. The cooktop was a mystery...three out of four burners worked (only two hot enough to boil water) and the knobs were completely illegible. We had to guess which knob worked which burner, and which way to turn the knob for high or low heat. The plastic garbage was covered in dirty splashes from previous inhabitants. 

Bathroom - yuk. Taps and fixtures were all water stained and corroded. The bidet was rusty. The toilet ran continuously. We asked the front desk to have someone attend to fix it as it was quite loud. Someone came and the toilet worked until the first flush. Bathroom door was badly delaminated..pieces fell off the bottom of the door. Mildew on the shower curtain. No towels, ever. We had to call daily for towels to be dropped off, and we'd receive sometimes one set, or three, often no bath mat...different every day. 

Bedroom - the rattan headboard was fuzzy with mould. A leg fell off the bed one night and when we called to have it fixed, it was obvious from the number of holes in the frame that this has happened before. The extra sheets for the fold out couch were mildews, and contained a stain that we hate to think might have been blood. Black mould inside the fabric lampshade. I have dozens of photos of our suite...

Furnishings - this unit is rated for occupancy of four people, yet there were only three deck chairs. Deck chairs were missing the plastic bottoms in the legs, and as a result, anyone moving chairs creates a screeching across the deck tiles. The chair webbing is dirty and containers many holes. The table was similarly dirty and had cigarette burns in it. The entire balcony was dirty, and the exterior covered in mould. The patio doors didn't close. 

Pool - the pool is absolutely beautiful. If this resort has spent any effort on maintenance, it's in this area. The landscaping is very nice too

Beach - small and not maintained. Beach furniture was all dirty and broken. 

Staff -    this place is horribly understaffed and there is no apology for the long lines, insufficient furnishings, or any other problems encountered.

There was no gym, even though the website states that there is (it's "under renovation" and has been for many months...no one working on it). Same with the guest laundry facilities, but there is laundry service. Wifi, when available, is accessible only around the pool and lobby. 

Power outages are not uncommon in Venezuela so we learned to live with these. The lack of water after the 5th day was the final straw for us ...running down to the pool with garbage bins to get water to flush the toilets. Again, no apology from the staff and no suggestions or ideas about resolution. They just don't care. If it were just a few of these problems, we could have made the best of it. But given the safety issues (lack or locks, safe, etc), filth, lack of water - this was not the vacation we paid for.

Stay away. Serious issues here. Unsafe.

We booked Venetur through a timeshare company, a suite for four (adults). I'm a Canadian living in Venezuela, and I have an idea of what could go wrong, like power outages and water shortages (both of which happened) simply because of the situation in the country right now. But there is no excuse for the other problems that we experienced here.

- 35 minutes waiting to check in
- no wifi in the rooms (only available in the lobby and at the pool)
- no towels in our room (bath, kitchen, face, hand -- no towels at all)
- incomplete dining set (1 tall glass, 3 coffee cups, 3 spoons, 5 forks)
- no dead-bold on the room door
- mold on one of the bedsheets, blood stains on one of the blankets, mold behind the headboard and inside the lampshade
- no lock on the safe, which would have required a deposit if one ever became available (We were told that none were available on our check-in day and to check the next day; we checked every single day and a lock never became available.We had to lock our valuables in suitcases in our room.)
- hotel staff let themselves into our room twice without knocking (once to deliver bath towels, the second time was house-keeping at 7:30am) so we slept with a diningroom chair in front of the door for rest of our stay
- house-keeping would always take our old bath towels but never replace them, so we had to call the front desk every day for new ones
- only one working ice-machine in the entire building (when one was working), on either the 6th, 9th, or 11th floor, depending on the day
- unreliable elevators
- no hot water in the shower
- running/leaking toilet (despite requests to fix it)
- excluding the porters/bellboys and bar staff, customer service was extremely poor (A woman who checked in after us was complaining about the wait time. When it was her turn to check in, she asked the front-desk worker what the wait was all about. The worker responded with, "You complain about the wait and now you want to stop and talk. So, are you checking in or do you want to make all the people behind you angry too?)

Venetur advertised a gym and laundry facilities. The gym is an outdoor structure with a few jungle-gym-like pieces to work on. There is no laundry facility, only paid laundry service. As I mentioned, we also experienced a power outage and two water shortages. These are not entirely the hotel's fault. They had generators running within 20 minutes of the power going out. However, I hold them partially responsible for the water problems as it seems they didn't manage their stored supply very well. Not to mention that fixing the leaky toilet would save water too.

After one week at Venetur, we moved to a different hotel and didn't experience any of these problems.

This hotel was nice 20 years ago, but don't expect anything close to a five-star hotel anymore.

Hotel Venetur Margarita

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