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 Portofino/Portobello - Margarita Island —  Location: Beachfront - 35 minutes from Porlamar and 40 minutes from the airport All-inclusive - 500 rooms Description: 3 restaurants - 3 bars  ~ Reviews posted on this page — 2  ~ Venezuela Resort Reviews Index ~ The Venezuela Travel Forum 
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| Portofino/Portobello | Lee and Lorraine ~ Smiths Falls On. |
We just returned march 6 2006 and We had a perfect time, two weeks of sun, and fun, maybe We are not as fussy as some but I have no complaints about this resort at all only positive comments as follows;
Rooms--main building not as good as 2 storey bld. a/c held temp to exact setting which you will find 78 F to be about as cold as You may want it as outside temperature is 90F and very humid, small but efficient fridge for water or other desired beverages, I suggest beer as it is $4 us for 36 yes 36 255 ml cans, and yes the beds are firm, water is trucked in and We were out twice in two weeks, tv has 4 english channels cnn, hallmark, and a couple that have Spanish sub titles I never had much time for tv anyway.Clean clean clean, 1 cricket was very quiet so I left it alone, 1 cat who took to us for some reason also very quiet so We left it on the balcony to sleep, Please do not waste the water as even by tanker truck it costs 6 cents a litre twice as much as gasoline at 3 cents.
food------Quality ok, selection so so, they cater to mostly South American tastes, but always try the Mystery meat as it was always good as was the pizza at the cafe, and a nice selection of salads, cheese, cold ham, great tomatoes, hot dogs and burgers at the smaller pool restaurant, juices are excellent taste freshly pressed and this goes for bar drinks as well pina colada, rum punch, Iguanas, and we were told by a chap from Caracas during Canavale that to stay in Veneusula You must drink a coucaracha and as I certainly did not want to go I forced Myself and was pleasantly surprised Warning any more than three can lead to alcohool being used for evil purposes as they contain tequela, whisky, rum, and brandy or other nefarious mixtures. Lots of fresh fruit good pastery, buns and bread excellent, slow toaster, fresh real butter, eggs, pancakes, omellete, and all served with a smile. if you are an early riser take your coffee perc as it is not available untill after 7:15 am.
hotel----excellent, spotless , with nicely manicured gardens and walkways, always lots of staff sweeping raking washing and watering.
staff-----bend over backwards to help You out, but be polite but assertive as with any Caribean country, English is spoken very well by key staff and car rental as well as internet call center and stores at hotel.
pools---4 includes, main pool with bar, activity pool for water sport also with bar, another pool not so deep as main but quieter also with bar kids pool sorry kids no bar. All with lots of shade and excellent companions from all over South America and Nothern Europe mostly Sweden and Finland, sad place to be Canadian after the hockey let down took a little ribbing over that one.
beach--Nice and clean, always a stiff breeze from the north east, 2-3 ft waves and sometimes an undertow advise swimming near the breakwater as it is much more tranquil, all beaches on this northeast coast are windy and wavy if You need a more gentle beach they are only a 2 dollar cab ride away , Manzanillo, Caribe, or Jaun Greigo town has a nice beach as well as several others within 10 miles of portofina or playa el-agua hotels that may suit You better but You will have to rent louges and a canopy. cabs are cheap.
All in all a very nice two weeks, will I go back to this Resort Yes for sure, Margarita yes for sure, weather is hot sun is very strong UV measured up to 16 not 10 like Canada . Take some tours or rent a car or hire a cab for the day 40 US or less, go to Porlamar to the Mall, take lots of film as it is very scenic from all kinds of beaches to mountains to desert to quaint towns and villages. Try the local food empalades with hot sauce, to Jumbo shrimp at Moises in Playa el agua which also has a Killer burger and fries for 6 bucks, if you are a rum drinker the resort rum is ok in drinks but get to a store to bring home a decent rum it is about 6000 Bs and there are several good brands not as good to My taste as Dominican or Cuban but decent. Take wash clothes and relish if you like your dogs and burgers with it. Do not use credit cards as they will nail you 12 percent, do not change your money at the cambios as they will give you 2144 to 1 us and charge you 6 percent, take us dollars and change at hotel or in reputable establishments watch your change and have fun.
Not a complaint, an update on departure ripoff in venuszuela, it is now 54 us or 115,000 Bs. Bs can be had at stores and vendors for 1us to 2400 Bs.do not take Canadian 1300 Bs to 1 Can. as You can see it is cheaper to covert and pay in Bolivars from us
| Portofino/Portobello | Tim & Bernice - Canada |
I recently came back from a trip to Margarita Island, Venezuela at the Portofino/Portebello complex. I tried to research this resort and found no reviews on the resort. Very little was on the web at all. The trip was very reasonable booked last minute so I had a open mind. The trip did not start off so great being that the flight arrived at 2 AM and 45 minute drive from airport to hotel. The room # and info was given to us at the airport. There were three bus loads of people all trying to get there rooms at 3 AM. To add to the confusion very little staff spoke english. We were given the wrong key for our room, and another couple were taken to a room that was already occupied twice. They did upgrade them. Ours overlooked a bar at one side and a tree on the other. We were in the Portebello part a two storey building. The Portofino is 5 story hotel. Some people complained about noise there but are side was pretty quiet. The people on the ground floor of the Portebello section had a nice patio out front with table and chairs. Some couples ate meals there. We heard that they did have the occassional uninvited quest crawl under the doors. The first two days we had very little hot water, with three days of no hot water what so ever. The second day I went to the lobby to tell them that the shower head was missing the center, before I could walk back they already had someone there replacing it. I was impressed being it is a 500 room complex. If you like swimming in the ocean it is very rough here and full of seaweed. There is a nice beach a 10 minute walk away but still rough. You cannot snorkel here. The food was average but always the same thing every meal. Even in the a la carte it was the same food. The wine and the beer is very good with mixed drinks leaving a bit to be desired. The biggest problem was the money. We always book lots of tours when we are on vacation and pay for them by credit card. The tour guide for our hotel would not take credit card and had to be paid in American dollars. The hotel sent us to the bank in town which is a 10 minute walk away. It cost an 10% charge on top for our credit card and was paid to us in bolivas. They would pay out $1600 Bolivas to one american dollar. To pay the tour guide he wanted 3000 bolivas to one american dollar. If you took an american dollar to the bank to change to boliva the would pay you between 2700-2900 bolivas being it changed every day. The whole money thing is a big business with everybody wanted to change money on the beach, flea market etc. It was very confusing so make sure you bring a calculator and lots of American money. On the other hand everything here is very cheap. A taxi ride to Porlomar, a major city 40 minutes away is $4.00. There is a huge new mall there where you can watch a movie for $2 or go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac combo just like home for $2.25. There is a large flea market in Porlomar where you can buy name brands very cheap. I got Ocean Pacific shorts for $3 and Nike hats for $2. There was Tommy, Quicksilver, Billabong etc. So bring an extra suitcase for all the good deals. Pearls are another thing which are a really good deal. We did take a day trip by plane to see Angel Falls on the main land of Venuzuala and felt it was worth the money. After we had paid $370 for the two of us to take the trip we were told due to weather conditions alot of people don't get to see the falls. We rode on a small 15 seat plane landing in a National Park were we rode out to some falls on hollowed out boats then proceeded to walk a mile or two to some large falls we walked under. The weather was not good to see the falls when we arrived, but we did get to see them on the way back. Angel Falls is the largest fall in the world. We also took a snorkeling trip on a beautiful sailboat for the day and it was great. The horse back riding was great. But be prepared it is over two hours long and one hour each way travel time from the hotel. They let you gallop the horse done the beach if your experienced and you ride through miles of cactus. There were alot of people sick at our resort all on Wednesday (we arrived on Monday). They were all ages and all affected the same way. We were not but left the medicine we had brought for people that had just come and were sick. At this resort they asked that you don't put toilet paper in the toilet instead in a garbage can. That leaves me to worry about septic or lack of. The staff tried very hard even though bartenders, waiters , etc all knew little english. What I read on the internet said it rained very little there. It rained almost everyday but most of the time cleared up. Because of where the mountains are situated they hold the weather in from the ocean. It was very warm while we were there but still comfortable. Don't count on your air conditioner working very well. They do supply a fridge in your room if you can stand the noise it makes. Another of our biggest problems with the hotel was the hard bed. The base of the bed is cement and they then threw a mattress on top of that. The have four channels on the TV but only one English and it was all about the stock market. They had several pools all nice and lots of bars. There was always food available, up till 1 AM. The last problem we had was with check out. We had to out of rooms by 1 PM and the bus did not pick us up till 10 PM. Luggage was left in a room close to the lobby were so one watched it. That meant that anything valuable people took with them to the pool areas or bars. We were also warned that there was another flight leaving an hour before ours and that there would be 700 people in the airport trying to check in. Although we had lots of time since our flight did not leave till after 2 AM. When then arrived in Toronto at 7:30 AM. It really felt like you wasted your first day catching up in sleep and the last waiting to leave. All in all if you get it for a good deal and are aware of the money it is worth it. You can splurge and eat out with the money you save. It was cheaper then anywhere else (Cuba, Mexico etc) when we were looking. That should of tipped us off. But don't expect the Ritz. I would not call it a 3 star complex, and don't think I would return. Although it did get us away from some freezing weather in Canada, that has to be worth something.
Last updated: May 2, 2006
