Guest reviews Wish Hotel Da Bahia

by gcbranco Salvador, BA

Disappointing

I have been staying regularly at this hotel since 2014, when it was managed by Sheraton, it is a beautiful hotel, well located and good rooms. Ever since it began to be run by the owner of the real estate, GJP, the service has evidenced a true love for cost-cutting and poor knowledge of the hotel business. The breakfast buffett now is comparable to what you would find at an Ibis Budget, with a little more variety. Hotel da Bahia, as people still now this hotel, had the famous “breakfast” people in Salvador were proud of in the past. No longer. For the past four times I have staid at Wish, every time I arrived in the room I had to call the front desk and complain: a/c not working, missing floor lamps and armchair, etc. In this most recent stay, the smell of air freshener in the entire floor of my room was intoxicating. Well beyond tolerable. It seems current management is more focused on the bottom line than on customer service and satisfaction. Unfortunately Salvador has few good hotels these days.

by CaliGuy01 San Francisco, California

Good Hotel

I had a good stay at Wish Hotel da Bahia during my visit to Salvador in December 2020. Of course there were pandemic measures in place but good visit. My room was very clean and comfortable with an amazing view. Though some of the staff speaks really good English you may want to learn some basic Portuguese words. Their gym was very nice but must be booked in advance for one hour at a time due to the pandemic. My only complaint is the check-in and check out process is way to long. This hotel had one of the longest check-in and checkout processes I had experienced. Upon checkout I finally had to just leave because my ride to the airport had arrived before the checkout process completed. The receptionist asked me if I had anything from their mini bar and they didn’t have mini bars in the rooms as far as I knew. But overall good stay I’d recommend staying.

by Esso1888 London, United Kingdom

Could have been better...

I booked a room with 2 twin beds and upon check-in I asked if I can have a single double bed instead. I was explicitly told that this is possible if I came back to check in later in 2+ hours for housekeeping to clean the rooms etc. So I left my luggage in storage and came back 4 hours later and checked in only to find out that my room had 2 twin beds. When checking out the next day, I confronted the receptionist who had promised me and her response was that we would ‘accommodate if possible’ and it wasn’t in this instance. This is simply not true, I was told it is definitely possible. I completely understand that mistakes happen but what’s much worse is being dishonest to get out of a difficult situation. Not a good experience. Otherwise the hotel is fine.

by marybanilow San Francisco, California

Ideal For Carnaval

If you are on the party-at-night/recover-at-day circuit for Carnaval, this hotel is ideal. The rooms are clean and comfortable, and the location is perfect. And the pool is EXACTLY where you want to be between blocos. The breakfasts are delicious. Most impressive is the lengths they go to keep guests secure from the madness outside. Of course, being close to the blocos meant that the loud music gets into the rooms, so if that bothers you, then maybe find elsewhere, but we were fine with it. My only complaint is the WiFi was pretty spotty, and it's super hard top get to any floor but your own, which was a pain since part of my group was on another floor. Overall, though, great. I'll come back next time I do Carnaval in Brazil!

by Herb L

The only choice for Carnaval

This is the only place to stay when you want to experience Bahian Carnaval. The joy of carnaval lies in the chaos and the unexpected moments of surprise. But to enjoy the chaos, you need an oasis retreat; a place to decompress; a place where familiar order reigns and rejuvenates you for the next day's adventure. After several years at carnaval I can attest that the Wish is the only such place in Salvador. Rooms: The mini suite had a balcony framed by an enormous, well landscaped succulent garden which made a ideal place to wind down after the parties. Amenities: The pool terrace is a great place to ease into the chaotic evening. Attentive and friendly servers, paired with the hip poolside DJ, make it the perfect place to enjoy caipirinhas. It incidentally overlooks one of the main circuits, which if you choose you can enjoy without leaving the safe cocoon of Wish. Food: For hungover mornings, an extensive 2-person gourmet breakfast is delivered to your room for 60 reais. For only 10 reais more, the lunch buffet has unlimited local delicacies and deserts, and the menu rotates each day. Service: I wanted last minute tickets to a highly demanded bloco, which for most people would have have meant a trek to a mall or sketchy street market. The hotel produced the ticket in 40 mins, and at a great price. It's hard to overstate the benefit of hours of time and stress saved to get the right tickets. Carnaval 2020 was amazing, and we owe a huge thanks to Wish for making it the best so far.