My wife and I stayed overnight on what was originally planned to be only a day trip to the border towns of Rivera (Uruguay) and Santana do Liveramento (Brazil). We walked into the Uruguay-Brasil hotel, as it was centrally-located, and looked OK.

First, the basics about the hotel: It's a 3-star on the Uruguayan scale, which roughly corresponds to the Italian or French scale. This means it''s more than basic; the rooms have A/C, a TV, a private bath and shower, an elevator, and (maybe) a minibar. I've stayed in charming one and two star, and dreadful four star hotels in Europe. This is probably a mediocre 3-star by infrastructure, but good in service, compared to my European experiences.

In this case, the hotel is clean, the staff is friendly and helpful, and everything works - including the elevator. They have free parking in a locked garage area (space limited), and the room had working A/C, hot water, a decent bed, a minibar, and a bidet in the bathroom. The breakfast was OK - more like adequate; coffee, some papaya, and an assortment of breads/pastries.of adequate quality The hotel is centrally-located on Av. Sarandi - the main drag in Rivera where most all the Duty Free, restaurants and bars are. There is free internet access from a PC in the lobby (although the internet connection was not working when I tried it). Finally, the hotel restaurant seems decent (if relatively expensive for the area), and there is a duty-free shop attached to the hotel (as if Rivera needs more Duty Free....)

That said, the hotel has little charm. It look like it was buiit in the 1950s or 1960s, has been well-maintained, has a few nice touches, but needs a facelift. Floors are hard terrazo or thin outdoor-type carpeting. Hall lighting is mid-scale florescent fixtures with exposed tubes. Bathrooms have basic fixtures from the US 1950s, or Europe 1960s, but need an upgrade.

One significant downside is the street noise if one has a room overlooking the main street. Uruguayan night life runs until past 5am, and the music, traffic, voices, and other "party" sounds were easily audible over the A/C during the night (the windows were not soundproof, by a longshot).

Overall, I'd say it was adequate, but there may be better choices nearby. The hotel Casablanca - about 2 blocks away, is also a 3-star, and is located on a quieter street. The hotel Jandaia on the Brazilian side (Santana do Liveramento) looks to have better infrastructure, and about the same rates (we only visited the lobby). Contrary to what one might expect, the Brazilian side is much quieter at night. The Jandaia was originally recommended to us by a shopkeeper, but we were given bad directions and didn't find it the evening we arrived. (We found it easily the morning after).