Location - hotel seems to located off the beaten path on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro away from nightlife and activity. At 17:00 it was about one hour cab ride from SDU airport. I did meet colleagues for dinner in an area that seems to be populated and on the beach about 15 minute ride away.
People - front desk staff and restaurant staff are the only staff I encountered and all were delightful.
Facility - old and in need of updating and/or repair. Hallways leading to room were too warm, humid and very musty smelling. Kind of had a stale urine smell! I walked into my room and I would estimate the temperature to have been about 80-85f and very humid. I actually had a one bedroom suite. In the living room there was a window air conditioner unit mounted above the sliding glass door. It was running full but it was not cooling the room OR drying the air. In the bedroom there was another air conditioning unit but it was not turned on. I turned it on and it immediately started spitting condensation and black “speckles” on the white duvet on the bed. I did find if I closed the bedroom door, the room AC unit was able to overcome the oppressive heat and cool the bedroom to a comfortable (sleeping) temperature.
The main room door had a deadbolt but no chain or bar lock as is customary for hotel rooms. The sliding glass door leading to a nice balcony did not have a functioning lock on it, at all.
There was a hot water pot in the room for boiling water to make instant coffee. It did not work. I plugged it in and turned it on. After 20 or 30 minutes I gave up and unplugged it. The water did not warm at all.
Electrical outlets were relatively scarce and not conveniently located.
The bathroom had what appeared to be clean towels but did not have washcloths (face cloths?). Do people really not use washcloths?
The room had no iron and ironing board. My shirts are all permanent press but after being packed in my suitcase for several days they could use a little ironing.
Breakfast in the restaurant - acceptable. Selection was good and staff was friendly. Could try to figure out a way to keep the hot food items a little warmer.
This hotel was recommended by local co-worker, not for any reason other than convenience for her. It is close to her home and she was picking us up in the morning and driving us to our meeting. Next time we will use ride share or taxi and meet her at customer site.
Price - I would say the price was good but it was too expensive for the experience.
In 2018 I spent more than 150 nights in hotels all around the world. I have seen much. I know what is acceptable to me and what is not. If I had been planning more than one night stay here I would have left and gone elsewhere.
Unless the owners of this hotel make some drastic improvements I will not stay here again and I can not recommend it for anyone else.
