Brisa Barra Hotel — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

The reviews said that this hotel had good customer service. But, that was not my experience. My wife and I booked this hotel for two nights. We made the reservation over the phone and asked if we could do an early check-in. We were told to call the day of arrival to check if there were rooms available. We called and we were told to head to the hotel since there were rooms available for early check in. When we got to the hotel, the receptionist asked for the name in the reservation (it was under my wife’s). Without even looking at us, he told us that we needed to check in online and pointed at a QR code. Mind you, the reception was completely empty, but he did not want to help us (we were having problems with the internet connection). After we finished, he told us that there were no rooms available for early check in “for the rate we were paying.” We explained to him that we called the hotel, and we were told that there were rooms available. He did not want to hear it. He insisted that he did not have any rooms available at the price we were paying. However, he told us that if we wanted to upgrade, he will give us a room immidiately (basically, he was trying to push us to upgrade).||||I do not know if this is company policy. If it is, the hotel should put a warning when it offers different rates, for example: “if you choose the lowest room rate, we will look down on you and disrespect you.” I asked the receptionist for his name, and he ignored me completely. After the third time, he finally told me his name. He needed my ID, and even though I was standing right in front of him, he asked my wife for it. I complained to him and told him that he did not have to treat us like that. In a very threatening manner and practically yelling at me, he asked me “if I had a problem with him.” Once again, I tried to explain to him that we called the hotel, and we were told that there were rooms available.||||I understand that mistakes can be made and perhaps the person over the phone gave us the wrong information. All the receptionist needed to say was: “I am sorry, you were giving the wrong information, but I will try to get you a room as soon as one becomes available” (you know, Customer Service 101). But, I guess being professional was too much for him as he went on about our hotel rate. After much insistence, he finally told us that if a room becomes available before 2 pm (it was 11 am), he will give it to us. We asked him if he could call us to let us know, but he refused. Instead, he told us to call the hotel. At that point, and based on the way the receptionist treated us, my wife and I concluded that: (1) There is no way he is going to give us a room before 2 pm; and (2) He is going to give us the worst room he has.||||When we arrived at 2 pm, there was a long line at the reception. We had the opportunity to observe the same receptionist in action. He did not ask any guest to check in online (perhaps those guests had a different hotel rate, so I am assuming he decided that he did not need to be condescending towards them). We got lucky we did not have to deal with him. Another staff member finally helped us . Fortunately for us, it was a completely different experience.||||There is no way for me to affirm that we got the worst room available. Suffice to say that the room was bad. There was black mold everywhere, the balcony door was all messed up, the bathroom door did not close, and the desk was damaged. We decided not to complain since we really did not want to deal with that receptionist once again. He had already ruined the day for us.||||The day of our check out, that same receptionist was the only one there. When it was our turn, he said “one moment.” He did not say, “one moment please,” or “I will be right there with you” (you know, Customer Service 101). He made us wait and wait. Another staff member showed up and took care of our check out. It is a real shame that a hotel that prides itself in good customer service, has unprofessional staff working there. Avoid this hotel. Really not...

The reviews said that this hotel had good customer service. But, that was not my experience. My wife and I booked this hotel for two nights. We made the reservation over the phone and asked if we could do an early check-in. We were told to call the day of arrival to check if there were rooms available. We called and we were told to head to the hotel since there were rooms available for early check in. When we got to the hotel, the receptionist asked for the name in the reservation (it was under my wife’s). Without even looking at us, he told us that we needed to check in online and pointed at a QR code. Mind you, the reception was completely empty, but he did not want to help us (we were having problems with the internet connection). After we finished, he told us that there were no rooms available for early check in “for the rate we were paying.” We explained to him that we called the hotel, and we were told that there were rooms available. He did not want to hear it. He insisted that he did not have any rooms available at the price we were paying. However, he told us that if we wanted to upgrade, he will give us a room immidiately (basically, he was trying to push us to upgrade).||||I do not know if this is company policy. If it is, the hotel should put a warning when it offers different rates, for example: “if you choose the lowest room rate, we will look down on you and disrespect you.” I asked the receptionist for his name, and he ignored me completely. After the third time, he finally told me his name. He needed my ID, and even though I was standing right in front of him, he asked my wife for it. I complained to him and told him that he did not have to treat us like that. In a very threatening manner and practically yelling at me, he asked me “if I had a problem with him.” Once again, I tried to explain to him that we called the hotel, and we were told that there were rooms available.||||I understand that mistakes can be made and perhaps the person over the phone gave us the wrong information. All the receptionist needed to say was: “I am sorry, you were giving the wrong information, but I will try to get you a room as soon as one becomes available” (you know, Customer Service 101). But, I guess being professional was too much for him as he went on about our hotel rate. After much insistence, he finally told us that if a room becomes available before 2 pm (it was 11 am), he will give it to us. We asked him if he could call us to let us know, but he refused. Instead, he told us to call the hotel. At that point, and based on the way the receptionist treated us, my wife and I concluded that: (1) There is no way he is going to give us a room before 2 pm; and (2) He is going to give us the worst room he has.||||When we arrived at 2 pm, there was a long line at the reception. We had the opportunity to observe the same receptionist in action. He did not ask any guest to check in online (perhaps those guests had a different hotel rate, so I am assuming he decided that he did not need to be condescending towards them). We got lucky we did not have to deal with him. Another staff member finally helped us . Fortunately for us, it was a completely different experience.||||There is no way for me to affirm that we got the worst room available. Suffice to say that the room was bad. There was black mold everywhere, the balcony door was all messed up, the bathroom door did not close, and the desk was damaged. We decided not to complain since we really did not want to deal with that receptionist once again. He had already ruined the day for us.||||The day of our check out, that same receptionist was the only one there. When it was our turn, he said “one moment.” He did not say, “one moment please,” or “I will be right there with you” (you know, Customer Service 101). He made us wait and wait. Another staff member showed up and took care of our check out. It is a real shame that a hotel that prides itself in good customer service, has unprofessional staff working there. Avoid this hotel. Really not...

Cheaper option that ended up being way more expensive. If you enjoy suffering in a 3rd world country this is definitely the hotel for you. I’ve stayed in Rio many times in the past as my family is from there. I’ve stayed at Novotel a few times and at Laghetto other times. Both hotels are infinitely better that Barra Brisa and only marginally more expensive.

We booked two rooms at Barra Brisa and paid in advance at the hotel’s request. Within the first night the A/C broke and although staff lied to us about its progress being fixed, it remained broke for six consecutive days. Try swinging that in a country where temperatures coast around 88-92 degrees at night. The city of Rio was also dealing with a dengue epidemic so sleeping with the windows open was not really an option.

On top of that they had power outages every day that last on average 6-10 hours at a time EVERY SINGLE DAY AND NIGHT. That means no wi fi, no TV, no lights, and no elevator (which really sucked because my grandmother couldn’t leave her room in the fourth floor in her condition).

The staff’s attitude was dismissive and rude often. You would think we stole something by the way they answered our requests. And if you think that was just our opinion you should speak to some of the other guests. We heard so many guests from Argentina, Ecuador, Australia, and the US all complain daily in frustration saying they would never come back to that hotel.

The worst part is that the hotel would not return anyone’s money. All of us wanted to leave and go to a different hotel, but the manager wasn’t allowing anyone to get a refund and said things would get better every day. For six days straight.

My father was having a really touch time sleeping in the extreme heat so I ended up booking an additional room for him as an emergency measure and we ended up having to pay an additional $1200 to book a room for him at Novotel (to which the service was impeccable as usual).

After we left the hotel we began negotiating our refund and even though we suffered in the heat for 6 days straight with no power and AC or decent sleeping conditions they only agree to refund one room which we never used because my grandmother had to be removed after the first day because of the heat and risk of having a stroke.

No hotel is perfect but if you are in the area of Barra in Rio, do yourself a huge favor and book a room at LaGhetto or Novotel. They may cost 5% more but will save you so much trouble in the process.

Oh yeah, one last thing… The beds at Barra Brisa are super tiny and short. They’re made for 8 year old children. The beds at the other hotels were standard queen...