Hotel Vila Galé Rio de Janeiro — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

I don't usually write reviews but after staying at this hotel, I felt obliged to make my experience public so fellow travelers know what they are getting into when booking rooms at this hotel. Despite its beauty, the staff's rudeness, the hotel's bare-bones facilities and amenities, and above all its unsafe and filthy location made this hotel so unworthy of my money. After checking in, the receptionist told us the bellboy would bring our luggage up. My husband had to go get the luggage himself after waiting for more than an hour in our room and having called the reception three times. On the second day of our stay, we asked for clean towels and did not receive them after hours of waiting and another phone call to the reception. On our third day of stay, the toilet clogged. We called the reception, waited for an hour and no one showed up. We stopped at the reception and told the staff that we would like for the toilet to be unclogged by the time we got back to the hotel after our tour. Six hours later when we were back, the toilet was still untouched. We had to make another phone call and finally someone showed up with a plunger 30 minutes later. Speaking of amenities, the hotel offered nothing but 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 bottles of multi-purpose shampoo/body wash, 2 bath ropes, and a hair dryer. No complementary water nor even a hot water maker. And have I mentioned mosquitos? Everytime we walked out of our room, there was a swarm of mosquitos waiting for us. My husband and I found several mosquito bites on us when we woke up in the morning. Last but not least, the location of this hotel was a horrifying experience for us. The street reeked of human/ animal feces and was smeared with the like. It was swamped with homeless and gangster-looking people. My husband and I did not dare going out after dark the entire time we stayed there. The hotel was very deceptive in stating it located in Santa Teresa neighborhood. Its location is in Lapa neighborhood, which is right next to Favela neighborhood and is definitely unsafe. I don't know how the hotel gets away with being rated a 4-Star hotel. I have stayed at many better and safer 3-Star hotels. This is my first hotel review and I sincerely hope I don't have to write another one for hotels I am going to stay at in the future. I hope that my review can help folks who love to travel and explore to avoid such a dishonest trap...

How frustrating it was to stay in a hotel run by a team of incompetents! My partner and I had booked this hotel because our Airbnb host couldn’t accommodate us due to a water shortage in Rio. We decided on a hotel, thinking that professionals would be better equipped to handle such issues—especially since the next day was our wedding day. At check-in, which iinexplicably took forever despite us completing everything online beforehand; the entire process took us 40 minutes. During this time, we made it clear that having access to water was critical. The first staff member assured us they had private water tank deliveries and that everything was "under control." Their explanation sounded reasonable, and we were somewhat reassured. Fast forward to the moment I needed to get ready for my wedding. Surprise: no water in our apartment. I went to the reception multiple times, but no one could provide a solution. It was as if they simply didn’t care—or lacked the intelligence to think on their feet. My husband, fed up with waiting, had to take a shower at the pool, the “only” place with water. When I asked if they could check for another room with water, they seemed clueless. One receptionist, who seemed to believe scrolling through a device would magically produce an answer, offered no help whatsoever. Honestly, is it time to replace incompetents with AI? I think yes. When I pressed for answers, another staff member tried to brush off my concerns. I asked if the spa had water, and his brilliant response was, “You can check if there’s water there.” At this point, I had to remind him it was his job to check, not mine. Embarrassed (or perhaps distracted by another device check), he eventually returned to inform me there was water but only enough for a few minutes. When I asked for a robe to change, he handed me one that was missing its belt. Imagine this: on my wedding day, I had to walk through the hotel reception wearing a broken robe and shower cap trying to make it to the room after drops of water in the spa shower, while guests stared at me as if I were the insane one. In reality, it was Vila Galé’s incompetence that made this day unforgettable—for all the wrong reasons. Service in Brazil can be appalling, yet they still expect a 10% tip. This hotel takes the crown for the most unprofessional and poorly managed establishment I’ve ever encountered. My wedding day was overshadowed by...

This hotel is one of the top-rated 4-star properties in Downtown Rio de Janeiro, according to Tripadvisor, and I booked it based on those reviews—so my expectations were high.||✅ What I Liked:|1. Excellent Central Location:|The hotel—Britanico Hotel (assuming from context; correct if needed)—is located in the heart of Lapa, one of Rio's most vibrant neighborhoods. Major tourist attractions such as the Arcos da Lapa (Lapa Arches), Escadaria Selarón (Selarón Steps), and the lively nightlife district are all within walking distance. Thanks to the central location, you can find taxis within seconds.||2. Well-Maintained Property:|The hotel is clean, well-maintained, and functional with no major issues.||3. Impressive Breakfast:|The buffet breakfast exceeded expectations—honestly better than what I had at a 5-star hotel in Brasília just a few days earlier.||4. Affordable Dinner Option:|On select days, the hotel also serves buffet dinner at a very reasonable price of R$88, which was both tasty and good value for money.||5. Leisure Facilities:|The swimming pool, sauna, and Jacuzzi are all in working condition and were a welcome addition to the stay.||⚠️ Areas for Improvement:|1. No In-Room Tea/Coffee Facilities:|There was no electric kettle or in-room tea/coffee setup. In today’s standards—even 3-star hotels usually provide this. I had to request hot water every morning, which was inconvenient.||2. Language Barrier:|While the reception staff spoke English, most other staff—including housekeeping—did not. This led to a frustrating situation where I repeatedly tried to ask for room trash to be cleared, but the housekeeping staff simply couldn’t understand me.||3. Reception Layout:|The reception is located in a separate building from the main apartment block where most guests stay. This setup made it inconvenient whenever I needed to approach the front desk in person.||💬 Final Thoughts:|Overall, this is a very good hotel in terms of location, cleanliness, food, and facilities, with no major drawbacks except for the language barrier, which is common across Brazil. I strongly recommend using Google Translate or a translation app for smoother communication.||Would I stay here again? Yes—for the value and location, definitely. Just be prepared for some minor...