There were some BIG negatives during my stay but I want to be fair because those negatives won't affect most guests - so firstly the positives.|This is a smart hotel. The rooms are large and the rooms overlooking the port afford good views.|The rooftop swimming pool (heated) is great and the gym and sauna are fine. Breakfast was also good with a great deal of variety. |The location, whilst not the best - not really much around (it's mostly an industrial area), I felt safe and it has good transport links. The tram stop is directly next to the hotel and takes you into Rio city centre in about 15-20 mintues. If you want to go to Copacabana/Ipanema you can either take the tram into the city centre and connect onto a metro - another 15-20 minutes to the beach, or you can take a bus all the way from just round the corner - Any Troncal No 6 bus goes to Copacabana/Ipanema. Coming back, all the buses went to Rodovaria from where you catch the tram two short stops back to the hotel.|The negatives - not all the front desk staff spoke sufficient English. I had a very messy check in - partly through a lack of being able to communicate. I wanted to use Accor points but the agent kept saying "no not possible". It turned out she thought I was trying to say my company was paying. A number of other issues meant it took me about half an hour to check in. There was only one staff member at the desk (14.00) and so those in the queue behind me were frustrated as well as myself. It was not all the agents fault but it could have been handled much better. Then when I had finally checked in and was in the lift I heard another staff member and her giggling at the event. Not a great welcome!|The other BIG negative was that on the first night there was an open air night club open opposite the hotel. The noise was unbelievable. They played great music but I could hear every single word and the beat kept going until 7.30am. I hardly slept the whole night. I have no idea how this is deemed at all acceptable given there are two hotels with about 600 plus guests who would have been affected. What is absolutely unacceptable is that the hotel took no steps to advise the customers of this event (I assume it was a one off) or apologise for it. A note under the door or ear plugs would have been appropriate). If you are considering staying here over a Sat night, please email the hotel to check there is no night club due to be held when you...
Read moreThere were some BIG negatives during my stay but I want to be fair because those negatives won't affect most guests - so firstly the positives.|This is a smart hotel. The rooms are large and the rooms overlooking the port afford good views.|The rooftop swimming pool (heated) is great and the gym and sauna are fine. Breakfast was also good with a great deal of variety. |The location, whilst not the best - not really much around (it's mostly an industrial area), I felt safe and it has good transport links. The tram stop is directly next to the hotel and takes you into Rio city centre in about 15-20 mintues. If you want to go to Copacabana/Ipanema you can either take the tram into the city centre and connect onto a metro - another 15-20 minutes to the beach, or you can take a bus all the way from just round the corner - Any Troncal No 6 bus goes to Copacabana/Ipanema. Coming back, all the buses went to Rodovaria from where you catch the tram two short stops back to the hotel.|The negatives - not all the front desk staff spoke sufficient English. I had a very messy check in - partly through a lack of being able to communicate. I wanted to use Accor points but the agent kept saying "no not possible". It turned out she thought I was trying to say my company was paying. A number of other issues meant it took me about half an hour to check in. There was only one staff member at the desk (14.00) and so those in the queue behind me were frustrated as well as myself. It was not all the agents fault but it could have been handled much better. Then when I had finally checked in and was in the lift I heard another staff member and her giggling at the event. Not a great welcome!|The other BIG negative was that on the first night there was an open air night club open opposite the hotel. The noise was unbelievable. They played great music but I could hear every single word and the beat kept going until 7.30am. I hardly slept the whole night. I have no idea how this is deemed at all acceptable given there are two hotels with about 600 plus guests who would have been affected. What is absolutely unacceptable is that the hotel took no steps to advise the customers of this event (I assume it was a one off) or apologise for it. A note under the door or ear plugs would have been appropriate). If you are considering staying here over a Sat night, please email the hotel to check there is no night club due to be held when you...
Read moreIt‘s a secret to me, why they get good reviews. I stayed there for two nights. First of all, the location is far off almost everything! I just found one supermarket within walking distance. Upon check-in, which took a while for what reason ever, I didn’t get a welcome drink, which I usually get as a member of their loyalty program. I even gave the check-in agent twice a hint, if my number is on file. In general I have to say, that most of the staff members, except the one at check-out, where bored and slow in what they’re doing! Arrived in the room I realized, that the blanket was not covered by a proper duvet cover, but with two bed linens only, which I don’t like at all, cause everything shifts whilst sleeping. And these linens had some tiny holes already. And they curtain had some unpleasant stains. Another thing I didn’t like was, that when I took a shower, the temperature of the water changed suddenly from regular hot to super hot again and again! After every single flush of the toilet, there was such a loud noise whilst refilling the water tank. I can imagine, that you even could hear this noise on the aisle in front of the room. ||The worst thing was that the wifi was unstable and slower than slow during my stay. I had to login every couple of minutes again and again. Watching movies, YouTube clips or even Instagram videos was impossible due to both the low speed and the trouble with the permanent login and logout thing.||I booked this hotel with breakfast, but I didn’t want to visit this in the mornings. I never ever would return to this Novotel Atlantico in...
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