Windsor Hotel — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

I had read a lot of reviews of the hotel before I went and the location was actually better than I expected. Leme is still part of Copacabana beach, albeit the part furthest away from Ipanema, which we actually preferred in terms of the "vibe" (bit more upmarket), but the hotel was absolutely fine with a great rooftop bar with spectacular views all around, including of Christ the Redeemer in the background, the entire Copacabana beach and Sugar Loaf to the left. It was a great base to explore ALL of Rio as Ubers are easy to book and to be honest, the bus system, which a lot of tourists avoid, was absolutely fine. We went from Leme all the way to Sao Conrado beach (Route 539) and the bus stopped right outside the hotel. We even went through the biggest favella on it during the day. I probably wouldn't recommend at night time but it was fine in the day. We tried other buses too. You actually get a better feel for the local culture and see more of the districts and it costs 70p to go miles.||The hotel gives out beach towels (against a return token), which you can take over to the beach, which is 50m from the hotel restaurant. The friendliest lounger/sunshade hire guys opposite the hotel (think they had a Jamaican flag marker but it was next to the rainbow flag guys) were great and there were plenty of local bars and restaurants to choose from ranging in price/quality. Our favourite, but the most expensive, was Joaquina, as the cuisine was a bit more sophisticated than the usual green rice and mash with everything type Brazilian food. There were the bars on the Copacabana "prom" and if you take a left and go to the far end of the beach there are some cool bars with a younger vibe (we are middle aged rather than young). ||The breakfast selection was really good; I didn't use the egg station as the wait could be a bit long at busy times, but there was plenty of other stuff to choose from and the waiting staff were attentive and came round to top up coffee regularly (coffee was a bit "meh", but I find this in most hotels). There are plenty of decent coffee shops around the corner - the one we went to a lot was an artisan bakery too - excellent coffee for £2. For snacks there is a supermarket round the corner - even sold ready made sandwiches if you didn't want to eat in a cafe or restaurant all the time.||The staff at reception were really friendly and helpful - they managed to organise tickets for an international football match between Flamengo and a Colombian team at the Maracana stadium which were like gold dust. We probably paid over the odds, but given it was a sell-out and a once in a life time experience, we thought it was worth it. ||We had an adequate room which faced the back street, but given you don't travel to Rio to stay in your room this wasn't a problem. The bed was big and comfy. What was a bit of a pain for the first two days is we couldn't get hot water in the shower. We complained three times and the staff assured us the engineers would sort it. They did eventually (two cold showers later), and left a plate of fruit in the room as an apology. They acted surprised that this had happened, but I spoke to several other people at the roof top bar and they had the same thing happen. I think it is a fairly regular problem. It was never piping hot, but it was warm enough for a decent shower after that.||The hotel was very popular with both tourists and business men, and it wasn't possible to get into our room early, despite arriving on a very early flight. We ended up waiting at the rooftop bar and enjoying the delights of the excellent Capirinhas - more expensive than the bars opposite (average £1.60 to £2) but still cheaper than cocktails in England (about £4) and better than any of the ones we tried elsewhere, and the view was probably second to none. I recommend the pineapple version of Capirinha, not just the lime one. ||One piece of advice I would give you is that rather than go on the hotel promoted tours, unless you are the type that needs a tour guide to explain absolutely everything in not the best English, I would use Ubers to go to the main sites like Christ the Redeemer, the Maracana, Escaderia Selaron and Sugar Loaf Mountain and get there as early in the morning as possible. The Redeemer is a nightmare of queuing and the usual vain "take a million photos of me pouting my lips" type people selfishly spending hours in the same place without moving, and making it really hard to get a decent photo of the actual thing you are visiting - especially at Christ the Redeemer. I would also take the underground if visiting the Maracana to see a match - easier to get there and get out (nightmare number of taxis going nowhere slowly outside the stadium) and we found it perfectly safe. The only exception to this would be the jeep ride tour to the rainforest (below Christ the Redeemer), because the guys who run those know where the wildlife is likely to hang out, like the sloths for example. They also give you a lot of extra information that would not be in a guide book. The tour we went on with a guide we found annoying - the guide was morose, we went at the busiest times (as did ALL the other guided tours), stopped at a distinctly average canteen type restaurant for lunch (average food, ridiculous buffet/ticket/queue system), and I've never felt more like I was on a school trip, being barked at to arrive/be places at certain times, than when I was actually at school. Stressful and not enjoyable. The very day after our "guided tour" (not much information given about sites visited either) we hopped in an Uber and went back to the Escaderia Selaron quite early and it was a much nicer experience. There were very few people there and we virtually had the steps to ourselves. Would also recommend the botanical gardens if not too hot. When we were there it was 30C, but I would imagine in 40C it would be quite exhausting standing and walking around in the heat - it's a...

Booked this place based on Google Reviews about 8 months in advance on Expedia for $141 per night for a regular house room (including all fees and breakfast buffet for 2). Easy to use Uber from the GIG airport to here (25 minute ride at 11PM in evening for 112 reals / about $22 USD). The location is GREAT on the far far end of Copacabana beach (long walk from Ipanema) so you get the full view of the whole bay and beach. This is a quieter area, which is a plus in my opinion. The hotel is "ocean front" but across the road from the beach and near a number of good restaurants. Check-in staff were friendly and quick and we got a nice room facing the town (no problem, not spending any time in the room). Included WIFI worked fine, never had a long wait for the elevators, and overall the property is very nice. Our room was bigger than expected in such a big city and was in good shape and nice, with a refrigerator and safe. Shower was always good pressure and hot. Unfortunately, no in-room coffee. Even though the place seemed pretty full, we didn't hear a single noise at all at night, but I think they didn't have anyone in one of the rooms next to us. The breakfast buffet was above average (but limited variety of options) and enjoyable and worth adding to get your day going. The fresh fruit and fruit juices are definitely notable and worth enjoying. The servers kept our coffee cup full (nice, dark roast here). The rooftop pool and bar is NICE, like really NICE. We spent many enjoyable hours just having cheap local beers while enjoying the best view in Copacabana. We all agreed we would come back here for our next trip to Rio. The only small tiny annoyance was when I bought some ice cream at a local grocery store and asked at the front desk for a plastic spoon....they sent me to the restaurant.....who presented me an actual MFing menu of utensils that I could "order" to use in my room (I think it was about $2.00 for a full set). Ha, uh no thank you, you cheap nickel and diming chumps. Other than that, it was GREAT and IMO the best value in Rio...

First time visit as part of a tour and was not impressed much. The above good, location, breakfast options, good employee attitude. The not so good, housekeeping and management. During our 5 day visit not once was our room cleaned before 2pm, the last day at 4pm even though our "clean now" sign had been up since 10am. Yes this was carnival, very busy, but carnival happens every year and you probably have been at this hotel business for decades, so.... As for management, more like lack of it! They have a herd mentality, just do what you always do because that is what we do. Case in point, asked for a "late" checkout of 1 extra hour, 1pm vs noon. The front desk people are numb, not resourceful, most likely told to follow the herd. When check out time at noon happened, there were 20+ people in line and dozens of suitcases, all in the smallish lobby, great! So you need to have all those rooms vacated because you are going to clean them all at the SAME time? NO! How is it not possible to grant a later check out, if requested, so that you have fewer people/suitcases at the same time in the lobby and also it's probably easier to clean fewer rooms at a time! If anyone in management analyzes this it is a win-win situation. The hotel runs more efficient by staggering some activities in lobby/housekeeping, the lobby gives a better and more professional look instead of chaos, and maybe more importantly your customers are happier with less mess and getting a small request for a "late" check out; and no one is checking in, it was the end of the busy carnival 4 days so rooms are not needed. Someone just decided no exceptions, no decision making, and no customer service in this "hospitality" business....