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

Racism or poor costumer service?

I recently stayed at the Windsor Barra hotel from June 13th to June 14th, 2023, due to a congress that took place at the Windsor Oceânico. I had previously experienced a terrible ordeal at the Windsor Oceânico during the same congress in 2022.

Despite that, I decided to give it another try this year since I work for the organization responsible for the congress.

Last year, six Black women decided to have a glass of sparkling wine on the terrace overlooking the sea. Two of them were not staying at the hotel but were hosts and directors of the organization that rented the hotel. I was stopped at the elevator, but I explained that I had rented the hotel, identified myself, and was allowed to go up. The other friend, also Black, was prevented from going up with the information that the hotel bar was only for guests. The fact is that there is no information on the website, signs, or any signage about this policy.

Upon arriving at the pool bar, several white customers were being served by a waiter. We waited for over 40 minutes and were only attended to because I directly asked a Black waiter to serve us. Our average bill was over 1,000 reais.

This year, I stayed at the Windsor Barra, and the discriminatory and unprofessional treatment repeated itself. I will list all the facts below:

I asked the front desk employee at the Windsor Oceânico until what time the pool bar was open. It was around 5:40 PM on June 13th, and I was with 21 executives (some directors and others council members) who wanted to celebrate the success of the congress. I received a rude response that it wouldn't be possible to go up, even after identifying myself as a council member of the organization that rented the hotel for the event. The employee informed me that only the manager, Vitor, could resolve it. However, he wasn't working on that date. The rude manner in which I was directed to the Windsor Barra hotel left me perplexed. After all, we were at a 4-star hotel.

Upon arriving at the Windsor Barra, I patiently explained that we wanted to celebrate the event. I was attended to by Felipe, who categorically denied our request. I argued that there was no notice or indication of any kind, and after mentioning a previous incident of alleged racism, he authorized our entry, provided we identified the people in our group.

Out of the 21 executives, 7 were staying at the hotel.

When we arrived at the pool bar at 6:10 PM, there was only one waiter. We waited for 45 minutes for the first round of drinks to be served. When I questioned the delay, I was informed that he would no longer serve us because he was busy and that the bar would close at 8 PM.

Once again, the experience was disastrous. I find myself wondering: would we have received the same treatment if we were white, as in last year's incident?

Exhausted after hosting over 1,000 people at the event, I went down to the reception. I spoke with Felipe, requesting that the entire staff be made available at the pool bar. We would not leave until we had our celebration. More than half of the executives were in Rio for the first time, and their impression of the city was the worst possible.

The service only improved slightly when I mentioned the word "racism" and demanded to be attended to by a manager.

As if by magic, the staff was mobilized (after waiting 1 hour and 35 minutes for a round of caipirinhas and some snacks). We were going to have dinner, but the terrible experience had left us without appetite.

Manager Natalia was called and, very embarrassed, informed us that the hotel bar would be open until 11 PM.

If I weren't a council member of the organization, I would have left the hotel immediately. But my role was that of a host.

I am grateful to employee Raymundo who served us up to the standards of a 4-star hotel.

I have just spent a long period in the United Kingdom and realized in a very unpleasant way why Brazil is considered one of the most racist countries in the world.

You urgently need to...

This hotel was very underwhelming!

My husband and I came here for an aviation conference the first week of June. Maybe, if I had not just stayed at the JW Marriott… Maybe, if every other time the conference had been held at huge, gorgeous resorts… Maybe, if the rooms had been updated in the last 20 years… maybe, if we hadn’t been charged extra for me staying, even though it’s not an all-inclusive hotel… maybe, if we hadn’t paid triple the price for the room that other guests had paid by going through the conference which should have had a group rate… But alas, the room was from the 1980’s, we were charged an extra $200+ for me to stay (because my husband had reserved it for himself), we were booked in the Barra hotel and our reservation confirmation said “Barra”, but they moved us to Oceanico, the walls were very thin and we could constantly hear our neighbors, and the linens wreaked like soap! I had to pull the pillowcases off and put one of my shirts over the pillow in order to be able to sleep on them! They have plumbing issues because the sinks and showers wouldn’t drain properly.

The food in the restaurant was ok.

There’s no ironing board or iron in the room. You have to ask for one to be brought to your room. The safe didn’t work.

The staff were not super friendly. Some were, but not most. Room service was very quick!

There are no electrical adapters in the hotel! 😳🤯 You’ll have to buy one!

They did upgrade us to a bigger room with a better view for the inconveniences. I’ll post pictures of the view.

The pool is pretty small, and they had construction going on, but the pool is nice.

It’s a nice area and seemed pretty safe. There are plenty of good restaurants around (within walking distance).

My question is: we had friends who had originally planned on bringing their wives, but then didn’t. Were they refunded the money they paid for their spouses? Since we had to pay an extra $200 for me to stay in the same room as my husband…

I would NOT stay here again. If you plan on not spending ANY time in the hotel, it’s ok. But the last 2 days were rainy, so there wasn’t...

This is a REALLY nice hotel a 2 minutewalk from a pretty damn nice beach. Everything else I say will be nitpicky, so take that with a grain of salt. All electrical outlets here (except the 2 little USB connectors they have next to the beds) are 220v. This poses a problem for both Brazilians and those of us from the US. Some items will accept dual voltage, but many will not, so this poses a problem even if you have the regular adapters. There seems to only be one 220v to 120v inverter in the entire facility and they are very annoying about collecting it an hour or 2 after you get it, so plan a block of time to use it and be quick. The thing weighs 35 lbs, so don't drop it on your toe or your trip will be over. If you can spare the weight, bring your own. The beach is beautiful right next to the hotel with a nice restaurant/bar (see other review), but the Brazilians with us were unimpressed with the locals peddling their wares on the beach and said they were lower class than other adjacent areas. Not sure what this means, but again, I'm just nitpicking, I had a great time and really have very few things to mention. The hotel staff was helpful , friendly and mostly spoke or at least understood english and my horrible Portuguese. They allowed us to store our bags in a locked area free of charge while we went elsewhere for our travels. Breakfast was pretty good overall, though I was surprised it wasn't included with the rooms. We paid for a pretty large upgrade and thought it was included, but they wanted 88 reais each person, each morning for breakfast. Strangely, we were not allowed to charge anything to our room while others in our party had this option. Kind of annoying, but not a major issue. Also, the front desk will exchange american cash, but bring NEW $100 bills, the older ones have a lesser exchange rate not just here, but everywhere in the country and sometimes they wont take the old ones at all (new=5.1, old=4.5). Anyway, it's a really nice hotel and the prices are reasonable. I...