Hilton Garden Inn Rebouças — Hotel in Região Imediata de São Paulo

For my 1 night stay in Sao Paulo, I booked this rather new property, which was in the district of Reboucas. The initial rate I had was actually very favorable, but due to my own mistake, actually reserved it for the day I was flying to Sao Paulo. After realizing this on the day itself, I called the hotel directly and luckily they were accommodating and moved my reservation to the next day with an updated (more expensive rate) - which still was not too bad (especially compared to all other Hilton properties in the city). ||Location|The property is located in quite a nice middle class area from what I noticed of Sao Paulo. There are quite a number of shops especially food and beverage outlets in the area - with some of them having quite some good review. From security point of view, I did not feel in any way unsafe even walking outside during the night time. ||For those wanting to use the public transportation to get to the property, this property is in my opinion rather well suited especially if you have limited carry on type luggage or not too bulky luggage. From the airport taking the airport train that stops at Luz (this train runs 2x per hour) and transfer to the Yellow Line 4 getting out at the stop of Fradique Coutinho. The only reason that with large bulky luggage is that the metro which begins at Luz can get very packed, making it rather incovenient including the transfer process - which stations can get crowded. |With the metro station close by, it was rather easy getting around Sao Paulo in my opinion. |Furthermore, the hotel itself is connected to a smaller mall - with just next door an Outback chain. Down the main road of the hotel are again quite a number of shops. ||Check In|I arrived very early to the hotel - just after 8am and I was already prepared to not have a room (I did request for Early check in) and I was happily surprised that they did have a room available for me. I had in my original booking already a few days before a notice that my room had been upgraded to their Deluxe room (this is the highest category at the property) and they maintined this room type even after I changed my booking. At this hour, the front desk area was actually slightly busy - with guests checking out. After waiting a few minutes, I was assisted by one of the front desk agent that became available. Strangely even though they did see that I was a HHonors member and status, I still had to fill in the registration form - for both guests which did take some time. They also had to make a copy of both the passport. |As an elite member, this property outside of the upgrade, you will only get complimentary breakfast included and 2 bottles of water (in the room there were already 2 bottles available, albeit smaller size). |The check-in process was ok - much better than my experience in Mexico. Although I felt it really depends on the agent - as I did get a meet a friendlier agent when I had to get a new key and even welcomed me again as an elite member. (I believe she was a sort of team lead). ||Room|The room was located on the 10th floor (the highest floor of the property). This seems to be a sort of mix usage property with the hotel taking a part of the building. The first thing I realized was the new room smell. From the lobby it was clear that this property was following the somewhat boutique modern look of newly built HGI's. This property was well designed and the hallways leading to the room was also nicely designed with design idea flow. |The room was on the smaller side especially for a city like Sao Paulo - where I had expected the room to be larger. It was still ok for this 1 night (or a few nights). Directly at the room hallway, to the right was the wardrobe (which had the safe deposit box, ironing amenities, bathrobe and slippers). There was a long desk - which had the working desk towards the end of this piece of cabinet. The coffee/tea making amenities was on this desk. There was sort of semi sofa at the edge of room overlooking the large floor to ceiling windows of the room. |The view of the room was towards the metro station direction and the rest of the high rises appartment building next to the hotel. There is currently some construction ongoing on the empty plot of land opposite the side road of the hotel - seems like it is used as a parking lot for now |Internet was ok - but I am not sure if it's due to the location of the room, the signal while working in the room was quite weak, and walking towards the door, it improved dramtically. As for the TV channels, this was a mix of local and international options.|Sleep quality was good - with hardly any external nor internal noise disturbance. The climate control in the room was good - with little to no audible fan noise. It managed to keep the room at the desired temperature. ||The bathroom size was good - and actually quite well designed. It had only a walk-in shower - with good temperature and water pressure. The toiletries at this property deviated from what I would have expected, it seem to have some local branded toiletries. The only small issue I had here was the toilet, it did seem to have issues with the flushing power. ||Breakfast|The breakfast service, even in the weekend, starts at 06.30 am - which I was really surprised, but for me it was very welcomed as I had a morning flight, so with this start time I did managed to get some breakfast before leaving the property. Breakfast was served in the main restaurant on the 2nd floor - which seems to also function as the bar. |The breakfast was ok, especially for a HGI. They did have a few hot dishes - with some Brazilian dishes included. I am not sure if there is the possibility for eggs to order - as I did not need it. Outside of that it was the usual mix of continental type options and breads/pastries. |As for the staff - they were ok, though not completely generous in their smile or service. They bascially just stood around and did what they needed to do. All in all, it was acceptable the whole experience. ||Overall|All in all, I would certainly return to this property if I needed to be in Sao Paulo. I found the value for money to be good - and staff in general to be ok (a mix of really good ones and ok ones). The area and facilities around was good. The only reason I would select another property would be the lack of facilities like a swimming pool or lounge. (They did...

Really nice decor and in an excellent location! However I had two major issues during my stay, and glad I didn’t stay longer.

1. Ana at the front desk was exceptionally rude. When we arrived at 11:30am, she told us there was no way we could check in earlier than 2pm. It would have been reasonable for her to say there is no guarantee but she will try if any rooms do become available, but she said there was absolutely no way, and she cannot do anything about it. Then when we returned back around 1pm we saw her checking in other customers early. The following day we asked her for a DND sign for our room, because we didn’t have one, she said she was unable to help. It felt as though she just didn’t want to help us. Please train her to engage better with customers, this was such an unpleasant interaction both times.

2. the walls are paper thin. We tried to get some rest after a long flight and kept hearing the neighbours speak loud, move furniture in their rooms, and just chatting in the hall. It’s quite unusual for a Hilton to have been built...

Has 'Hilton' name, but has 'Motel 6' housekeeping and service. I stayed here a week and could not believe the daily struggles to get regular and consistent cleaning of the room. For example: Housekeeper takes two used towels and leaves only one clean one several times, despite knowing two guests are staying. Should we share towels? Takes two dirty cups and leaves one. Refuses to empty the full trash can for three days until I place it in front of the door. Refuses to change bedding for three days, even after I put it on the floor. I had to go downstairs to the front desk several times each day to deal with these ridiculous things. Also, the toilets in this hotel must be flushed 3-5 times to clear the bowl. I checked other rooms, so I know it's not only my room. This was a very disappointing experience. It's a nice-looking hotel with a good location, but I'll definitely try someplace else on my next trip. This is a two-star hotel with...