INNSiDE by Meliá São Paulo Itaim — Hotel in Região Imediata de São Paulo

I booked this hotel for a business trip after reading plenty of glowing reviews and a #6 traveller ranking in Sao Paulo. What I found was not worthy of the high praise this property receives online -- it is average at best and certainly not a four-star hotel (I took the time to check the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism's requirements for 4* and I believe that using that framework, this is a 3+ star hotel; alas)...||My main qualms:||- My room was not ready for check-in at mid morning (which is entirely reasonable on the hotel's behalf); however, when I finally checked in at 6pm, after a 16-hour flight and full day of meetings, I found that the body wash was not restocked in the bathroom. Surely if the room was not ready because it was being cleaned, soap should have been one of the first things to be checked by housekeeping. The front desk team offered me a separate bottle of soap, but the built-in bottle in the shower was not refilled for 3 days.||-Shower and sink were both very slow to drain and this was not fixed during my stay despite bringing it up on day one||-The room is not at all like the photos on the website and TripAdvisor. I did not have a standalone desk, nor an area rug, nor mood lighting; the bathroom looked tired and not remodelled as per the photos. There was evident wear and tear in the room itself.||-The lamp in the room only worked if the power cord was in a particular position, and kept flickering or turning off if it was not perfectly aligned.||-The gym is lacklustre compared to the online photos: kit is poorly signed and dated (NB - there are several nice gyms in the neighbourhood that offer day/week passes to visitors)||-WiFi was not strong enough to do a Teams call from my hotel room||-The housekeeper thought she left something in my room one day and entered without knocking, while I was in the room||For the price point of this hotel, I was disappointed by the product, which felt rather budget and not business or 4* in...

This hotel has an unbeatable location. But other than that the property is in a very sorry state. Everything is old. The bathrooms are full of mold. In every one of my last 8 or so stays I’ve had to ask for something to be repaired - mostly clogged showers and sinks. Toilets don’t flush properly leaving stuff behind. Everything everywhere is scoffed and scratched and very tired looking. Staff know all of this but are helpless. They do try to solve specific problems when told. They are generally friendly and efficient. Other than the perennial mold rooms are clean.

It is funny how the owners of this property don’t get that given their location they could double their nightly rates if they gave the property a complete make over.

Two star facility with a...

The rooms are not as glamorous as in the pictures. Decent enough, but you can feel that the hotel is not built to the highest quality. I tried to adjust the position of my shower head just to feel the entire thing move behind a false wall. Other small details give you a sense that they try to wow you with looks, but the reality is different.

The breakfast selection though, was above adequate. Good variety and selection, with some items changing from day to day.

All in all, would recommend, as long as you don't keep your hopes...