Rosewood São Paulo — Hotel in Região Imediata de São Paulo

This hotel is an over-rated, over-priced disappointment. On the surface, it presents itself well. You arrive entering a jungle-like sanctuary which then transitions into a library-cum-car park area. The reception staff are generally efficient although the people on the door can rather too insistent that guests are not permitted to carry their own language. ||The rooms are interesting. Lots or mirrors, large bathroom, comfortable beds but they are over-fussy. There are too may random nick-nacks and books in the rooms, so to have a clear space to put stuff down, you need to move all of these bits and pieces out of the way. There is also no desk in the room – just a low coffee table. The rooms are designed to look good on Instagram rather than for practical comfort. The night-time turn down service has an odd habit of leaving an open book on the bed. I don’t know what purpose this serves, other than making it necessary for the guest to move it before getting into bed. Small point to note, if you stay in room #435, the door does not lock when it closes, so all comers could just push on the door and walk in. ||The fundamental fault in this hotel is the level and speed of service. They simply have not worked out how to run their own hotel with efficiency and speed. All the more ironic, when the hotel has the chutzpah to levy a service charge of R$190 per night on the hotel bill. ||When I first arrived, on my first stay, we had booked rooms from the night prior to arriving on an early morning flight. In spite of the fact that they had more than 15 hours to prepare the rooms before we actually checked in, we were told they were not ready. Just what you don’t want to hear when you’ve been on an overnight flight. ||Breakfast is a disaster-zone. Go at the wrong time and you could be waiting for 20+ minutes for a table. This is largely because the hotel accepts too many outside diners for breakfast, which limits capacity for the paying hotel guests. There is no buffet for breakfast, everything is served by the waiting staff. The standard fruit plate is unimpressive and the measly portions of butter and jams are also disappointing. You will be asked for your breakfast order by 2 or 3 different people and in spite of this, your coffee and juice will still be slow to arrive and will need to be chased up again before it arrives. The arrival times for the hot breakfast dishes can also be very elongated. It’s odd because the staff to diner ratio is about 1:1, but there is a failure to organize or coordinate between them, that makes breakfast an underwhelming and slow affair. On the plus side, there is a local café just down the hill from the hotel called Boteco Garotinha, which does a much better job at a fraction of the price. ||My one experience of dinner in Taraz was a similarly under-served experience. The food is excellent, but having been told to wait 15 minutes for a free table, the staff failed to let us know when the table was actually free, so in the end we had to wait 45 minutes. We also had to wait about 30 minutes for dessert, by which time we were the only diners in the restaurant and the waiting staff outnumbered by 3:1. Many staff, but no service. ||For the sake of balance, the hotel has a good atmosphere, and if you’re young, trendy and want to # photos of yourself on social media, then it’s clearly the place to be seen. The staff are also friendly, although that can be said of almost every person in Brazil so it’s not really a unique selling point. The gym and and pool are good. ||An interesting hotel but given that on each of my last three stays, I have had money taken off the bill because of one disappointing experience or another. That probably says all you need to know. Having tried this hotel three times, I think they’ve been given enough opportunity to improve, and have failed to do so. There are much better options...

The reason why I’m giving this bad review is because I felt Rosewood didn’t treat us a valued guests. Our check out experience was amazing, the hotel is flawless but service is simply horrible. On the first day, we went to have dinner at Taraz. We didn’t have a reservation and the hostess told us we should wait up to 20 minutes. ALL THE TABLES were empty. She simply gave us a menu and we decided to have a drink while waiting. I noticed all the waiters didn’t approach our table and the were all gathered and chatting between them. Every single time I needed assistance I had to raise my hand. After 20-25 minutes, I called the waiter again (raising my hand for assistance because they never checked on us) and asked for the check. I asked him again why it was taking so long and pointed out all the tables were empty. I also noticed the waiters were extremely friendly with the straight couples that had a reservation and checking on them frequently while my husband and I were being ignored. I noticed the hotel was treating people who were not staying at the Rosewood way better than me. Next morning I went to the front desk and complained about the situation. The lady who helped me said she would tell her supervisor and never contact me back. The only good experience I had at the Rosewood São Paulo was in the breakfast and during the night when I went to Rabo di Galo. When I checked-out I explain what happened to the front desk lady who kept apologizing for the bad experience I had at the Taraz. Once I was waiting for my Uber she and the manager at the Taraz showed up to talk to me and I said: “I’m so sorry but my Uber is only 150 meters away. It doesn’t make no sense you want to talk to me now that I’m leaving the property since I was here for 3 days and nothing was done”. He then asked me if he could call me but my phone doesn’t work in Brazil since I live in California. He said he would send me an email (which I never received). I was truly expecting someone to explain why Rosewood guests doens’t have preference when booking a table and why the waiters/hostess were ignoring us. I also noticed the hotel lobby is extremely crowded with visitors, curious people checking the hotel and taking pictures. I know Rosewood hotels are at point when preserving and creating safe, quiet and discreet environment for its clients, but it’s not the case for the Rosewood São Paulo. Again, I didn’t feel as a valued client and got extremely upset. I also made the reservation through Fine Hotels & Resorts from American Express and from all the bookings I’ve made this experience I had was unacceptable. From now on, I’ll be continue staying at the Fasano or Tangara Palace on my future trips...

First and foremost I feel obligated to thank the entire service team at your Rosewood São Paulo property. From the moment we stepped into the car at the airport to the warm send off when I left, I was greeted with impeccable charm and smiles. Having stayed at beautiful properties around the world, very few compare to yours! A perfect introduction to São Paulo and Brazil.

Your Concierge team is second to none. Ramon, Alex, and in particular Guilherme Correa, made our stay one of the most memorable to date.

Guilherme’s hospitality, etiquette, and thoughtfulness is extraordinary. From arranging dining experiences, transfer services, procuring last minute tickets to see Palmieras vs Juventude, endless and deep rooted knowledge of Formula 1 and Soccer, suggesting a visit to see Ayrton Senna’s resting place, and on and on. He is a beacon of outstanding hospitality. Thank you wholeheartedly Guilherme for taking such good care of us.

We found it difficult to leave the property 😂🤣……..your dining venues are fantastic, Taraz will forever be one of my favorite restaurants. Rodrigo, your GM there, also Moara at Rabo de Galo, make every encounter memorable. Bravo to the team that hires and trains the staff.

Osvaldo Costa, your Art Concierge gave us a delightful tour of the property, highlighting the many extraordinary Brazilian artists, the collaboration between Jean Nouvel, Philippe Starck and the people entrusted with preserving this historical property. Down to the capybara door handles, there is not a space that was left untouched. It is remarkable. The wall of fake news is an absolute joy to inspect!

Thank you all for creating such a peaceful and unique space that keeps the observer constantly searching for its treasures!

With the Utmost Respect and Love, and moving forward, an Avid...