Staybridge Suites Sao Paulo — Hotel in Região Imediata de São Paulo

LOCATION & ATTRACTIONS NEARBY * Good location in the busy Itam Bibi area with loads of clubs, bars, local food stores. Safe and clean area. A lot of one-way roads, so you need to figure out how to get there and not to miss it when driving. ||Staybridge Suites Sao Paulo has a parking/garage and this is complimentary for guests (parking prices in SP can be normally very high). There is direct access from the garage (back side lift) and you just get there behind reception. I might be mistaken, but I think you have to have a key card to use this lift, otherwise somebody needs to come down for you. Also, when leaving the car park, you need to validate your parking ticket at reception first and then go to the parking counter. Bit time consuming, but manageable process. ||||HOTEL OVERVIEW * Business-orientated property, but I have found it perfectly fine for leisure stays. This was actually my second stay there and I did not even look for other options. It is located in the good area, offers good value for money for the standard it offers and also guarantees you comfortable stays in very pleasant rooms. ||I noticed that hotel was also used by some airlines for their crew (normally they do good hotels in general). ||||PURPOSE OF THIS TRIP * Leisure||||RESERVATION * Directly on ihg.com website. Few days before my arrival IHG had a great promotion for IHG Rewards members – only 5000 points per night for standard room. I rebooked my stay (which made it even more affordable) and then I upgraded my rooms directly with the reservations department using my card. Really appreciate it. ||||LENGTH OF MY STAY * 3 nights – Nov 2019||||CHECK-IN * Hassle-free, professional and very quick. I was welcomed with a great smile and young, happy team of people. I was welcomed as a repeated guest and also IHG Rewards member (with some extras to choose, which was handy as I could take some water on arrival with me) and given my room keys within minutes. I also received detailed information of the IHG Rewards benefits which I could have during my stay. ||||LOBBY & RECEPTION * Modern and usually not too busy. You can relax in the lobby in one of those fancy big armchairs or just enjoy their Christmas decorations. Behind the reception there’s a lift which brings you to the garage (but also upstairs if you don’t fancy the glass/panoramic normal lifts). ||||ROOM * #3010 – 1 Queen Bed Superior Sky View – beautiful room on the 30th floor!!! Beautiful, bright, modern, spacious, fresh… Yes, I did like it before and it did not disappoint me this time. Yes, it was as perfect and as nice as I had previously. ||There was a hand-written letter from Guest Relations Representative and also lovely welcome gift with some local sweets & treats. Lovely gesture and I did enjoy the fact, that all were local (Brazilian) products which I could definitely enjoy. ||There is plenty of living and working space in the room, very comfortable Queen bed, a small sofa (love them for all my mess, haha) and some big box for your luggage (you can use it also as table or storage unit), working and storing spaces. Small kitchenette doesn’t have too much equipment, but you can get everything from reception (very good idea as not everybody, like me, would use all the kitchen utilities during their stay). The only ‘but’ I have for the single-use cups – there’s absolutely no need for them and I intended to use the same ones during my 3-day stay. Regular cups or glasses would be better idea. ||There’s large safety deposit box and also iron/ironing board and huge closed storage spaces. Loved the mirrors. ||Air-conditioner was efficient, quiet and easy to operate. But if you prefer fresh air, you can open the balcony doors… Oh yes, you have a balcony (ask at check-in cause I forgot again and had to bother somebody to open it for me, you need to sign a paper that it’s your own responsibility which is fair enough). ||||BATHROOM * Spotless clean and shining fresh. Good quality toiletries and fresh, fluffy towels were provided. Good lightning and ventilation. ||In the bathroom you can see (if you really want to find something, but you have to search) the doors are being frequently wet and the bottom of it should be maintained better (doesn’t suit the rest of the bathroom and the room). ||||BREAKFAST * It is complimentary and served now on the ground floor. Even if they start quite early, everything was presented nicely and looked very tempting. Happy staff welcoming you in the morning is also a good start of the day. ||They offer a good buffet breakfast with plenty of cold and hot meals, juices, cereals, good coffee (!!!) and selection (aaaaaaaagh, my favorite) of freshly baked cakes. Not the most complicated buffet breakfast I’ve seen, but really tasty and enjoyable.||On my last day I was leaving really early (like 4 am). At reception I was advised to check if the breakfast is ready and some parts were getting ready. I did not expect that, but I was able to have my full breakfast that day as well. Thank you, I really appreciate it (and I didn’t destroy their presentation, haha). Some cabin crew (I think they’re my flight as well) had the same opportunity as I had.||||INTERNET ACCESS * It is complimentary, easy to log-in and connection was stable all the time. Absolutely no hassle and did not have to re-log-in during my stay. ||||CHECK-OUT EXPERIENCE * It was sad to leave (again). My check-out was very quick and, as I mentioned above, I was able to grab a quick breakfast before my early morning flight. My bill was accurate and my points were accumulated on the account few days after. Standard email survey was also sent after the stay.||||STAFF * I think they’re great. From pre-arrival contacts (got my answers within minutes!!!), reception, restaurant, house-keeping – they’re all very helpful. Reception staff was always willing to help and assist with the questions or simply my 50th request to validate the parking ticket (this must be very annoying for them, would be good to have some easier system for parking). ||||OVERVIEW * Once again, I said it before and will say it again. One of my favourite hotels. Next stay in SP of course will be there. I just need to explore more room options and see what else they have on the higher floors with balconies. No need for me to search any other hotels as I was happy with this choice – location, standard, price, value for money, staff, safety and comfort. Would I stay there again?...

I feel truly guilty having recommended this property to my co-workers. This place is hopeless. The staff are clueless and completely unhelpful. They can't even handle simple tasks like requesting a car - something VERY common in Brazil.

I was also bewildered when they "politely encouraged" me to pay part of my balance up front. I've never encountered this in a legitimate hotel before. Because they made this sound voluntary (as it should be - they have my credit card on file afterall) I decided to ignore it, as I would be leaving in a couple of days anyway. So they went ahead and locked me out of my room without telling me - a very goofy move that didn't exactly endear me to the hotel.

I could maybe overlook everything above..but BRL 30 PER VISIT for the fitness center?! I'm not looking for Olympic quality personal training - who is at a hotel? I just want an indoor treadmill or stationary bike when I'm visiting an unfamiliar city. I was told that because I was only a "basic" member of IHG's loyalty program, fitness center access was not included.

How this place has gotten any decent reviews is beyond me. If you're foolish enough to rate this property highly, you don't deserve any better. I'm still fuming from my experience at this place.

This was my first (and as it turns out, last) stay as a member of IGH's loyalty program. After a stay like this, I wouldn't want to stay in their program long enough to earn elite status. Adeus Staybridge and Adeus IHG.

P.S. - When I went to fill out their online survey after my stay, their site...

I did not enjoy the stay. I arrived at about midnight on Monday. I got a room in the tenth floor and came back to the lobby as the room smelled really bad and asked for a change. Then they gave me another room in the same floor, I went up again and came back again for the same reason. Then they gave me another room in the same floor, and I asked the guy to come up with me, we checked the room and it looked better than the other two rooms and I stayed. However, when I took a shower I realized that there was mold on the walls, I certainly tried not to touch the walls. I have pictures which would like to share. Then I was going to sleep and the AC was dripping (have pictures as well). When everything else is silent, a drop may be very noisy. I could not sleep, put a container with a towel inside to catch the drops. The next morning I complained and they promised to either fix it or change the room. At about 8:30 pm I came back to the hotel and they gave me another room, I asked the guy to go up with me, and guess what? The AC did not work !!! It was very hot. He apologized and we both came down. He told me that they would fix it. I went to have dinner and about 2 hrs later the AC was working. This added up to 5 room changes before I had a recent room. Unacceptable for a hotel that charges the rates they charge !. They told me that the hotel is going to through maintenance and I said: then drop the rates until you fix the problems and block some rooms that are simply not an option if you care about your customers ! Not within the Holiday Inn...