Isabel Lounge — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

For our first evening in Rio, we decided to head up to the 39th floor of the Hilton to the Isabel Lounge.

We ordered a couple of Margaritas. The Margaritas were strong (which is good) and very tart with limes. Very reviving after a day travelling.

All the people that worked in the “Lounge” that evening were super friendly and helpful. We ordered the following:

180g of Grilled Shrimp with Garlic, Oil and Lemon. The dish arrived in a little terracotta bowl with toasted focaccia on the side. It was a generous portion of succulent prawns and the sauce was perfect for dipping the crispy bread.

Shrimp Tempura with Red Berry Sauce. The tempura batter was perfectly crunchy and the prawns were big and juicy.

Chicken Stick, which came with a lemon and chimichurri mayonnaise. The chicken came in long breaded strips that were dry and definitely needed the accompanying sauce.

Finally we had an obligatory portion of fries. These came in a mini wired frying basket. They were a decent sized portion with a McDonalds consistency.

To finish off we has a Caipirinha cocktail, which was...

Breakfast was great, despite making a reservation that included breakfast, but hotel did not honor. Spa was horrible. Made a reservation 3 weeks in advance and day of, was told that one of the services requested wasn’t available because they didn’t have anyone that could do it. Had my nails done. Left with my cuticles bleeding (in 5 different locations) and nails just looking a mess. Uneven polish, uneven gel, blood left on nails, jagged ends I had to file myslef. Received a wax job, and again, job was done sub par and not complete but not going into the details for that one. Paid full price and only received half the service. Only good thing about the spa is the message. Massage was phenomenal. Food in pool side bar was good. None of employees near entrance of hotel even greeted. Looked as if we were bothering them. Receptionist that checked us in...

I searched on Google and saw the cheese board, so I decided to go up for the view, some cocktails, and a cheese board. I ordered without a repeat order and waited over 30 minutes, noticing that other tables, who arrived after us, were being served food. I asked where our food was, and the staff seemed to have no idea. Eventually, the staff member who served us came over to explain that we only ordered two drinks from him and didn’t order the cheese board. I at least expected an apology, rather than being told by someone who didn’t repeat our order that we were wrong. Of course, after being insulted, we paid, got up, and left. This is the first time I’ve had an experience like this at a place that is...