Faro Hotel

The warm indoor pool is large, and there’s also a small outdoor pool that looked clean. The hotel was fairly quiet, though, as elsewhere we visited in Sao Paulo, dogs bark at random times day and night and you can hear them. Indoors there’s a kids’ reading library and a mini playground. We stayed five nights as a family and found it excellent value. Breakfast had a huge spread, probably around 30 choices, including sausage, eggs, a delicious cheese bread puff, gluten-free food, and non-dairy milk if you ask the waiter. The staff are very friendly, and there’s usually someone at the counter who speaks English. If not, you can use the wifi and Google Translate. We had to change rooms close to midnight because the first room’s air conditioning filter was making the air smell bad. There’s also no ice machine, which isn’t great when it’s around 30 degrees every day. You have to ask reception for ice. I really enjoyed the stay and would happily return. One tip: a water bottle with a built-in filter can save money on plastic bottles, and means you don’t have to wonder whether the ice is filtered.

I stayed for two days over a holiday and paid over 600 reais per night, the sort of price you’d expect at a five-star hotel. The bathroom was terrible and left water everywhere after a shower because the floor didn’t drain it properly. The room also had poor sound insulation, so it felt like the people next door were in my room. I don’t recommend it.

The room was okay, nothing special, and the staff seemed a bit disorganized. I paid for a luxury room and asked the front desk for a higher-floor room with a city view, but was very disappointed. Breakfast was also weak, with little variety.

I was there for just one night, and everything from check-in through checkout was great. Both breakfast and lunch were fantastic.