Grande Hotel de Ouro Preto

The rooms are basic, but clean and comfortable. Breakfast is very good, with a range of local cheese, bread, and cakes, and there’s also a nice restaurant with plenty of different dishes. The staff are friendly and helpful, and made me feel welcome. This hotel is very central, with local shops, restaurants, cafes, banks, and many of the city’s historic churches nearby. The only downside is that there’s no air conditioning, just a standard fan.

The staff were great, friendly, and helpful. The hotel has beautiful architecture, but it badly needs renovation, especially the reception, lobby, hallway, and restaurant.

The location is great, and parking is free. The staff were lovely and tried hard to explain things, even though they only speak Portuguese. Breakfast was more than fine, with fresh fruit, pastries, and some hot dishes. The suite rooms are especially nice: a little terrace overlooking Ouro Preto, a sitting area downstairs, and a pleasant upstairs bedroom with its own bathroom. The bed was big, too. A nice retro hotel.

For such a striking setting and beautiful modernist design, this hotel is amazing value. It’s one of Niemeyer’s early works, and seeing it stand as the only modern building among Ouro Preto’s beautifully preserved 18th-century buildings makes it even more special. The rooms are comfortable, breakfast is good, and the pool looks lovely.