Guanabara Garden

The manager brushed off our complaints and made us feel as if we were lying. She was condescending and unhelpful, and the only offer was a free massage. Given how many things went wrong, we felt we should have received a full or partial refund, but got nothing. We paid a lot, and it felt unfair to spend that much for this experience. I know problems can happen at any hotel, but this was a very bad, expensive stay. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, and would give it zero stars if I could. We were woken early every morning by staff shouting and talking loudly. I only speak English, while my partner speaks both English and Portuguese, but nobody on staff spoke English. Even asking for a cup or a drink was a struggle, and after I couldn’t get through, I had to ask my partner to call reception. There were insects all over the balcony area, and they seemed to get inside easily. I kept finding them on the floor by the balcony door, on my shoes, and among our things. One day we also found dead insects in the bed. The pool was dirty when we went for a swim on my partner’s birthday, with feathers and large insects in it, and the jacuzzi looked dirty and neglected, so we couldn’t enjoy the pool. The room had problems from the start. We found a used bar of soap with hair on it when we arrived, and I threw it away, thinking that would be the only issue. After three days, we had to ask reception to change the towels because they hadn’t been changed, and the sheets hadn’t been changed either. One night, after we got back late, we discovered we’d been moved to another room because the toilet wouldn’t flush properly. We appreciated the move at first, but the shower in the new room was blocked. We had to keep switching it off and on to stop it overflowing.

The area is nice and close to the airport, and there are some lovely views. For the price, it was a really good place. We got a warm welcome and the room was clean. I’ll come back.

Good hotel, good service, and a good experience. I’d definitely go back.

We had the best stay. We'll be back soon.