Ramada Encore by Wyndham Sao Paulo Centro

We came as a large group, and the front desk was very helpful even though they didn’t understand any Spanish or English. We could leave our luggage for free, breakfast was good, and the mini self-checkout grocery in the lobby was useful. The rooms are tiny, extremely small. That’s our only complaint.

The hotel is near the metro, but my cellphone was stolen by a bicyclist at Tirendentes station, and I filed a police report. The receptionist, Paulo, kindly let me use the desktop to report what had happened. A huge misfortune for me, and a great help from Mr. Paulo.

The service was really good after I booked through the Despegar app, and I liked the room a lot. My only complaint is that there wasn’t a mop for drying the shower floor.

The staff were friendly and helpful, and as a Diamond member I got a very early check-in, which I appreciated after a terrible Arajet flight from Santo Domingo. The breakfast was acceptable for the price, and the clean, efficient rooms had a fridge, a stocked minibar (don’t touch 😂😂!), and a safe. They’re tiny, maybe 15m2 at most, but still bigger than the rooms at Tryo Paraíso Hotel, which costs three times as much. I’d put this above an ibis, though it’s still just a two-star business hotel, not a four-star luxury stay. My rating reflects that it does the job. The neighborhood was shockingly dirty, with grime and, sadly, homeless people and drug addicts around. It didn’t feel safe at all, and I wouldn’t advise a woman to travel there alone. It reminded me of skid row in Philadelphia. If you take the metro, get off at Tiradentes rather than Armenia, which felt safer. Bring an adapter for the odd power outlets 😉. The Wi-Fi was unreliable, so a SIM card is a better bet.