Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

This hotel is supposed to have 5 stars, but it definitely doesn’t. It doesn’t deserve more than 3 stars. I should mention that I stayed in the hotel for 7 days, 6 nights. We booked and paid (not a small amount of money) for a sea view room, which was accordingly more expensive than a room without a sea view. Upon check-in, we were assigned a room on the 24th floor with a partial sea view. When we asked why we didn’t get the room we had paid for, they told us that they advertise such rooms as sea view rooms. So, they deceive their customers, and quite heavily. The room was right next to the elevators, and the noise from the elevators was so loud that we hardly slept at all the first night. The next morning, I went to the reception, exhausted, and complained about the noise. They told us that they would arrange a new room by 2 PM. Since we said we wouldn’t wait for the room change in the hotel, we went for a walk around the city and returned around 6 PM, only to find that the room still hadn’t been changed or arranged. So, upon returning to the hotel, we had to deal with the room change that should have already been completed. After that, we were assigned a room on the 26th floor, with the same partial sea view. This room was larger but very poorly cleaned. The curtains were dirty, the floor was poorly cleaned, the mini bar was half full, the noise from the elevators was still audible, although a bit less than in the previous room, the toilet was clogged, the internet sometimes didn’t work, etc. The biggest problem, however, was with room service, as in half of the cases, we didn’t get any delivery to the room within 45 minutes, or they didn’t even know we had ordered anything. A catastrophic experience. Even the staff at the reception wasn’t very friendly. The overall experience was not good, and if comfort and well-being during your vacation are important to you, avoid this hotel at all costs. The only good point is the location and the rooftop bar. That’s it.

I would have given the hotel a five rating as the staff were very friendly and helpful and the breakfast was very good, the room was reasonable and certainly comfortable. Thought we got lucky with a corner room on the 23rd floor BUT through the air conditioning duct you could hear the noise of a lift (I’m assuming a staff lift) and it went on until early in the morning and started again at 4:30am. The main reason for a hotel is to get a bed to sleep in for the night and therefore they miss this requirement by a long way. How can a five star hotel have such poor soundproofing or such a design fault. I know we are part of a tour group so only entitled to the worst rooms but even we should be entitled to a full nights sleep. Worst hotel we have stayed at in terms of sleep quality.

This hotel is probably nothing like any other Hilton you have been. Facilities are great but extremely busy as it serves several flight companies who fly internationally. In one week I could see at least 5 different brands. Plus lots of conventions and tourist groups. Breakfast is already busy, with queues of 10+ people waiting outside the restaurant door from 6:30 am. An elderly woman actually fainted whist waiting and had to be helped by other guests as staff looked and did not do anything to help (seemed very unprepared for emergencies). Also very noisy, which is very unpleasant this early in the morning. Food-wise could also be better considering its brand. The reception lounge is also very busy though out the day, with loud music playing continuously. Just outside the main entrance, also havoc with lots of coaches and taxis coming all the time. If you’re looking for a quieter place I would recommend to stay either at The Othon, Copacabana Palace or Pestana hotels, which are also in nicer parts of Copacabana.

I write this as an advisory and a complaint. My wife and I stayed at this hotel for Christmas 2023. We arrived early (around noon) and though we weren’t able to check in, the hotel agreed to hold our luggage. I didn’t have any local money and wanted to have some cash to spend while we waited to check-in so I asked at the desk where I could get some. I was directed to a Santander bank 2.5 blocks behind the hotel. Before we even reached the bank, minutes after arriving in Rio we were robbed, in broad daylight. We were in our travel clothes, as we hadn’t yet checked in, but we had no visible jewelry. Apparently, the thief felt comfortable enough to take a chance that I had something on. He rode up behind me on bicycle and grabbed at my neck as I grabbed at him. He managed to break my chain but didn’t get away with it. It fell in my clothes. When I returned to the hotel I advised the desk person what had happened and the desk person apologized and then said I was the second person to report a theft that morning. It was now just after noon. My complaint: the hotel personel DIRECTED me to a KNOWN and DANGEROUS LOCATION. TO GET MONEY, and didn’t even advise me of the risk. My advice, if you stay at this hotel do not go into the neighborhood anywhere off of the main drag Avenida Atlantica, especially not behind this hotel. And be careful, carry nothing you’re not willing to lose, anywhere in Rio. That said, Rio is a beautiful iconic city, with many beautiful people, and many once in a lifetime things to do. And otherwise, the hotel was very nice. Go, but be careful.

Not the level expected of a Hilton. Rooms dated and in urgent need of refurbishment. Levels of noise between rooms unacceptable. Cleaning of rooms not up to standards expected. Coffee/tea items not replenished. Restaurant extremely slow service in providing food and the bill. Over all, a very expensive stay which does not reflect on the services provided. The hotel staff are the best part of the hotel and should be commended for their professional and courteous attention.