Rio

Location is pretty far away from some of the beaches, however still walking distance to some. The old town is a bit further away and can be reached along the front. Hotel has a slight feel of a hostel where we were staying. We had 2 rooms for ourselves and the kids. Good value but felt a bit budget. The small room we were in had a very small bathroom, almost like a pod style arrangement. The fridge was handy and drinks and snacks for free, so can’t complain. Parking was an issue to even drop off bags, had to walk 400 metres.

I stayed this weekend, unfortunately the experience was embarrassing. We were three couples with a 10-month-old baby. Only one of the three rooms seemed to have been partially renovated, the others did not correspond to the photos on booking. Two had a strong smell of smoke, when we pointed out this detail the response was shocking, namely that it is not their fault if the previous customers were rude, not caring that the cleanliness of the rooms is their duty. The windows equipped with bars not even in Azkaban, and they did not close completely. Furthermore, not even the television worked. The bathroom was extremely small, with the bidet attached to the toilet, usable only by Nadia Comăneci. There were shampoo bottles already used and half consumed. But this is the least of it, the worst episode happened during breakfast. A guy with us using the machine to heat bread (roughly 40 years old) accidentally broke the internal light. Without an actual assessment of the machine, he was asked for a full 200 euros for the damage (between the cost of the room and the machine, he could have stayed in a 5-star hotel). Totally disproportionate request, to pay for a machine as if it were new for having broken a simple lightbulb. Terrible and disappointing experience, never again.

A pleasant 3-star hotel by the sea, 5 minutes on foot from the beach