Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

I am just finishing a 3 night stay at the Fairmont Copacabana. I had great hopes for the hotel and I must admit that I was a little disappointed. Let me start with the positives. There is a lot to like about this hotel. First, the location is very good, on the edge of Capacabana near the junction of Ipanema and on the seafront. Because of its location, the hotel offers lovely views towards the whole Capacabana bay. The hotel is also generally well maintained and staff are friendly. There are two swimming pools (to be able to "follow the sun"). They are fairly small (hard to swim) and a little cold but pretty. There is also a (small) private beach with complimentary loungers and umbrellas for guests. The rooms come with nice balconies with small tables and two chairs. Now the less positive. I booked a deluxe ocean view room. I was booked on a rate that included a complementary upgrade subject to availability and am also gold with ALL (the hotel's frequent stay programme). I often book this rate and am usually very happy with the perks, and am also very happy with the way I am treated as ALL Gold in most Accor properties. In this case, I "only" received the room type I booked (no upgrade) which is fine as I imagined it simply meant that there was no room available for the upgrade category, but it would have been nice for it to be mentioned instead of letting me double guessed. The room itself appeared ok at first sight. The decor feels a little tired and the bathrooms are small (and only with shower) but that's fine as I cared about the view more. What I hadn't budgeted for is that I was given a room on the lowest floor (7th) just above the pool, and that in the evenings, there is some very very loud music playing. My room is directly above the musicians and the noise is really very loud. When the music started playing and I asked about it, I was told that nothing could be done today but it may be possible to change the next day if I asked in the morning. I did, and was told that nothing was possible today but it may be possible to change the next day if I asked in the morning. And I did again, for a third day in a row, and was, once again, told that nothing was possible but it should be fine the next day if I asked in the morning (when I'll be leaving!) On that third day, another receptionist similarly proposed that in fact it would be possible to move if I went to the Gold Floor but that would be an upsell. Again, I don't mind not receiving an upgrade which I always knew was subject to availability, but I do object to being told that it is in fact available if I pay for it. More to the point, I object to being in a luxury hotel, paying the flexible rate, and with a relatively high standing in the hotel's own frequent stay programme (which basically got me nothing beyond a drink voucher) and not being able to sleep due to noise, and the hotel having three days to find a solution and proving unwilling or unable to do so. To me, this screams of poor management. In fairness, the music stops at a reasonable time (around 22.30), but as I am arriving from Europe and jetlagged, and doing some work in Rio, I do want to sleep quite a bit earlier than that and not being able to is not a good situation to be in. In fact, I do not find it acceptable for any guest, let alone a supposedly frequent guest. There are other small issues. Cleaners are very kind but the housekeeping itself is hit and miss. When I checked into my room, there was rubbish left on one table and in the bin. On none of the three days were the coffee capsules replenished (the second day I asked and it arrived a while later, the third day I just gave up), towels were not replaced today, and this is probably the only luxury hotel in Rio not lending flip flops to guests (they mention that they have slippers, but that's not very useful to go to a swimming pool or beach!) For mysterious reasons, this is also the only luxury hotel in Rio which chooses to offer mainstream cable channels in Portuguese only even though they exist as multilingual and are offered as such in other hotels! When I asked, I was told that the pay per view films are in English. The hotel has multiple food outlets. The main restaurant has good food but is expensive. It also serves breakfast, which is not particularly good for a hotel of that standing (choice is always the same and more limited than in other Rio luxury hotels I have been to - such as the Grand Hyatt, the Miramar next door, or previously the Caesar Park in Ipanema which used to be the other Accor luxury hotel in Rio's seafront). The pool cafe is actually quite nice as is room service. There is also the Tropik beach cafe which serves Greek food, which has a lovely location but which I did not find so good. To be honest, there are plenty of minor issues that I could have ignored because of the view and location. But if you are in a hotel and can't sleep well, that sort of kills the point. Furthermore, the whole point of staying in a luxury hotel as well as the whole point of being a frequent customer with a hotel chain is that you expect them to sort issues when they occur (and ideally to at least give you nice rooms within your category), and I just don't think that a hotel being aware of a customer (let alone a frequent customer) having a significant issue with his room (ie not being able to have a decent sleep because of the noise, which I am sure they are aware of) for three days without being able to offer any solution is simply not acceptable. It is because of that fundamental problem and of the hotel's incapacity or unwillingness to resolve it that I just don't think I can go above 2 stars in my review despite the hotel's other advantages, and that is what will leave me feeling disappointed by a stay I had great hopes from.

I've stayed in several hotels in Rio in the last 5 years including the Copacabana Palace, but first time at the Fairmont. I can confidently say that the Fairmont has been by far the best one. Impeccable service; great facilities (especially the gym); wonderful pool area with a stunning view; great breakfast. Overall: simply fantastic. I'll only be staying at this hotel when I'm in Rio from now on.

we got a call from reception at midnight saying we had visitors in our room. We were sleeping already and we got anxious about having someone in the hotel that security cant inform precisely. I felt insecure there and had to lock my door, which is something that would never occurred to me in a hotel this level. This security breach is very serious, procedures must be reviewed urgently. Besides this main episode, many small things were not good too. From the room made not coming to make the room at a proper time and a disappointing breakfast at a very high cost.

My girlfriend and I recently visited Rio following my proposal to her. Initial communication with the hotel had proven difficult (most of it being re-directed to a WhatsApp channel with slow response times). My fiancé was extremely disappointed because this was meant to be a special moment and I hadn’t been able to set up that memorable experience for her - fortunately the hotel staff really came to the rescue once we arrived and went above & beyond to create one of the most amazing hotel stays one can imagine. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone at the hotel who helped turn a very rocky start into a wonderful stay. Thank you!!!

Good services