Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

Don’t Let the American Brand Fool You- This is NOT Hilton Brand. Upon arrival we were greeted aggressively by hotel security setting the tone for our stay. The Room Decor: Dated and in dilapidated condition. Floors scuffed and sticky, Mirrors were dirty and showed signs of rust. Curtains were stained and dusty. Limited power outlets and signs of water damage and poor repair around the noisy A/C unit. The bathroom fixtures had years of calcium buildup ( or mold- eww!). Amenities:The room atleast had a safe, but not fridge or microwave. The iron was broken and we had to ask for a replacement and a board. No bathrobes and no ice available. Environment: The doors on all the guest rooms slam hard and the walls are thin, so we heard our neighbors intimate moments. The pools at the rooftop and 4th floor had very limited seating and umbrella’s or guest to relax and enjoy the Mountain view. The Beach: was relatively clean but with very limited seating. Hilton’s “elite” section is too far from the water to enjoy seaside lounging and the chairs are old and warn. Staff distributing towels, chairs and umbrella’s were rude and clearly unhappy. We were not advised of time limits for the Hilton beach area and were rushed off the beach promptly at 6 and umbrella’s were removed at 5 pm. The Spa/Gym was also outdated and did not have simple amenities like towels, soap and lotions readily available. I also question the cleanliness of the spa since some unfortunate women left her panties on the hook in the locker room and those remained there for days before someone took them down. The staff were polite but a bit standoffish. There were a few language barriers to work around but they did their best to understand us and we used Google Translate to connect. We did have fun with the Carnaval themed face painting and pictures with decorations in the lobby since those staff members were inviting and encouraged us to indulge in the festive nature of Carnaval. The location this hotel is great! Close to plenty of restaurants and just walking around the area. My only caution…Just know before you go because depending on your standards, you might be disappointed.

This is my first ever review and everything here is my experience. Please stay at the Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana if you want to see beautiful views, be discriminated against, experience public humiliation and emotional distress. My brother and I travelled almost 10,000 kilometers to experience the sunny beach of Copacabana, expecting a comfortable stay. We decided to book a weekend at the Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana, but instead, my friend and I were treated with disrespect and discriminated against. On the last night of our stay we decided to invited friends to visit the hotel. For context, my brother and his friend are light-skinned and enjoyed the hotel without issue and countless other guests were going up and down freely too. However, my friend and I are darker-skinned black people. When we approached the lift, the security guard dramatically blocked our entry and escorted us to reception, treating us as if we had committed a crime, in front of other guests. The front desk agent was called Lucas. He immediately demanded my friend’s passport. I asked if I could register my friend as a visitor to see the facilities, and was told “no”, bluntly and rudely, with no options offered. The security stood by my friend throughout, further making a public spectacle. I insisted I wanted to pay for him to visit, not stay with me overnight. I was repeatedly refused the option to pay and spoke down to. Eventually, I was told the only solution was to book another room just for him to see the facilities of the hotel. The next morning, I found out there is in fact a visitor registration form, something the front desk repeatedly refused me. Hilton’s failure to offer a solution and the disrespect my friend and I faced left me feeling degraded and unwelcome. No other guests were questioned this way and treated in such a hostile manner. Based on my experience, it was clear that we were profiled and treated less than because of how we looked. We were humiliated in a hotel we trusted to offer luxury and respect. To make matters worse, despite months of persistent follow-ups, Hilton has refused to conduct an impartial investigation, offer a resolution, and has completely ignored my concerns that the hotel staff have acted against policy with our treatment.  However, based on my experience, this makes me feel this is normal practice at the hotel, as no one was ever reprimanded for such behaviour. It goes without saying, this experience completely ruined our trip and left us feeling unsafe in a place we expected to feel secure. I never thought I would be writing a review like this, but based on my experience, I need others to know that Hilton Copacabana does not care about its guests - especially Black darker-skinned guests, as my friend and I were treated differently based on our skin tone and were refused standard policies, like the visitor registration form. If I could advise based on my experience, please do not stay here. Take your money and stay elsewhere. Somewhere you are not made to feel less than and publicly humiliated, no matter how much you pay.

I was looking forward to my stay in this supposed 5* hotel. We arrived to carnage in the foyer, with the queue snaking back from the reception desk, and only 5 people to check in/check out 545 guests!! We had a 30 minute waiting before arriving at front desk. Then we had to queue to hand in our luggage as our room wasn’t ready. Luggage was strewn all over the place and it did not give us any confidence it wouldn’t be lost or stollen. We asked to speak to the manager but he/she never bothered to turn up. We tried to wait by the pool, but the hotel only has a maximum of 20 sun-beds, and hardly any umbrellas. We got to our room which was clean but basic, as it didn’t even have any complimentary water and had paper cups for coffee and tea. We stayed at the Windsor California last night, which was a 4* hotel. Our room was far superior and had 1.5 litres of complimentary water and china cups. One bright note were the lovely waiters on the 4th floor who were marvellous. Sadly disappointed.

Having moved from the wonderful Windsor California Hotel 4* to the Hilton 5*, both within a mile or so of each other on Copacabana beach, I cannot express how deeply disappointed I have been with the Hilton. The queues at checkin were massive (we were told this is normal) the left luggage was chaos and insecure. A request to see the manager was ignored and they do not even provide fresh drinking water in your room. This is definitely not a 4 let alone 5* experience. My advice. Book the Windsor California Hotel and save yourself the frustration of staying at the Hilton. Unless your air crew and you probably have no choice.

***DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL!!!!*** I booked this resort, the resort couldn’t find my reservation despite me sending them the booking, and being charged for the booking they then said they would help me find the reservation and then proceeded to ignore ALL of my emails, DESPITE SENDING 3 emails chasing it up. absolutely outrageous for such a big hotel chain, and supposed to be a 5* hotel, awful customer service. what an awful manager, would avoid booking.