We where on family visit and needed an overnight stay with our 1,5 year old boy. Upon booking all went fine and easy, we where checked in by Wanderson, a great tall guy who needed little to no extra words, observed the little one and made a call instantly to get the baby bunk in place, he advised us to swim up on the roof in the pool because Copacabana beach was too dangerous for him, we got 2 passes for towels right away to maximize our comfort at the pool. He asked us if we where about to fly home and if we had a late flight, because a late checkout could be very convenient in this case. Overall a great experience, but we have been here before and then it wasn’t all that great so it matters which member of staff is serving you.

Lets start with the pros: Had a top suite and the view from my room was truly amazing! I was a VIP guest so I had breakfast at the top floor restaurant which only a low number of guests had access to. They had bacon and prosciutto, even fresh fruit like mango, which I never had seen before in a hotel breakfast. They even had prosecco. No freshly squeezed juice though which was disappointing. Loved how breakfast staff remembered my name. Location was good in Copacabana to beach, restaurants and stores.

Now the cons: Being a VIP guest I also expected some things. The room and the hotel have seen better days. The sink in the bathroom was practically clogged whereas it took a long time for water to go down the drain. The executive lounge was closed due to covid which was a disappointment. But the biggest annoyance during my stay was all the rules listed everywhere. ”Dont do this”, ”dont do that”. Like for example ”Dont wear sunscreen in the pool”. Come on, who goes to the pool without sunscreen? The constant rules gave a very strict and a bit hostile impression in my opinion. One of the staff in the gym asked me to put my mask on when I had it off for 10 seconds but himself was comfortable chatting to another hotel guest in Portuguese who didnt have his mask over his nose. So why only tell foreigners about rules but just because someone is a Brazilian then other rules apply? The security staff was crazy, checking everyones keys when going inside the hotel, even in daytime. I got vibes like I felt I was back in Dubai where hotel staff strictly and closely watch the guests and who they take to their room. Staff even told me while checking in ”visitors are not allowed unless they are registered” as if he implied I was gonna do that. I suspect the hotel might have a problem with prostitution in the area and wants to avoid this but it is not fair to take aim at the single males who might be pickup artists and can attract ladies without paying for ”that”. Instead, if security is so important to the hotel, upgrade the elevator so only guests with cards can go up. It should be a simple upgrade for a hotel like this and should finance itself instead of having the huge security guard crew on the payroll checking everyone very hastily and only in Portuguese and in a rather rude way.
I also annoyed that the cleaning crew touched my things. One day they stole one of my key cards, disabling the AC so that my room was hot when I came back from a long day out. I told the front desk about this but they didnt seem to be bothered by it very much. After that, the cleaning crew touched my key card every day (but didnt steal it) so the AC went out so when I was back at the room from long days out the room was hot. This is definitely a directive coming from hotel management. It is also very amateurish from a hotel if they want to give a professional impression. The whole impression of the hotel didnt live up to the other hotels in the area. Hilton was way better and they didnt have any excessive security preventing people from enjoying themselves.
No, you will almost have a more fun time in North Korea or China than at this hotel. If only for the room I would rate this property higher, but my overall feeling wasnt very good unfortunately thus I cant stand when hotels systematically are preventing hotel guests from inviting guests to the room. Also I had booked a king bed, but ended up with getting two beds pushed together, which happens frequently in hotels.

The Rio Othon Place is in a great location right on Copacabana Beach. The staff was friendly and helpful, although the hotel does seem to be somewhat short staffed, .e.g., it takes them forever to answer the phone when you call from your room. The hotel is old and the rooms are in need of renovation. In addition, items like sheets and pillow cases are threadbare and even moldy. The buffet breakfast is also of pretty low quality, so much so that we ended up going out to eat the last two mornings of our stay.