Journey4Happy

Stayed at the Sheraton Barra last month and had a good stay. I got a premium room for 2 nights (using Club Carlson points). It was a little musty, as some TripAdvisor reviews said, but nothing unbearable. They offered some fruit plates, but my wife found a worm in one of the fruits, so we didn't touch it. We didn't complain, though.

As far as transportation - I didn't try the buses. Just used taxis to get to Ipanema, etc. We had dinner in Barra, but we used Bike Rio - they have bike stations everywhere, including one right outside of the hotel.

PS. You need mobile connectivity to unlock the bikes - which we didn't have, so I stood in the hotel lobby (to get the wifi) and unlocked the bikes, while my wife undocked them. Perhaps not a good idea if you're in a less safe area.

3544quebec

Well,they had been holding the fruit for you since the time it was a Radisson

deant

Have read a few very negative reviews on trip advisor. Does anyone know if there are any plans to refurbish the hotel?

ORD-TGU

Just completed a stay. It is shocking how poor rooms are, the mold, mildew smell is unbearable. As soon as you exit elevator the mustiness is prevalent. The rooms are tired, dirty, stained comforter, dirty sheets, stained carpet, walls, useless wifi, broken tv, etc. Rooms are very spacious with big balconies and nice views. They have wet bars and sitting areas, which is nice (if you hold your breath). Fortunately it was mild weather with a nice breeze so we opened doors and had fresh air.

The common areas, lobby, restaurant are good, and beachfront location great. Pool was great and service there was great.

Check in and Check out is slow. Concierge is actually pretty good.

I would not recommend this hotel until they rehab rooms and install dehumidifiers and upgrade the HVAC system. FYI, AC is good, there is no return.

Yellow Prepaid Taxi from Airport R$150, return R$125, 45-60 minutes; Took bus to Copacabana R$3.60, 60 minutes, return taxi R$40

ORD-TGU

Just completed a stay. It is shocking how poor rooms are, the mold, mildew smell is unbearable. As soon as you exit elevator the mustiness is prevalent. The rooms are tired, dirty, stained comforter, dirty sheets, stained carpet, walls, useless wifi, broken tv, etc. Rooms are very spacious with big balconies and nice views. They have wet bars and sitting areas, which is nice (if you hold your breath). Fortunately it was mild weather with a nice breeze so we opened doors and had fresh air.

The common areas, lobby, restaurant are good, and beachfront location great. Pool was great and service there was great.

Check in and Check out is slow. Concierge is actually pretty good.

I would not recommend this hotel until they rehab rooms and install dehumidifiers and upgrade the HVAC system. FYI, AC is good, there is no return.

Yellow Prepaid Taxi from Airport R$150, return R$125, 45-60 minutes; Took bus to Copacabana R$3.60, 60 minutes, return taxi R$40

claes059

[QUOTE=ORD-TGU;26163534]Just completed a stay. It is shocking how poor rooms are, the mold, mildew smell is unbearable. As soon as you exit elevator the mustiness is prevalent.

I have had the same problems with the mold and mildew smell during my last stay. Since I am allergic I had to sleep with the doors open wide. My only relief was the Club lounge with clean tiles. Here I could breath normally. Its shocking the hotel has still refrained from making the hotel moldfree..

deant

My understanding is that the Sheraton Barra is undergoing renovations as we speak so the mold issue, we can hope, will be shortly resolved.

ORD-TGU

Great news! I would gladly stay here if it is resolved. I guess with new Hilton and Hyatt in Barra, competition is up.

deant

Just got back from staying at the Sheraton Barra. The public are looks very good. The rooms do need a major makeover. Some moldy smell but no visible mold. However, there were large gaps where the sliding door met the building. Significant airflow from outside. Also, there is currently no club room.

Biggest issue I had was with the taxi desk. They offered two types of payment. A fixed price or a meter price. The fixed price was SIGNIFICANTLY higher than any meter. Even with the meter taxi, they tended to take you THE LONG WAY. They would go down 2 or 3 U turn areas before making the U tern. As an example, a taxi ride that should have been about 15 R, was fixed price at about 40 R. Meter typically ran 20-25 R. The taxi person at the desk would talk to the taxi driver in portuguese before giving you a price. It was all what the traffic would bear. Sheraton should do something about this rip off.

Overall, the hotel will be nice once they get done with the room refurbishment.

ajnaro

Even the Sheraton Grand Rio, which is much more central, has this problem. They have their own limo service and do not allow normal yellow taxis to form a queue on their property. You need to go to the main road to get a taxi. But Rio does have Uber (even Uber English) and many other taxi services that can be called by net or phone. You're probably much better off calling a taxi on your own.

AAEXP

The taxi issues mentioned for the Sheraton properties in Rio are correct and one of the negatives often mentioned by tourists (international and domestic alike) visiting the city. However, with taxi app's, including Uber, now widely available all over Brazil, it is in my point of view only a question of time and very comparable to the fate of the famous hotel telephone charges.....people started using their cell phones and that formerly important revenue source for hotels all but disappeared. The informed international traveller will simply not stand for this kind of old time rip-offs much longer.....

roverkt

Need some help from someone who's been to this property recently. I see on Google Maps that this hotel is 550m away from the Windsor Barra da Tijuca.

Can someone tell me what actually lies between the two hotels, and if it's safe to walk between them at night? What's the neighborhood like?

I know this sounds silly but after all the news about crimes taking place in the city of late (including in Barra district) I am thinking not exposing myself to being robbed for some Starpoints might be a wiser choice..

TheBOSman

Remember that there's an extreme amount of newspeople in Rio de Janeiro right now, particularly in Barra. So, any crime report is going to be magnified. Also, the organized (and unorganized) elements are well aware that there are an unusually high number of tourists in Rio at the moment, some of whom may not be as aware of what is going on around them.

Between the two hotels are mostly residential and office towers. There's at least one with a gate with human security staff at it. I'd feel about as safe walking between the Sheraton and the Windsor after dark as I would in most major cities in the USA at a similar distance. Follow the usual advice: don't be showy with valuables, wallet in a not easy to access area for pickpockets, keep your head up, stay alert, ideally walk with someone, but your chances of getting robbed on that stretch, even after dark, would not be dissimilar from many USA cities. I've walked during the day with a friend to the grocery east of the Windsor, as well as in dusk to Tourão (steakhouse restaurant just east of the Windsor) and dark back to the Sheraton without issue.

roverkt

Just completed a night's stay here and have to say that this has probably been the worst SPG hotel I've stayed at in terms of the condition of rooms and corridors.

They're so old and poorly maintained that I'm not even sure how they get any customers (besides SPG fools like me) given that there are new, similarly priced hotels just minutes away in both directions.

I've just canceled my upcoming stay at the Sheraton WTC São Paulo after this ordeal, as I suspect conditions there to be similar.

But hey thanks to them having joined up with Marriott I've booked at the Renaissance instead. Hurrah M&As.

Starwood Lurker IV

Hi roverkt,

I am sorry to hear about your recent stay and would like to address your concerns.

Please feel free to email is more information at the email address below.


All the best,

Alice Kons
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]