“The Grand Mecure Copacabana is located right on the southern part of the world famous beach at a first row top location. Check-in was frustrating because the receptionist did not speak much English and our room was not yet ready (note: regular check-in time starts at 14:00; is was 13:30, but we're Accor gold members with an early check-in option being only 30 minutes early). Speaking of being an Accor gold member: neither did we get a room with an oceanview (instead: view to the back street), nor a welcome gift or even the welcome drink. Also, the water in our shower ran off super-slowly (so the shower-time was limited by the height of the border on the shower floor), and we had problems setting up the in-room safe (an error message appeared), but the latter one could quickly be solved through the help of a technician. After explaining our disappointment later to another receptionist, Leticia, she took care of it and turned the disappointment around: communication in English was no problem with her, she promised us a room-change for the next day - one with oceanview, it even had a shower that ran off properly (l'Occitane amenities included), we also received a voucher for welcome drinks from her; and a welcome gift (nuts and beers) appeared in the room. The only thing that remains a disappointment and a mystery: the executive lounge (club lounge). It always seemed out of order/closed and not very inviting, located in the middle of the building with no windows. We were not able to use it even once, and it was a total waste of money to book an Executive room (that should have granted access to the lounge access). Our original receptionist at check-in did not even know about it, and always confused it with the restaurant on the top level; however that could also have been a language problem. Speaking of the restaurant/bar at the top level: It has an absolutely amazing view over Copacabana, super-friendly staff and tasty mini burgers (in fact they were so delicious, we ordered them on two separate occations) and awesome Caipirinhas. The pool is also located by the restaurant and seemed to be very relaxing but also super-tiny. Great atmosphere up there! Breakfast is on the 2nd floor: selection is huge, with many local specialties, we totally recommend it. It was absolutely fantastic. All in all, it was a mixed experience, a bad start turning to a happy ending mostly thanks to Leticia. At the very end, however, there was another downer: mini-bar items we had never touched were shown on our bill, but at least they were removed without discussion.”

“Helpful staff, comfortable rooms, great breakfast and good location”