First, let me cover the pros of the hotel - Location, location, location! It is located within walking distance of both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, great nightlife, easy access to public transportation (bus and metro nearby). Though there is a favela a couple meters behind the hotel, everything in front of the hotel is relatively safe. The next best thing about the hotel is the staff. I didn't get to interact much with the morning staff, but Joao Paul and Caio were excellent! Full of tips, suggestions, able to converse in English - They pretty much helped in planning my commute and trip around Rio, and even suggested places known to the locals, which are out of the normal tourist circuit. It was great interacting with them!
Aside from the above, this is actually a hostel and hotel. So the rooms are pretty tiny. Also, since I had stayed there over the New Year period, the prices were on the higher side. But guess that is a new year phenomenon, and prices should be pretty reasonable other times of the year. Another minor gripe was that the lifts in the hotel were malfunctioning frequently. So that involved climbing up the stairs quite often. But these things aside, if I were to get a good deal, I wouldn't have second thoughts about returning back to the hotel!
