We stayed at the Brava Hotel just after New Years. When we booked, there were no reviews on Trip Advisor and we were easily fooled by the hotel's glamorous website. But as you can see by the other reviews, this hotel is not worth the money you'll spend here.

The Brava Hotel is located about a 20 minute uphill walk, on sometimes muddy and dark roads, from centro. You'll need to cab it or rent a buggy/car if you want to get anywhere from this hotel. The hotel itself is on a very steep hill with many steps (>30) just to get to the front desk and lobby, forget about your room; it could be another 30 steps. The beach nearby, Brava Beach, is small with rough surf. The one time we went there it was high tide and rough surf and so the beach was underwater. So much for laying on the beach.

The hotel itself is portrayed on the website as this pristine, white-washed Shangri-La. Hardly. The white curtains and furniture haven't been washed or cleaned in who knows how long and are in dire need of a few gallons of clorox bleach. The white marble in the lobby is eroded and dirty. The pool is a joke. The rooms are very basic and extremely small by any hotel standard. Our beds were comfortable but we heard others complain about their beds. The sheets are very rough, probably around 100 thread count. The bathroom is very basic and the shower stall was dirty with mildew. Bugs are a REAL issue. There were big black ants in my bed. A spider that looked like a tarantula crawled out of the shower drain while I showered and scared me half way back to New York. The TV has about 8 channels -- they are mostly cartoon channels in Portuguese; there is no CNN or BBC or even a basic, random English channel.

The breakfast was very disappointing. There was no choice. They brought out three fruits, two types of bread, yogurt, cereal, orange juice, slices of cheese and ham, and coffee/tea. There were no eggs, bacon, sausage, different fruit juices, etc. This is very unusual for Brazilian hotels.

The service at the Brava is sub-standard. Hardly anyone speaks English. They are understaffed and those who work there are multi-tasking, over-worked, and putting in greater than 12 hour days. It took my friend over 30 minutes and 3 requests to get a caipirinha because the one worker was too busy, no fault of his own, catering to the owners of the hotel (who were also having drinks at the bar with friends), managing the front desk and serving people dinner in the "restaurant."

On a positive note the common area was a nice place to have a drink (if you ever got it) in the evening before going out to centro. The music they played was very loungy and one night they had a very good live performer. They also had free internet near the front desk.

So the bottom line is that this place is not worth the $225+ USD/night triple that we paid for a "hotel." This is not a "hotel" by any standard. It's a very expensive pousada. "Hotels" at this price in Brazil have great service, extensive breakfasts, clean and spacious rooms, and many other amenities such as a gym, a real restaurant, room service, and TV that you could actually watch and understand. For $225 USD + tax/night I could probably get a room at a five star hotel in Rio de Janeiro. I've stayed at other hotels on the Epoque Hotels website and the Brava Hotel is a disgrace and it should not be promoted by them. I've also been to Brazil several times and stayed in big cities and smaller, less developed towns than Buzios, and I know what I can get for my money. The Brava Hotel is not worth it -- maybe it would be if you could get it for less than $100 USD/night.

If your travels ever find you in Buzios, Brazil, I would recommend staying at a modest, not pretentious, pousada in centro or Geriba Beach.

Our stay at the Brava hotel was a great disappointment. The website looks fabulous, and with the price you are paying for the rooms, you would definitely expect more value for your money. But do not let it fool you. For Brasilian standards this place is far too expensive for what you get. Rather stay at a poussada and get more personal attention than paying this rate at this prententious design hotel. Rooms are small, not too clean, bathroom too basic, and the bugs..... AC makes lots of noise.... Also locationwise it is not good. It is on a hill, right in front of it they are building a new site, beach is small. Staff is not friendly either. They do not speak English except for maybe two people. My advice it to keep on searching the web for a nicer place to stay. Also the moment you book, there is no way you can cancel it. You pay in advance which surprised me for the kind hotel they pretend to be....The prices are quoted in USD, but they make you pay in local currency with a crazy exchange rate. You can also pay cash in USD like you have that much cash in your pocket...... Keep on surfing the web, you will definitely find much better ! Also this hotel is a disgrace to the Epoque Hotels website. They should definitely stop promoting this hotel.

I agree with the last posting. There were definetely some strong opionions about this place. After reading all the negative reviews before we booked, we were a bit nervous about staying here, but decided to give it a try nonetheless. Here is what we found.

POSITIVES
* The common spaces are nicely decorated, although not very imaginative. The attempted look is very similar to the Delano in South Beach, but it works in this setting.
* The mood in the hotel is very chill and laid back. Great music, good spaces to lounge around.
* The breakfast was nice, but not great.
* The location is close enough to the action on Rua das Pedras (a 15 minute walk or 10 reais cab ride), without being too close to the masses of people.
* The hotel is md-size which is nice, since you don't feel like you are getting lost.

NEGATIVES
* The rooms are small and the design spartan. They don't feel very connected to the great design in the public spaces. (As a sidenote, the television stations available on the tv were the worst we had in any hotel in all of Brazil).
* The cleanliness of the hotel was a bit disappointing. The bugs are a real issue. The flooring which is white and uncarpeted keep a layer of sand and make you feel like the room is always dirty.
* Brava beach where the hotel is located is not very good. It has rough surf and cold water.
* The staff is a major issue. We did have a chance to meet the owner and chef who were both very nice, but the rest of the staff were not knowledgable on Buzios or proactive in helping.

BOTTOM LINE
* Overall value for money is very poor. At $170 a night in a place like Buzios we should have had more bang for the buck.
* The experience does not ring true to what is promoted on the website...
* You could do much better staying at one of the pousadas in Jao Fernandes or Ferradura, where the beaches are great.

Wow, people really have some strong opinions about this place. I just got back today, so I will give you my honest opinion.

The place was definitely designed by someone with an eye for visuals. The bar and common areas are dramatic and very pretty. They did things in mostly white, and since it is so close to the ocean, there is a bit of mildew that gets on things, so it is not as sparkling as the website, but it is still nice. In terms of the complaints about the bugs, we found one in our room, but you really can't expect no bugs if you are in a place like Buzios.

We found the hostess (Bahbarah?) to be very helpful and she spoke excellent English. The other folks working there, did not look like they enjoyed their jobs and they performed their tasks without a smile or even occasionally without making eye contact. I got the impression they were not treated so well by the management, but I really have nothing concrete to base that on.

The rooms are fairly small and basic, but the walk-in shower was a nice alternative to a tub/shower and the water pressure was surprisingly good. The towels were also decent quality.

It was very easy to get into town (about 1-2 km and just 10 reais for a cab which the hotel staff called for us). The beach was also very nice, with nice waves to body surf, but not so big that it was scary. The brava club is right there, so you can get a chair and umbrella free of charge with a great view and someone to come serve you drinks!

The breakfast was just ok, but the views were really quite nice. So all in all I would give the place a B.