My family and I tried to stay here using Starwood points and were promptly "upgraded" to a Deluxe room. This was essential since we have 2 boys and needed a little extra room. The hotel said the Deluxe has 2 beds and a sitting area with a sofa. We liked this idea and booked the room. Upon arrival I asked to see the room before I handed over my credit card. The bellhop took us up to a room that was standard size for a Best Western or Travelodge, not even close to the Starwood Preferred room I was in at the Sheraton Barra. I told him we were to be in a Deluxe and he replied that this was a Deluxe. We went back to the reception desk and were told, the Deluxe is a standard room, but on a higher floor for the view. When I told him what we had been promised when making our reservation he replied, that would be a suite, we can't use your points for that and the price will be 300 USD. Sad to say, we balked at that and promptly left. The hotel may be good for tour groups, but they seem to be struggling to manage their rewards guests. Mind you, this was mid-week during the winter, so they were hardly overbooked.

Le Meridian use to be a nice hotel. It is a shame that big hotel chain names such as this, Sheraton and others get to be less than what it is expected by travellers going to South America. It is very dissappointing. The neighborhood also is very unsafe now. The "best" alternative in Rio I would say it is the Caesar Park in Ipanema, but with a very high price and hotel is a 3 star, not a 5 as they advertise.

We spent a long vacation in Brazil this summer. We have been to several cities and villages of course. We went several times to Rio. For our last night in Rio/Brazil we wanted it to be memorable and booked in Le Meridien. That was really desappointing. It is true that the hotel is on Copacabana beach but there are tons of other hotels with this option. The reason we chose Le Meridien was because of the reputation of the name and the standard we are used to at Le Meridien everywhere in the world!

But this one was not at the expected level at all. All furniture was very old and not maintained. The finishing of the room had lots of broken things fixed by non-professional personnel (this is the least that could be said). The wood of the door of the bathroom was completely broken and fixed very badly at some parts and not at all at others. The tiles on the wall of the shower/bath were broken at many points. the fridge body was rusted. The bed cover burned by cigarettes,...

This is when the price is the highest that we paid in Rio while we spend many other nights before for less in a much much better hotel (The Excelsior) that is really rated 4 stars and on the copacabana beach as well few blocks after Le Meridien. Also in that hotel they used to take care of our car and park it and bring it back immediately when needed and all that for free. But at Le Meridien, we had to pay 20 Rials for the night for the car and it takes at least 10 minutes for them to bring it for you. If you ask them to park it during the day, it costs you 5 Rials per hour or fraction of an hour.

The breakfast was nice but not different from the other hotel. Next time, we definetely will go to the other hotel. I really hope somebody can do something about the status of Le Meridien Copacabana because it hurts to see what we saw under such a big French name.

Having read many reviews about Brazil, Rio, and the Meridien, was slightly trepidacious about the trip, but the whole thing went much better than expected.

Arrived at the hotel at 9am, and most friendly check-in clerk, offered to book me in straight away so that I could change and rush off to watch the 'England' match at 'Lord Jim's Pub', (which I found out about through this site's Forum). They also arranged a late check out until 4 the next day as well.

The hotel service continued to be excellent throughout my two day stay, with each of the front desk people I spoke to responding in exactly the same helpful and attentive manner.

Rooms - smallish but your not really there for extended room stays. Furniture and decor up to standard, with a large bathroom. A slightly strange feature of the bathroom, and might be different on lower floors ( I was on 36), was the full length, clear glass window, enabling the whole of Rio to see me in my glory during my morning shower !! Yes their is considerable noise from the lifts and plumbing, but nothing a pair of ear-plugs did not fully remove.

Breakfast was the only meal I had, but was of good quality, and amazing location on the 4th floor with views down the beach.

I travelled into Rio central for evening meals as there did not seem to be much else on offer in the local.

The main other concern I had was safety. I followed all the recommended rules, no jewellery, flash cameras, designer clothes, big bags, tourist accoutrements etc, and never had a worry the whole time. Cabs were easy to pick up off the street, and charged reasonable prices even at night, and all the drivers were very keen to explain how safe the town was as long as you did not go looking for trouble down dark streets late at night in dodgy areas.

Was not really expecting to enjoy the whole experience, but came away with great memories and happy to return.