My wife and I stayed at the Le Meridien for our honeymoon in December 2004.

Room: Large room with beautiful ocean view. Quiet and not noise from teh busy street below. Bathroom was well appointed and bright. Very clean in room and bathroom.

Hotel: Hallways were a bit dark, but other than that the hotel was great. Staff were very helpful and spoke good English. Pool was on the roof, which was a little windy in December, but still pleasant.

Beach: Great location on the beach. Clean area, lots of restaurants in the area including a GREAT Italian restaurant. Make a left down the beach towards the mountain and it is maybe two hundred metres down.

We stayed in Le Meridien from 2nd February until the 11th February. The hotel has changed the ownership and is called now Iberostar Copacabana. But the hotel is not bad at all. Right in front of the beach and with amazing views over the Copacabana from your room vindow. The service in the hotel was very very good and staff really makes your stay comfortable. The food served is great and the pool and bars and gym - everything was just perfect.
I recommend anyone to stay in that hotel.
As a hotelier myself, Iberostar ( previously Le Meridien) really knows how to take care of the guests.
Also I would reccommend to book the taxis to take you around to Sugar Loaf and to Corcovado from the hotel Conceriege as you get the fixed price and the taxi will take you where you want to go and wait for you and then take you back.

We really enjoyed our stay and we hope to be back again soon.

I am glad to have an opportunity to give rest to anyone who is considering this hotel. The hotel is wonderful. It is clean, luxurious, and in a great location. The views are amazing. The staff is very friendly. The breakfast is amazing. When you check in, make sure you go to the H Stern counter for a free car service to the diamond factory in Ipanema. They will drive you back to the hotel. We took the tour and then took 3 hours to walk around Ipanema and Leblon. Rio is not dangerous. Just be careful like any big city. If you have doubts about Rio or the Le Meridian, Stop Worrying!!! You are in for an awesome time.

Overall a good place to stay in Rio. Although the hotel is dated (like many in Copacabana) the view from the Superior Room is great, the breakfast is very good (fresh fruits, made to order omellettes etc). The swimming pool is very small and the gym is pretty much non-existent.

It is at the far end of copacabana and walking to Ipanema along the beach way is around a 45-60 minute stroll.

Otherwise the concierge service here was excellent - we went to a samba club and the concierge booked a table for us and arranged transport which was great.