Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Golden Tulip Paulista Plaza. I stayed for business and pleasure from Oct. 30-Nov 4th in an executive room on the 22nd floor. The room was a decent size, with a desk, couch, and mini-kitchen area. The views, however, were phenomenal. Also, it was very quiet on my floor. I didn't hear the traffic, which I understand can be a problem on lower floors. I didn't use the pool (water was too cold), but I did use the treadmill and spent some time in the steam room and dry sauna. These amenities were basic and closed too early (10pm), but fit the bill. Service was courteous and prompt. When my toilet broke, it was fixed within 30 minutes.

My only complaint would be that the carpets could use a good cleaning and the housekeeping staff was inconsistent. I spilled lotion on the bathroom counter which was there for 2 days afterwards. Overall, I thought it was a decent value (I paid $132/night through my travel agent), especially on an expense account. I did not eat in the hotel, as there were plenty of great restaurants to try around SP. I particularly liked Santa Grao on R. Oscar Freire (SP's Rodeo Drive) and the restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art. There's a highly rated restaurant (Baby Beef Rubayat) across the street and plenty of Japanese restaurants around the corner from the hotel as well.

I stayed at this hotel for four nights. It is conveniently located in the business district. The property is well maintained and rooms are equipped with a desk large enough to work as well as enough lights There is a free (wired) internet connection.

The buffet breakfast was also great.

A little bit busy in the lobby and may take some extra time for check-in or check out. However, with the price I paid, this was
a bargain

Great hotel with really good facilities. We arrived early and the yallowed us to check in at no extra cost. The staff were brilliant and very helpful. The price of this hotel on line is so good. along with the location and breakfast this hotel is definately one to visit in Sao Paulo.
Rooms are larger than average, the bath is lovely and the sauna and steam rooms are good.
Only one thing to be aware of - be careful about your bill if you have room service, ours was incorrect, but the manager was helpful and corrected it when we explained that we received something we did not order.
Look out for Reginaldo on the front desk, he is a great guy for local information.

I stayed at the Paulista Plaza along with two other persons in January 2007. We each had our own room. The hotel is part of the Golden Tulip international chain. We easily booked rooms at $70 per night on the company’s website which permitted cancellations in the event of a change in our travel plans.

Overall, we thought the hotel offered good value for our money with fairly large, modern, and clean rooms in good condition. All three of our rooms were on a high floor (19th) and had small balconies with nice city views. The rooms are good sized, and have what amounts to a wetbar with a minibar refrigerator. They are not kitchenettes as there is no microwave or other cooking apparatus.

The rate included a breakfast buffet which was excellent with several different types of eggs, juices, breads, yogurt, and other items. I was pleased that the hotel gym was fairly complete with several good treadmills on a balcony overlooking the pool area, many weight machines, and dumbbells. The hotel did not, however, have a “guest laundromat” as advertised on one website and only offered laundry service at an exorbitant rate. For example, it cost 5 reales to wash a pair of socks, currently about $2.50 US, and went up quickly from there. It would have cost about $60-70 US each for us to have all of our laundry done and we could find no alternatives in the area as it is relatively affluent with residents who have their own laundry facilities. We ended up doing our own laundry and putting it out to dry on the balconies.

Free internet access was available from the rooms. As I did not have my laptop with me I had to use the business center’s computers at a charge of $19 reales (or about $10 US) per hour.

The hotel staff could use some improvement. Although they were pleasant enough, they were not particularly friendly or helpful in any way to distinguish themselves. The person on staff in the hotel gym in particular was more concerned about getting in his own workout and talking to his friends than with helping any of the hotel guests using the facilities. I had to ask for a towel instead of one being offered to me.

A front desk clerk recommended the Vento Haragano churrascaria to us over the Paulista Grill that had been recommended by others and made arrangements for our dinner there at about $32 US. Although the service was attentive at Vento Haragano, the grilled meats were for the most part dry and very disappointing. There is a churrascaria in our home town that serves better meats. The staff at the restaurant wore hokey outfits that were embarrassing. To top it off, we felt rushed to pay our bill which was placed on the table without our asking for it. The waitperson also came by several times to open up the folder that the check had been placed in to see if we had placed our payment in it yet. We were all convinced that the front desk clerk at the hotel had gotten some kind of kickback for sending us to the restaurant.

One of our best meals was at an ordinary lunch place near a corner a couple of blocks up the street on the opposite side of the street from the hotel. Unfortunately, I failed to note the name or the street. It had tables inside and on the sidewalk as well as a counter inside. It was packed during lunch hour with workers from nearby offices on Paulista Avenue eating their meals from shared trays flowing over with delicious marinated chicken, rice, farofa, salad, and fries. The chicken was some of the best I’ve ever had and the service was friendly.

We also had an excellent lunch at a cute restaurant called Le Chef Rouge on Bela Cintra on the other side of the Jardins neighborhood. I had an appetizer of foie gras with quail egg in thin phyllo pastry shell that was briefly baked until brown. It was exquisite. We both ordered the steak tartare and fries as an entrée which was tasty and satisfying. A small tower with mini cookies was served with the coffee after our meal. The service was professional and attentive. We paid a high price for the lunch, but it was worth every penny.

The Rascal restaurant up the street has an excellent buffet lunch and salad bar. It is not inexpensive, however. There is also a good supermarket a couple of blocks away from the hotel on Santos were you can get good wines, beer, cheeses, fruits, and other items to snack on.

One of the other members of our party complained about the coarseness of the sheets on the bed although I did not notice it myself.

Although the hotel’s website states that transportation from the airport using the Guaracoop taxi service would cost less than 75 reales, I was charged 88 reales for transportation to Jardins at the taxi stand at the airport charging it to my credit card. I later checked the Guarucoop rate listed on the internet which indeed stated that I should have been charged only 74.83 for the trip to Jardins. When I complained to the company, I got an email from them stating that their rates were increased 18% as of December 19, 2006. However, today, nearly two months since the purported price increase, the rate to the Jardins area is still listed on the company’s website as 74.83. I am suspicious by nature and would definitely ask to see the rate sheet at the taxi stand on my next trip. I assumed that because I was paying by credit card that I would not be overcharged, but it may be done with the knowledge of the company. The hotel has a car service with a driver in jacket and tie that returned us to the airport for a charge of 100 reales.

We were satisfied on the whole with our stay at the hotel and felt we got good value for our money. However, if on visiting on business I would prefer to pay more and stay in a nicer hotel.