Ipanema Plaza Reviews

My partner and I stayed at the Marriott for 8 days after a tour of Rio and the falls. The room was very spacious and clean. The food at the buffet restaurant was nice. There was a lot of choice. The desserts were my favourite. You could book a table for Spices restaurant or go to any of the restaurants at the Renaissance Hotel, whicj was located next to the Marriott. We preferred to have our breakfast on the balcony at Spices. The Thai curry at Spices restaurant is one of the best Thai curries I have ever had. Some of the staff were friendly.

Very spacious hotel with lovely grounds. Staff work very hard and are always smiling. The maid cleaned our room every day and left clean towels. The mini fridge was re-stocked daily despite it saying only every other day. Check in/out was smooth.

The food was the best I have had at any all inclusive, it was always well cooked nice tasting and very good variety. The sweets were amazing. Please try the Chocolate salami in Pastafari (Italian) it is gorgeous. The 3 A La carte restaurants were all good we just preferred the Market place.

The drinks were top brands and I know my Smirnoff and Jack Daniels. The cocktails were to die for. We enjoyed the nights in the piano bar but it is a smoking bar so can get quite smoky. We don't smoke but it wasn't a problem to us but some people found they couldnt sit in there for long.

The pool area is massive and finding a bed was never a problem. The beach isn't anything special, the waves are amazing but you are not able to swim in the sea due to it being rough, it is very peaceful there though.

Horse riding, bikes, kayaks, pedaloes and archery are all included in the all inclusive as is the trapeze, we weren't daring enough but it looked really good and alot of people went on it.

At the back of the hotel you will see Green parrots flying around, they are easy to miss because they blend with the trees and there seems to be a resident Iguana which was strange to watch. The birds there a beautiful so tame and brightly coloured. They do tend to be in force in Jimmy buffet and don't be surprised to see them swoop down at the tables or sat nibbling the cheeses, it's not something I liked to see but I just chose something else. A net on the outer wall would stop this.

On the downside, the entertainment was repetetive and for us boring. The Karaoke was dire. On a few nights the entertainment was in the nearby village but your all inclusive did not extend too there so you had to buy your drinks. The other thing which was a problem too us was some of the Brazilians guests. They were very very loud and rude, they did what they wanted when they wanted and their children were unruly and screamed and cried alot especially in the restaurants and also resulting in lots of shouting at all times of the day/night it was nothing for little children to be running up and down the corridors at 3am in a morning and management would not do anything to stop this. They were often let into the A la cartes without reservations which wasn't always the case for the Brits. We were told no it's full and we accepted this. Despite there being a dress code in the A la cartes this was ignored completely so was the no under 14's after 9pm rule...again by the Brazilians.

Please don't get me wrong I think everyone should enjoy their holiday in their own way but NOT when it's at the expense of other holiday makers regardless of nationality.

This is a lovely hotel but the behaviour of some guests really down marketed it for us but management have to retake control to ensure that ALL guests have a good time without spoiling it for others.

We recently returned from the holiday of a lifetime in Brazil and I just had to share some of our experiences.

We arrived after a long flight (14 hours) with Varig airlines which wasn't too bad, the service was really good and we pre booked our tickets so we had 2 seats on their own, well worth it. We got to Rio and had booked into Ipanema Plaza which is 5 star, it was a beautiful hotel and only 1 block from Ipanema beach. Everything about it was great, the decor, the staff, the restaurant and we had marvellous views of the beach and Corcovado where Christ the Redeemerlooks over the city.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants, the best being around the Ipanema and Leblon areas. Copacabana is lovely but quite touristy and there can be quite a few beggars around. We had heard dodgey stories about Rio being unsafe but the beach is flood lit at night and there are always quite a few police around, I didn't feel threatened once. There are also a million cabs which are so cheap, just a couple of quid a ride so you really don't have to be wandering around anyway.

There are so many things to do, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer to name but a few. We also went to Iguassu Falls, a 3 hour plane journey away but definately worth it, I have never seen anything so beautiful. Then we went to the Amazon, that was a 5 hour plane ride and although we really did enjoy it there isn't really much to see when you get there, it takes up quite a chunck of your trip, plus we got eaten alive so make sure you get all the right jabs. After there we returned to Rio for a few nights and stayed in the Marina palace Hotel on Leblon beach, we tried to get back in the Ipanema Plaza but it was full. Anyway the Marina is nice, only a four star but it was clean and the staff were helpful - it could probably do with a bit of a make-over as the decor was a little dated but it was comfortable.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend Brazil, I have to say I have been around the world and I have never met such warm, friendly wonderful people in my life, they would do anything to help you. I'm looking forward to going back one day.