California Othon Classic

Great Location as the hotel is directly acccross from beach. BUT DO NOT STAY at this hotel. The hotel is very old and musty, phones did not work and internet was not stable. Had to get staff to correct Bill 3x as I was charged for items that I did not charge. The housekeeping staff and bell boys were very good but the front desk was woefully inadequate. The entire Hotel could use a facelift The rooms are very old and the bed was uncomfortable and from 1960's era.

The short version: This is a good buy. For less than $100 U.S. dollars a night, you can't beat the location. And while there's nothing standout/special about the hotel... there's nothing wrong if you're traveling on a budget. Of course, if you have a lot more to spend and/or want a nice hotel, then this is not for you. The details: The location of the hotel is incredible!-- It is directly across from the beach (center of Copacabana) and 2 blocks from Rua Nossa Senhora do Copacabana-- a street where you can find shopping, grocery, a movie theater, and bus lines to Ipanema, Lagoa, Leblon, and more. If you pay for the deluxe you get to face the ocean. This was great to see what was happening, but I could also hear street noise on the weekend if I left the window open. I had a friend who stayed on the interior of the building (standard) who said she had a view of a patio. Nothing worth looking at, but fine. The hotel includes breakfast (as do many of Rio's hotels). I really liked the assortment of fresh fruit and breads. They also had ham, sausage, eggs, and pao de queijo (bread with cheese in it). 3 types of fruit juice each day, coffee, and tea were also provided. It's all you can eat from 6am-10am. I didn't eat inside the hotel (other than for breakfast). I adored the restaraunt directly out front. Wonderful service!!! Good food! There are also mini churrasco's down the road that are very affordable and also good. The hotel is old. I felt like it was reasonably cleaned-- but when a building is old an worn out it just doesn't look the same as a new hotel. I felt more like I was staying in an older apartment than a hotel-- there was some stained tiles in the shower, the floor boards were very worn down and dusty looking (but not actually dusty), there was no alarm clock, the bed was very simple, etc. For me, this was all fine. I paid so little for this hotel (less than $100 US dollars per night) and used it to sleep and shower. And... I had friends that stayed at other similarly priced hotels and all seemed rather worn in the same way. But... in the future... if I can afford a bit more for the hotel I will probably try the JW Marriot (directly next to this hotel) OR the Sheraton (I attended a lovely reception there but am not sure about the room quality. It is located in Leblon, near to Ipanema, and also near to Rochina). No bugs. Seriously- after I read the other reviews I was scared. I can deal with old... I can't deal with bugs. Luckily, there were none in this hotel :) Service was fine. There are free towels and chairs for the beach. They are red and stand out. I opted to use my own. There is an in room safe. You pay 4 reais (about $2 dollars) for the lock for the duration of your trip. There is an in room mini bar (where I also stored snacks). Water/beer/soda all cost about $5 reais each (about 2.50 dollars). It's a much better idea to buy them at one of local grocers. There is a charge you have to pay at the end of your stay. Orbitz warned of this- said it would be about $75. As a nice surprise it was actually only 72 reais (about 35 dollars). If you want to book tours the hotel is the most expensive way to do this. It's better to shop around. That said, I needed to schedule at a particular time and their service was the only one that did the time/date I was looking for... and it was great! Well worth the money... it's just that if I hadn't needed to be picky I would have used a different service. Oh!!! If you do go on tours anywhere, bring some extra cash with you.