Hoteles Residence Inn en Río de Janeiro

Me and my wife visited Rio between Jan 20th and Feb 10th 2023. We were lucky to get a very good deal for our stay at Residence Inn by Marriot and flights from and to Toronto, Ontario. Our small apartment at the hotel: - clean and quiet (facing the huge empty parking lot) - has its own mini kitchen- fridge, dishwasher, dishes, cutlery, etc. You could prepare quick supper or some appetizers for your wine;. - has a filter coffee maker plus coffee and tea every day - TV with many channels (most of them in Portuguese;/) Speaking about wine: we didn't find any good local wine in the grossery stores. Mostly import from Argentina and Uruguay. The imported alcohol is very expensive. Be prepared to pay for it as much as you pay in Canada. Pool: narrow and long (shallow, though). Just a few umbrellas with tables and chairs around, so you better go there earlier to get one. Gym: nice with enough machines and weights Staff: Very nice people in general, the guys from the reception desk were trying to be very helpful Restaurant: We had breakfast included in our deal. Very pleasantly surprised. Fresh food every day. Great variety. I am not picky at all, but the food quality was great. Amazing coffee! (I hope you are a coffee lover:) Delicious pastries. Restaurant staff: I can't stress enough how good and polite these people were. Every morning they would stop by the table to say hello, to ask how we were. The conversation usually goes in mixed English-Spanish-Portuguese language. Hosanna , at the omelette station spoke very good English. With Carlos (very nice and communicative guy) we had some very funny conversations. I definitely need to mention also Geovan, Hugh, Bruna. The pastry cheff Danielle was checking the pastry station every 5 minutes to see if everything was in order. By coincidence my BDay was the last week of our stay. These guys surprised me with a small cake and sang Happy Birthday in Portuguese for me. We took a couple of pictures. Very heart touching! I am possibly missing to mention some other names, but all of them were great. We would like to thank everybody again. They made us feel welcome!! A couple of remarks: Rio beaches: If you are aiming to spend your time on the beach, this hotel probably isn't for you. It is relatively far from the beach. The closest one was Barra da Tijuca beach. To get there you will need to take BRT bus #50 to Alvorada Station ( approx. 20 min.) and from there another 8-10 min bus ride. Almost the same if you take taxi. The BRT bus has the advantage to travel in its own lanes and doesn't mix with the traffic. However, we highly recommend the Barra da Tijuca beach. Much longer, much wider and much cleaner compared to Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Not to mention much less vendor guys selling everything, walking around and shouting. Rio people: Friendly and polite. The women are dressed in sexy tight clothes, despite the heat. Be aware: going topless on the beach isn't acceptable, despite the fact most