Not a Pestana by any means; decor is good; their food is the worst in all Rio..... better off at any botequim nearby with poor reviews.
treated like cattle, and at €1100.00 per night, was expecting something else.
if in Copacabana.... keeping the Palace at a lower rate the overall experience is totally diferent.
Never Pestana Rio Atlantica....

I've stayed in one of the rooms which had recently been refurbished. Excellent.

Booked the hotel because it was on the Copacabana, had a rooftop swimming pool, and offered us a sea view. I was recently reunited with my honey, and this was to be our celebration. We booked the double-superior room with sea view. When we arrived, the man at the front desk informed us that due to refurbishment, the swimming pool would be shut - and with it the rooftop bar. Dang! But, to make up for that - we would be upgraded to a suite. Suite maybe, but no sea view except if you sat at a peculiar angle on one sofa. At 08:00 the drilling began just above our heads - the refurbishment was hotel wide. Waaaaah! We took off for the day, but couldn't come back to nap as they didn't cease until 18:30 or so. We were promised that the following day(s) there would be no drilling as it was the weekend. Untrue - witness 08:00 drilling. Wifi everywhere? If you're willing to fork out another 25 USD/day. Bathroom had mold and wispy dust tendrils streaming in the shower. And possibly worst of all: PVC coated bottom sheet on the bed so that we woke up clamy. YUCK!

If we had been paying 1/4 the 400 USD a night for the privilege of staying in a musty no-view room, with continuous drilling and hammering, and without any plusses we might have considered it. We're actually more 3 star people and like our places simple. But the continuous untruths and deception drove us away. We moved a block back to the "W" hotel which was simple, had a balcony with approximately the view we had in the old hotel, but that we could share as we both sat on it; much nicer room (no carpets! woodwork! and a much nicer bathroom) for - you guessed it, 1/4 of the price. If the hotel had been straight with us, we might have stuck with them. But they drove us away from the hotel AND the brand. They really put the PEST in Pestana.

Made a reservation via Pestana website for a weekend package for my son and me. The weekend was meant to be a bit of a luxery. Package included double "superior" room (2-twin beds, 8" apart), room upgrade if available (flat-out "no"), welcome drink (never saw), bottle of wine (didn't see it either), massage (nope), breakfast (yes, but had to be removed from bill) and late check-out (yes).

I am a Pestana Gold member, so am familiar with the chain. Room was tired and dingy, quite small by american standards, and not large by European standards.

The hotel is under renovation for 12-months beginning April 2011. As a consequence the rooftop swimming pool was closed.

Suggest skipping this hotel until renovations are complete.

One bright spot: Hotel restaurant prepared two FANTASTIC seafood dinners ... couldn't imagine much better.

Management made a handsome discount on the bill as a result of my complaint, but we would much rather have had an enjoyable stay.